Having these relevant team-building skills is directly tied to how engaged and productive your team will be. This fact makes it obvious what a weak team dynamic and low team spirit can lead to bad communications, mistakes in job handling, team factions, and ultimately, the exit of team members.
Nicole D. Garrison, Marketing Director, believes that activating team-building exercises that play to each team member's strengths is a no-brainer for maintaining team spirit. This is regardless of any cultural or language differences that may exist within the team.
Maintaining a positive team dynamic should start for every team member from the moment they join your team, and throughout your time together. Having the requisite teamwork skills, cohesive team spirit and engagement from every member of the team will keep it functioning like a well-oiled machine, even amid the chaos, just like the current global and national health pandemic.
We've outlined a few ways that leaders can keep their teams motivated and productive during this time.
Beyond skills, check for personality when hiring a new team member
This tip sounds like it is coming a little too late, considering the current global health pandemic. However, many companies are still hiring new staff. One of the obvious mistakes you can make as a leader or manager is to hire someone who does not have the particular skill set needed to elevate your team. You're not trying to hire more of the same kind of people or someone who does not know what they are doing.
But a problem often arises when the hiring process focuses on skills that personality is often left unchecked. A person can learn any skill, but personality, not so much. Beyond looking for new team members with a complementary set of skills, also assess their personality critically. A lousy personality fit will throw your team off balance and make it that much harder to achieve a seamless team dynamic.
Readjust your hiring strategy to include questions that probe the candidate in terms of skills, and thinking, and behavioral patterns. This tactic is not a failproof strategy, but it does help to reasonably filter out incompatible candidates. A hiring process that sees skills and personality as equally important is excellent for any business.
Show empathy and confidence while communicating
When all the members of your team know everything that they are supposed to know at the time they are supposed to, it helps to keep the team bond secure and moving forward. You do not want them feeling like you are hiding anything from them, because that doesn't help anybody, not them, and certainly not you. But, beyond the information itself, the way you pass along the information to them is just as important; you do not want your team misunderstanding your message or questioning it.
Of course, there may be times when a piece of information or a decision to be passed along to your team is not fully formed. In such cases, it would be wise to begin the conversation with the highlights and let them know that a more detailed discussion is in the works.
The communication between you and your team has to be as timely, precise, and unbiased as possible. This is especially true during a pandemic when a lot of brands are tweaking company policies, re-examining work strategies, and more. You do not want the way you handle communication to make you look panicky or uncaring. Your team members may follow your lead, ask for reassignment, or leave the company.
This reality is not a desirable outcome, much less in a period of uncertainty for many businesses. Make sure they know how you feel about the current situation, but ensure that you exude enough empathy and confidence to assure them that everything is under control.
Company vision should be themed and practical
While every company has an ultimate vision for which it exists, this should also be broken down into actionable bits that employees can work towards achieving. Ideally, this is most effective if executed at the start of every fiscal year. Leaders and managers should make sure that the vision for each year agrees with the company's mission. They should also be measurable against the company's overall vision at any time.
The following should also be valid at the individual and department/team level and communicated regularly to the employees. The trick is to find ways to translate the vision from mere words or mantra into actionable responsibilities and team-building exercises for team members. This strategy helps keep the company's vision front and center in the minds of the employees.
Diana Adjad, who heads up the reviewer team, calls this tactic a way to "communicate your brand vision in 3D." When your team has your vision in their mind's eye, they will need little motivation to work towards it.
If you align your yearly vision such that it always picks up from where the previous year's vision left off, that sense of continuity makes your team's job more predictable, making them more productive.
Glean new and creative ideas from your team members to keep things moving
Many companies are currently not firing on all cylinders due to slow business, or are having to significantly adjust work operations to keep them aligned with the company vision. This adjustment period is the perfect time to pick your team members' brains and think up creative ways to keep things moving. The employees under you are the ones that work at the job every day, so they may likely know a thing or two about keeping things on track based on their personal experience.
At some point, you may have to move some employees to take care of the backlog in another related department, or draft presentation, training materials and guidelines, review standard operating procedures and policies for your department, or help you plan negotiation strategy for a new client. In each scenario and more, your staff can bring insight that you would have never seen working on your own.
Embrace consistency
Consistency here does not directly translate as being predictable or inflexible. It means that your team should be able to rely on your every word, whatever it is. The way that you hire employees and train them, the way that you communicate with them, the way you work with them to achieve the company vision, and the way you enlist their help for new and creative ideas should never change.
Members of your team want to see this methodology play out now and continue the same way after the pandemic is long gone. This consistency is what makes you stand out as a leader worthy of your team's trust and dependence.
Final Words
An effective leader will not need to drag his team members, kicking and screaming. If you implement all the above tips correctly, your team will always be in high spirits and will be willing to follow you.
