1. Clear goals – provide clear communication about the organization’s plans and goals. Ensure the team understands how their work contributes towards those goals. Then give them the latitude to do their jobs leveraging their strengths and interests. Have periodic check-ins to see if they need anything.
2. Open communications – the team must have meaningful conversations and feel safe expressing their ideas, opinions, and concerns to the rest of the team. Communication needs to be respectful, constructive, and solutions focused.
3. Collaborative spirit – the team works together to achieve its goals. Each team member is unique and brings something different to the table, so leverage their distinctive strengths. In the end, the team will have more innovative discussions and develop well-thought-out solutions.
4. Continuous improvement – the team needs to have a curious mindset enabling them to identify and address inefficiencies. Having a culture of continuous improvement will lead to improved efficiencies and better outcomes.
How To Support The Team
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Be intentional in your efforts to support the team by taking the time to understand their needs and preferences. How can you tell if the team dynamic needs to be improved? One way is to observe their performance. Is the team not embracing new initiatives, or is there higher-than-normal turnover? If you notice these types of symptoms, you may not be providing the support that the team needs to be successful.
Ask the team what type of support they need. Have you empowered the team to take ownership of their work and given them the autonomy to succeed? Nobody wants to be micromanaged! Or does the team need additional training or development opportunities to grow their skills? When you support employees’ personal development, they’re more likely to be and stay excited for what’s next (and potentially stay longer with the organization).
You may want to periodically have some fun team-building activities, which can be done either in-person or virtually. Organize a virtual coffee break or a volunteering event at a local charity or non-profit. If you have added some new team members, make the extra effort to welcome them into the team. For example, go to an escape room, which requires the team to work together to solve puzzles and escape a room within a certain time frame. The key is to choose activities that are fun and engaging that promote positive communication and collaboration among the team members.
Appreciate The Team
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And last but definitely not least, take the time to acknowledge and show your gratitude, and celebrate significant achievements that the team has accomplished. The key is to be sincere even simply saying thank you or handwriting a note (because to me handwritten = personal). This will make the team feel valued and appreciated.
You must be employee focused, and genuinely support and take care of your team! For more information on the importance of a high-performing team, follow me on LinkedIn!
