Your employees had their “team thing down” when suddenly last year they may have had to relearn how to “virtually team.”
In their recent white paper “Closing the Virtual Team Skills Gap”, Wiley reports the following research statistics: 69% of team members are struggling to maintain a sense of comradery with their team and 67% report feeling isolated from their team.
Whether your team meets In-Person, Virtually or during a Hybrid model, your ability to “team” with colleagues is critical. Differences in perspective and personality are part of what makes your team thrive. Here are four areas that are important to learn about each of your coworkers that will increase your “teaming” ability:
- What Your Coworker Cares About: Your coworkers are at their best when they can approach their work in a way they care about. Everyone cares about their work but in a different way. One person may care most about having independence and control over their work and another about sharing enthusiasm for the work.
- When to Pull Your Coworker into a Project: Diversity of thought will help a project succeed. Seek out others who contribute in different ways such as a coworker who excels at improving inefficient systems or another when the project needs new energy.
- What Might Stress Your Coworker: It is difficult to contribute our best when we are feeling stressed. Be aware of stress responses in your coworkers which of course will differ by person. One person may feel their energy drain during uncertainty and another during confrontation and conflict.
- Support Your Coworker Needs: We can help each other create an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute. The key is to understand different needs. One person may need openness to their ideas and positivity and another may seek an efficient process and objectivity.
Do your team members readily and consistently adapt to the unique needs of each person they encounter? I would be happy to work with your team by utilizing the DiSC Workplace assessment on Catalyst. Your team members will immediately find people they work with, see how they compare, and explore strategies for working together. Contact Deborah.Avrin@ManagementSkillsInc.com for a walk-through demo.