Setting a Strong Team Foundation and Culture

You may have a team reporting to you in your new job, or many different teams reporting to you and other leaders. You may even work with peers towards a common objective. Regardless, it’s critical to effectively connect and engage with everyone to ensure you have productive relationships in any of these situations.  

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During this initial phase, you’ll need to get to know the members of your team, how work gets done within the organization, and if there are any preconceived expectations of you. By effectively connecting and engaging with the team, each member will be more open to you. That’s the vote of confidence you’ll need to learn about their abilities and how they want to contribute.   

 

The first step in building a high-performing team is to build trust. Trust is directly related to how you engage with each person. A goal in building trust is to have a team that is open and willing to share feedback or concerns. Ultimately, you’ll be able to proactively address issues and increase the likelihood of success.  

Here are a some ideas for connecting and engaging with the team:

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Identify what makes each team member unique. Find out about their background and skills to help you leverage talents. Consider asking if they feel they’re underutilized in any way that may be valuable to the team.  

 

Ask open-ended questions to encourage a dialogue. This puts people at ease about expressing their opinions and ideas. In addition:  

 

Ask for input, feedback and suggestions, rather than telling the team what you expect.  

 

Listen to their comments and validate by repeating what you heard back to them. Expressing interest and respect for their input shows that your care. 

 

​Think about what you need to know from the members of your team in advance. Do you need information, validation or confidence that they know what they are doing? What questions can you ask to get the information you need?  

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Communicate openly. Meet regularly with the team and have everyone talk about their progress and challenges:   

 

Empower team members to help each other work through problems. Try not to solve the problems for them or critique their solutions. Ask questions to understand how their solution addresses the issue.  

 

This will let you to see how the team handles adversity and how they solve problems together.   

 

To make these interactions as timely as possible, determine how frequently you need to meet and communicate with the team.  

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Plan an off-site meeting to create a team charter. Getting the team out of the office allows them to focus on the meeting rather than the day-to-day stream of distractions and interruptions. Have everyone share their user manuals with each other in 2-3 minutes to help create a sense of belonging on the team. Next, ask team “what does success look like”. Finally, present your list of Success Pillars in a collaborative setting and ask for feedback 

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Organize fun team-building activities. Time away from the office can relieve stress and strengthen the team. It’s also an opportunity for remote associates to meet and connect the team.  Ask what’s appropriate for your organization so it’s not extravagant. It can be as simple as a lunch or an event after work. 

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It’s likely that members on your team know what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to do it. But do they understand why they are doing it? As a leader, recognizing their motivation is imperative.   

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 When an individual is motivated by the successful outcome of their work on the team – and the team is goal-oriented – that’s a win-win-win for everyone (the individual, the team and the organization). But this is the ideal situation. As you get to know the motives and potential gaps for each person, you’ll realize what’s needed to elevate the team’s performance.  

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How can you identify what motivates the team? 

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Ask team members what success looks like. Are their responses team oriented (“we”) or individually motivated (“me”)? Are they aware of the goals and objectives of the team?   

 

Confirm if there is a shared understanding of the team’s goals. Are you hearing consistent themes?  

 

Identify appropriate ways to recognize team members for your organization. Each company has different ways to honor outstanding performance and it’s important be consistent. At the very least, understand when you’re deviating from policy. 

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Identify the types of recognition that are important to each team member. Some people love being acknowledged publicly for their accomplishments (e.g., at a town hall, staff meeting, or giving a corporate award), while others are embarrassed by public recognition. Consider what is appropriate based on the level of the contribution and the corporate policy.  

 

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​How can you identify what motivates the team? 

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Be more compassionate and empathetic.

 

Learn about issues in a timely manner that are impediments to the team’s success. 

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Understand what the team needs to be successful. 

 

Observe the team collaborating and solving problems together. 

 

Identify any key skills missing from the team. 

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