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Evolving Individuals into a Team
18 October 2023
What Makes a Solid Team?
One of the core responsibilities of an HR team is the need to address employees' interpersonal relationships, a.k.a., how everyone relates to each other. Failure to effectively manage how employees relate (with each other, with customers, and with management) leaves companies vulnerable to having a "me first" culture instead of "Brand First."
Ironically, the most effective way to evolve your employees into a cohesive team is to engage/communicate with everyone at the individual level. Engagement and follow-through breeds trust, which in turn breeds a team of Brand Representatives ready to serve your customers.
Manage from a place of understanding.
Consider Soft Skills.
Helpful Tips:
Maintain active communication with the team.
Engage to get employee thoughts and feelings on everything and anything, either individually or at team/sub-team levels.
Investigate and respond to communicated concerns.
Engage to get employee thoughts and feelings on everything and anything, either individually or at team/sub-team levels.
Investigate and respond to communicated concerns.
Employee morale goes down fastest when employees feel ignored. Even if you cannot give them the solutions they hope for, communication will help keep everyone engaged and “heard.”
Manage from a place of understanding.
Everyone has personal challenges. If company leaders respond from a place of emotion (tied to their own personal challenges), personal and business opportunities will be missed or ruined, employee morale may become cancerous, and particularly volatile interactions can easily lead to lawsuits. None of us have time for that kind of mess.
Consider Soft Skills.
These are abilities and traits needed for a job beyond technical competence. While some soft skills are critical for every role at the company (think Time Management or Integrity), other skills are especially useful for a specific job. The soft skills that make a good salesperson may not be the same as for a good technician, or a good manager. The whole team functions better when the right skills are matched to the right roles. A few soft skills to think about, and potentially even include in training: Adaptability, Complex Problem Solving, Teamwork, Creativity, Customer Service, Decisiveness, Work Ethic, Enthusiasm, Coachability, Responsibility, Presentation Skills.
Think about the Bus analogy.
You've probably heard it before: in building a business, you want to get the "right people on the bus." But you also need to make sure you get these people in the right seats
on the bus. Ask yourself: Do you have the right people on the team? Are they in the right roles? Do they have the right training? Are expectations clear? Do they understand how to represent the Brand? These are all key questions to ensuring a smooth, well-functioning team.
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