We have all been hit hard during Covid 19. As a Learning and Development Coach for Teams, I’m listening to what Leaders need for Team Development. Of late, what I am hearing is, teams and their individual members require more support to manage their well-being. My last few blogs, My Coach is Covid 19, Attachments vs Values and Not All Beliefs Are True provide a foundation for Team members and their Team to raise self-awareness to ensure their well-being.
Two Best Practices To Ensure Teams Success
First step, reframe challenges as opportunities. Our lives are classrooms to learn about ourselves. Then use thoughtful inquiry to increase self-awareness. Self-awareness will shift the lens team members view the world, themselves and others. Without self-awareness, we can spin, blame others, be tough on ourselves while experiencing hopelessness.
Invite All Emotions
Second, welcome all emotions. We are experiencing a storm of emotions. Inviting all emotions during the Pandemic will build emotional capacity and resilience. Resilience is not about being tough by bouncing back without acknowledging how we feel. It’s about being aware of the emotion, feeling it while being in life. If we ignore what we are experiencing we aren’t being compassionate with ourselves and we miss the opportunity to learn about ourselves. Every emotion is a message about who we are, we need to listen. A compassionate best practice is to raise awareness about how we think we “should be” so we can pay attention to who we are in the moment. Knowing who we are is the foundation for our well-being and our team’s success.
Effective Teams
Self-awareness and Teaming research is key to ensure team effectiveness. Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson team research offers the groundwork for effective teams. According to professor Amy Edmondson, who coined the term Psychological Safety. Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. Effective team behavior includes:
- Dependability
- Structure and Clarity
- Shared Meaning
- Impact
To ensure employee engage in the process they need to develop three characteristics which Professor Edmondson calls The Three Pillars:
- Curiosity about the skills and knowledge of other team members
- Passion, in order to drive quality work to deadlines
- Empathy – to be able to collaborate under pressure
My experience when working with teams has taught me, Professor Edmonson’s guidelines are why and how teams are successful. Yet, even when I Coach teams to implement these guidelines, I have witnessed, at some point, team members will be personally challenged, unless, the individuals increase self-awareness.
Successful Habits of A Team Member
Self-aware team members are able be reflective, curious, unpack where they are the most challenged. Then, have emotional regulation while communicating and collaborating with their team. Self-aware team members are able to be accountable which decreases blame. Their minds don’t spin about their colleagues behavior. They know how to be empathetic and compassion with themselves and others. Which fosters trust to provide effective feedback.
What if, you’re so busy & overwhelmed that raising-awareness is just one more thing to do? Perhaps, what’s needed is the support to become more self-aware. Coaching is a powerful support tool that will raise self-awareness for you and your team. All you have to do is reach out. I am here. Ready to support you. We are better together.
The Pains You Feel Are Messengers, Listen To Them
Rumi