Four Emotionally Intelligent Ways to Increase the Effectiveness of your Team during COVID-19
Are you worried about the success of your team during this remote era? Are the changes in policies due to COVID-19 causing you and your team to stress?
As leaders, we often strive to look like we have everything “under control”. However recent studies by Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School, tell us just the opposite. These studies show the highest performing teams are reporting the most mistakes. They are willing to recognize not everything is under control. In fact, they don’t actually make more mistakes than other teams instead they are just talking about their mistakes. These teams openly communicated and processed the challenges and solutions unlike other teams who hide or minimized mistakes. The communicative teams have stronger psychological safety.
Psychological safety is the ability to share ideas and concerns without fear of retribution, the ability to be authentic and vulnerable in front of your managers and co-workers, and the ability to create a space where your team can not only make mistakes, but openly discuss mistakes and learn from them. Research states psychological safety is the number predictor of success and effectiveness. Teams with psychological safety are more likely to be seen as effective by executives, more likely to bring in more revenue, and less likely to leave the organization. So, how do we create psychological safety in the midst of COVID-19 and the new policies and procedures our organizations are rolling out daily?
1. Be an Authentic and Transparent Leader
It is your job to keep it real. You can laugh when your Zoom link or Google Hangout fails and you are ten minutes behind schedule. You can share that you are frustrated by the flood of e-mails in your inbox. You can tell your team you are scared you won’t hit your goals because you aren’t physically with them every day to motivate and inspire. You can collaborate and ask your team what they need from you to be the best leader during this time. It is okay that you may not know every answer and it will be beneficial for your team knowing you are human, you make mistakes, and you are navigating this chaotic time just like they are. If you are transparent, it is more likely your team will be. There will be less potential resentment and more open communication. Trust will grow.
2. Do a Daily Check-In
It is your job to create a safe space for your team to share their ideas, stresses, and joys. Whether via Slack or video call, make a point everyday to check-in both personally and professionally on your team. You can ask for their high (gratitude) and low (challenge) every morning. By doing this, you as a leader are saying your voice matters, you are a whole person with a life outside of work, and you are cared for. Plus, when your team knows you are asking them this question daily, they will be more thoughtful and look for what is truly challenging them and what they are truly grateful for. Leaders will begin to create stronger relationships with their teams through this daily practice.
3. Remember my Mantra “Experiences are Different, but Emotions are the Same.”
It is your job to recognize everyone is experiencing this pandemic in a different way. Some of your employees may be single moms with children at home because school is no longer in session. Some of your employees may be completely alone and work meetings are their only time for social connection. Some of your employees may have elderly or immune compromised family members who live states away. As leaders you cannot know all of the lived experiences of your team members, but you can connect with the emotions they are feeling. You know what it is like to feel confusion, shame, frustration, or fear. You know what it is like to be overwhelmed or excited or irritated. Connect first on the emotion and you will inherently increase the psychological safety of your team because they will feel seen and heard.
4. Have Fun with your Team
It is your job to create fun. Though you are not physically together, you can still make moments like you were. You can create a selfie Slack channel or a channel dedicated to cute pictures of your pets. You can create a team name and rename your daily check-in to be on theme. For example, your team name is now the Germbusters and your daily High is now called the Super Sanitized and your daily Low is the Sticky Icky. You can have trivia or riddles for your team with prizes or make different themes for different workdays like Wacky Wednesday or Fancy Friday. If you as a leader can role model fun and relaxation during this highly stressful time, you can create a team who enjoys logging in and getting online each morning. If you can create a team who will be silly with the small things, then those little acts of silliness can create vulnerability within the team. And that vulnerability creates connection and psychological safety that you need as a leader to tackle the big things.
Putting your team's psychological safety first will increase their effectiveness and their trust in you as a leader. These four tactics can be used by executives, directors, managers, and team members. Lead from where you stand. Let's create social connection during this time of social distance.
Do you want help creating effective, emotionally intelligent teams? If so, please contact me on my website www.carolinecrawfordconsulting.com or send me a message via my LinkedIn.
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