I have been privileged to lead different teams and I can tell you the different feel when the team is productive and when the team is barren.
Most times when we face challenges in business, we feel that all our village people have gathered to fight our progress, not knowing that it’s our ignorance that is affecting us.
When I have business challenges, the first place I turn after talking to Oluwa is my team. The team takes responsibility. The team’s ability and performance determine a lot of things in business.
Many times, I have experienced low performance from my team. When I look into it, either the working atmosphere is emotionally unsafe or toxic, where important issues that may be causing tension or conflicts are not resolved, or the objectives of the team are misaligned in cases where there are no clear goals and roles.
You see cases where team members work around each other and not with each other, even some will work in unnecessary isolation because their activities are not aligned and they don’t enjoy working with their teammates.
One way I have always tried to resolve it is to constantly create a safe and inclusive work environment that fosters open communication, promotes collaboration among team members, and encourages team members to complement one another and not compete. I encourage them to share their opinions even if it doesn’t make sense.
One of the difficult ways for me is making sure they clearly understand their roles and responsibilities, and the team’s goals and objectives. I find it challenging to regularly set expectations and provide appraisal or feedback on their performance.
It’s important to build trust and bonding among your team members, I try to lead by showing transparency, showing empathy, caring, hugging, recognizing, and rewarding good work.
So, what are you doing to avoid leading a barren team?