Fortifying your team for the months ahead

It’s been a long January, but we’re almost there! Is your team feeling a bit flat, disheartened and demotivated? Are you finding it hard to lift the teams’ spirits because you aren’t feeling particularly “up” yourself?

If so, stay tuned, as over the next four weeks I will be posting ideas for building resilience, lifting the mood and strengthening your team during this uncertain time.

First up, at a time when there are so many unknowns, an important foundation to foster within our teams is psychological safety.

When a team feels psychologically safe, they feel at ease and supported in taking risks and trying new things. There is no fear that they will be embarrassed or reprimanded for suggesting or trying something different or new. Mistakes are considered learning opportunities and a culture of honesty, vulnerability and learning is encouraged.

People are struggling right now. Why not acknowledge this with your team and state your intention to set the tone of psychological safety. Emphasise learning over winning. Promote openness, respect and tolerance over judgement.

Once you model the way, you will gradually build the psychological safety of the team. Try it, you will reap the benefits.