Lead Healthy, Winning Teams
Three Myths and One Important Truth
During the past few years, our team has facilitated countless team building sessions. Some of the teams were reminiscent of the Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson (12 league titles). Maybe an early 90’s Cowboys analogy will resonate with you a bit more. Basically – some of the teams we’ve worked with are absolutely incredible and want to keep being great.
Some of the teams we work with have struggled a bit more. There’s no reason to throw shade at a sports team here … but, I was indoctrinated a Dallas Cowboys fan as a kid (so much for the Cowboys nowadays) and now live in the home of the Razorbacks. In other words, some of the teams we work with need significant help to start winning.
There are key elements that embody every winning team. Healthy, winning teams have team members who feel valued, appreciated and heard. Try to find a healthy team whose team members complain on surveys about not being able to leverage honest and open communication, yet, in meetings, they smile and say they understand. You get the point.
This might sting a little, but … bear with me … I’m trying to help. If the most recent employee engagement survey revealed there are some opportunities to improve your team dynamics, then read on. There are three myths and one truth you need to hear.
For some reason, leaders tend to treat team leadership the same way that many people treat their marriages. Hear me out. For example, when conflict is stirring, the extravagant vacation doesn’t save the marriage any more than a happy hour or an offsite doesn’t save the team. Yes, everyone has fun, but, everyone also settles back into the dysfunctional norm soon enough.
Don’t get me wrong – please, go on awesome vacations with your spouse!
Don’t get me wrong - by all means, plan an offsite retreat for your team.
But listen: If you leave from a place of dysfunction and only have some “offsite fun”, you will still return to the same place of dysfunction.
Myth 1: Teams who offsite together work well together.
An offsite retreat can be a game changer for strategic planning, leadership development, and relationship building. We help plan and execute offsite retreats on a regular basis. It’s important to understand the investment will not be worth it IF we don’t help the team feel valued, appreciated and heard.
Myth 2: Teams who go to happy hour together enjoy working with one another.
Yes, spend more time together and get to know one another. Laugh together, too. Enjoy a happy hour or take in a Top Golf night. We encourage every team we work with to do an activity prior to a leadership development session to help everyone connect and develop camaraderie. However, the time away will not have the same impact if they do not feel valued, appreciated and heard.
Myth 3: Teams who meet consistently together work well together.
We know meetings are not the silver bullet to fix all problems, but for some reason many of your calendars are filled with meetings you wish you could get out of! If a meeting does not bring value then the meeting will not help everyone work together. Meetings can help team members connect, align, and collaborate. However, if the team does not feel valued, appreciated and heard, no amount of meetings will make a dysfunctional team healthy.
Truth: Teams who communicate clearly with one another work well together.
Leaders have become numb to employee engagement surveys where they’re consistently sharing that communication is weak. We’ve seen communication surveys improve when teams invest time into learning how to communicate with another.
We leverage the SDI 2.0 Inventory to make a noticeable impact on how leaders work with another. This isn’t a fix-all tool, but it is a tool that makes a huge impact when leaders support it. When leaders know they can speak up and share ideas without fear or judgement or missing out on the next promotion (i.e. psychological safety), team members feel valued, appreciated and heard.
When team members can communicate clearly and openly, they are able to leverage the strengths and skills of the team. Engagement increases and trust builds. When a team member goes home feeling valued, appreciated and heard, they show up the next day more engaged and more willing (i.e. safe) to communicate with clarity to help the team continue to thrive.
What’s next?
Remember, simply doing an offsite, or having more meetings, or spending more time together will not make a team more healthy. Healthy teams are filled with team members who feel valued, appreciated and heard. That happens when teams communicate clearly and work well together. Improve the communication and collaboration of a team, and you will become a winning team.
Pay attention to your meetings. Will everyone speak up or only a few?
Pay attention to how well your team collaborates. Do they offer to help or work in silos?
Pay attention to survey scores and team results. Are you set up to keep winning or are there some areas you need to lean into?
How can we help?
Leader Coaching | We coach leaders to help them navigate the challenges ahead and gain the strengths necessary to lead a healthy, winning team.
Team Development | We facilitate custom team sessions and offsite retreats to help teams learn to work well together.
Org Development | We assess, create and deploy solutions to help an organization (or vertical in an organization) align on the same language and desired culture on how to work and win.
Set a meeting with michael@insightlg.com or ryan@insightlg.com today.
