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3.5 | What have you learned from / observed around your team effectiveness?
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I am applying this practice in teams sprinkled around my life.. not necessarily in my main business. I am learning/observing that when I take time to center myself, then enter with intent to listen with my heart, not all from my head and invite in collaboration, I feel better and my tone and stance is more open and inviting. The conversations/meetings I have had where I remember to practice this have been sweet and productive.
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I have observed and learned that when it comes to my role in leadership there is no control over problem solving and that is for the best. When I find myself having the urge to fix or change things I have experienced greater effectiveness when I take a step back and investigate that urge as a difficulty I am experiencing in myself to not act from previous patterns of thought and behavior that are not always helpful.
When I am aware of that and calling that in rather than repressing and mindlessly acting from that place I am able to be much more present with the team I am working with and can contribute rather than take the result or solution I think is best. It isn’t easy to pause in that space when there are expectations in leadership position, and a lot of them are self-imposed, but I have learned that the more I practice it the more I am capable of compassion towards myself and the team as well. It is frightening to let go of old ways of doing things but it seems to be the only way to grow. I have tried every other option and it always takes me away from the present moment which is all there is anyways.
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I fear I have had a difficult time applying these concepts to my current work situation.
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I am blessed with managing a team of managers and supervisors who are subject matter experts in their fields and are an awesome group of individuals who are very dedicated to the work they do; the supervision of their staff and the clients who they serve! The team’s effectiveness has grown over time. I encourage the team to support each other and have created room in our meetings for folks to share challenges they are experiencing and provide feedback to each other on possible solutions. There is a universality amongst the members knowing that they are all experiencing similar difficulties with the challenges of supervising doctors, therapist, and nurses; the struggles with electronic health record; the inadequacies of our billing system that creates numerous error reports that need to be corrected….on and on…by supporting each other with some of these difficult tasks, it helps make the road a bit more manageble and allows therefore room to enjoy the aspects of their work that was what motivated to take on theirroles in the first place….
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My team is less than a dozen people, and much of their work is autonomous or with a small subteam, so I get to make sure that staff feel connected; I don’t have to navigate too many internal meetings and kerfluffles. I’m blessed with a team that wants to get things done! I have work on accountability and process with them so that we don’t step on anyone’s toes. The notion of psychological safety really resonates with me. Our team has a good vibe right now, and I want to encourage trust-building, especially with staff in five different cities, and four hired during the pandemic. At previous organizations, I haven’t seen a team be able to achieve and hold this sweet spot for more than a few years–I want to break that record!
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I’ve become ever more tuned into the fact that everyone thrives off of different ways of being and working. That said, we are all connected by some core needs, like connection. Giving my team a chance to meet in smaller (breakout groups), as part of a larger team meeting, has allowed for more candor, more ‘new’ and creative ideas, and a deeper sense of cammraderie and connection, which I believe will also lead to more trust. I’m excited to continue to experiment with very intentional team meeting time.
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I have enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on effective team dynamics, and in particularly, the role of psychological safety. I can see that this is central to some of the toughest challenges I have worked through with my team members. I can see that intentional efforts to offer psychological safety have benefited those I work with; feedback I’ve received suggests that my direct reports have developed a greater sense of self confidence and willingness to speak up. That said, I feel my greatest challenge lies in helping these same team members address a deficit of psychological safety that they feel with others. This may well become the topic of another difficult conversation!
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My perception is that psychological safety is relatively high for my team. I am always encouraged by seeing people take calculated risks, give me candid feedback and share their ideas openly. I see areas where we as a team could build on this, and I have had some difficult conversations that have significantly improved psychological safety. So I’m optimistic we’re heading in a positive direction.
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I’ve learned that I’ve been holding on to some resentment about lack of accountability on my team. I’ve also realized that just as I value reliability, others value feeling safe and heard. I have started to focus on how I can be better and more responsive to the team and I have noticed the team has actually gotten more effective (over the course of a year or so). I am more grounded for the journey and slowing down a bit andthat feels fien for now.
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I’ve learned that I’ve been holding on to some resentment about lack of accountability on my team. I’ve also realized that just as I value reliability, others value feeling safe and heard. I have started to focus on how I can be better and more responsive to the team and I have noticed the team has actually gotten more effective (over the course of a year or so). I am more grounded for the journey and slowing down a bit and that feels fine for now.
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I find I need to have some compassion for myself and others. I hold a lot of tension around team effectiveness. I would benefit from holding some equanimity around this. Our team works really well together and the work being done throughout the week is running smoothly, but sometimes I misjudge and use a team meeting that isn’t so effective. I’ve learned I need to take a step back and look at the full picture and not get so caught up in the small details.
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I am not currently working within an organization but the material around team effectiveness, especially psychological safety resonated deeply. I have reflected on the receiving of support and the depending on others as being an important piece to the team puzzle. I would not have imagined the resistances to depending on others to be so palpable, but I am bringing them into my awarenesses more with compassion and this helps me shift so much internally.
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My team is extremely effective (I like to think because our goal is to foster mindfulness in our large federal agency!)- what has made it far more effective is my leadership decision to develop a smaller leadership team to “steer the ship” and empower others to act as leaders in addition to my direction. thank you!!!!
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As a team, we did an exercise identifying our strengths and values. This will be a valuable way to articulate our peers’ (unexpressed) motivations, values, and interests, especially in a remote setting where it can be challenging to get to know our peers on a deeper level.
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Pursuant to what I wrote in 3.4 above, my partner and I export our own version of effective meeting habits and hygiene in our day-to-day coaching practice, and I can attest to the power of this work. I’ve seen in real time across a number of different organizations the noticeable and verifiable increase in team effectiveness when sound meeting hygiene practices are put in place and made a habit. As one example, individuals who are more introverted can tend to have the most insightful ideas, observations and contributions – making a room safe for them to speak, ensuring the floor is open for everyone and holding space for those folks who are by nature more reticent in group speaking settings can have real positive impact on how well a team functions. I’ve seen it.
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