Practical ideas to build team resilience

I have got a cold.  It’s not Covid (apparently), so no big deal.  But it has made me realise that I don’t have much in the reserve tank at the moment.  I don’t think I’m the only one. 

The last two years have been a lot.  So how do we maintain individual and team resilience in all of this? 

There are no easy answers, but here are my thoughts and some approaches that we have found to be helpful:  

Get the team together (properly)

A bright spot in 2022 has been the return of face-to-face team meetings and workshops.  Seeing people, face to face, laughing, exchanging ideas, disagreeing, interrupting each other, feeding off the energy in the room – is a joy.  We’ve had a strong sense of teams rebuilding when they come together, reminding themselves of their collective purpose and culture and how they want to work together now.  Also, a lot has been learned in the last two years. It’s important to capture and protect the best of that for the future.   

Keep checking in

Acknowledging that things are tough at the moment doesn’t affect your ability to do your job, and it may strengthen what Google described as a team’s ‘psychological safety’.  Can team members talk, share, even disagree openly and constructively without feeling ‘at risk’?  If so, you’re on the right lines.  There’s a simple ‘traffic light’ technique that can be used to encourage this.  The meeting lead starts by acknowledging external (or internal) stresses and asks for a brief indication of how everyone is feeling at that moment.  They go first: ‘I’m between red and amber because …’ or ‘Right now I’m green because X has just happened’.  Each individual shares to a level that feels comfortable.  Anything flagged of real concern is acknowledged and quickly followed up post meeting.  This particular approach may not suit your culture, but there are others, and any temperature check around how your team is doing and feeling is valuable. 

Celebrate the wins

Nurture the bright spots. They matter; now possibly more than ever.  Small wins count too.  Make a conscious effort to notice and acknowledge them, both individually and as a team.  If you are a fan of podcasts listen to this one from Dr Laurie Santos at The Happiness Lab about finding moments of ‘delight’.

 Focus on what you can influence

In a world where a lot is out of our control, it can feel good to focus on what we can change.  We sometimes use an exercise based on Stephen Covey’s ‘circles of concern and influence’.  A team gets their concerns out on the table: what do they worry about? what are the barriers to them doing their best work? what systems or processes could be better? We then help them identify which of these they have the power to change.  Between them they decide which to address as a priority and come up with collective solutions.  It’s achievable and constructive. 

Clear purpose can bind teams together

We’ve had more requests to help teams create and articulate their collective purpose in 2022 than in any previous year.  The exercise has a binding effect.  We’ve also been told that it helps with recruitment; candidates are attracted to teams that have a clear set of values and aspirations.  There’s a myriad of research that links a strong purpose to mental wellbeing within teams.  Slightly off topic, here is a brilliant articulation of purpose from Maya Angelou: 

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with passion, some compassion, some humour and some style.” 

Share what works

Got a good podcast, meditation app, quote, TedTalk, helpline?  Let people know.  Share it with us here below, or with your colleagues, or with the postman.  Spread the good stuff.  Everyone needs a boost sometimes.