Re-invigorating and re-energising your Team after challenging times

As I stepped outside into the snowy scenes this month and saw the snow covering the fields and paths, the icy streams and rivers, I was in awe of those who choose to dash into the icy waters as a form of pleasure, those who roll in the snow to rush back into their saunas, those who set off early to make the first tracks in the snow. All with a view to invigorating their body and mind, to feeling re-energised and ready for anything the day might bring. Whilst I might not choose to engage in all of these activities, I do resonate with the need to discover and re-discover our individual and team energies.

The start of a New Year can be a perfect time in the calendar to spend time with your colleagues and team members to re-consider future plans and ambitions for the year.

Outside of work, society encourages us to make plans for the year, encouraging us to think ahead to what we might do more of, what we might do less of. We might naturally have a tendency to do this for ourselves; to spend more time with friends and family, to be more active and eat well, to exercise more, to be in the present more or to travel less, to consume less, to stress less. Have we asked these questions of those we might lead or be part of?

• What are the “more’s” and “less’s” for our teams?
• What does our team need to do more of in 2024?
• What might make sense to do less of this year?

Co-creating The Energy in The Team

And now is the perfect time to collectively re-consider the team’s vision for the future. A compelling, shared vision is crucial to the success of the team, enabling all individuals to stay focused and to move together in the same direction. A shared vision means everyone is clear of the roadmap, whether they are on track and what success looks like. When there are competing priorities, it also enables team members to be in a much stronger position to be able to prioritise and manage their time and resources more effectively.

A clear team vision which has been explored and built upon with all individuals is so much more impactful than one simply shared as a given by the team leader. Exploring the opportunities and strengths, whilst aware of challenges, and aligning with core values, can create the motivating vision for the team.

In my experience quality time spent together as a team to positively look at the future and where we aim to travel together is so rewarding. Facilitated conversations around the following prompts can result in some rich and insightful considerations:

• What can we realistically achieve together in 2024?
• What problems does our team intend to solve?
• What are the changes we believe our team can make for individuals?
• How might things be different for our stakeholders if our team vision is achieved?
• What outcome do we want to see?

Two questions which I recommend and which result in even deeper team insights can be:

• If we had no constraints, what could we achieve?
• How can we dial up these ideas even more? (Be bold!)

The knowledge that individuals have a valued place in a team to meet the team’s vision is extremely motivating and energising. Definitely a rushing through the snow experience!

Re-Focusing the team on The Why

Now can also be a timely point to remind ourselves as to why we are doing what we do and to spend quality time discussing our overall purpose.

This purpose builds on the collective understanding of the team vision and provides insights into why we are aiming for that goal in the first place. Facilitated conversations can explore:

• What do we do as a team?
• What makes us different as a team?
• Who do we do this for?
• Why do we do this?

It can be useful to collectively consider stakeholders and explore how far they would concur with your thoughts:

• What would they say?
• What would they see?

And not forgetting the how:

• How do we deliver?

For me, the how, the manner in which we choose to operate is something which can be explored much further to explore our actions and behaviours:

• How do we work?
• How far do we consider our actions, behaviours, attitudes and habits?
• How do we treat each other?

One of my favourite quotes is:

“Happiness if the secret ingredient for successful businesses. If you have a happy company, it will be invincible.”
Richard Branson

When team members understand their purpose and how it contributes to the bigger picture, they are much more motivated to use discretionary effort, leading to increased success overall.

Reminder Of Personal Contributions

With the continued dominance of hybrid working, it is vital that we spend time valuing all in our teams and reminding them of their individual role and contribution. All too easily, individuals can begin to feel alienated from their colleagues, the vison and the purpose.

One tool I have found invaluable to explore this is the Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile. Using this powerful psychometric, individuals are positively reminded of their personal strengths, contributions and how these might affect the overall success of the team.

Do take time out to explore how best you as a leader, or as a team member, can support those around you to achieve their best in 2024. I hope you all have those invigorating and energising times…

Re-energised? Now what?

In order to maintain the renewed energy, focus and commitment within the team, why not ask the team what they individually and collectively would like to do to maintain this. Regular individual and team coaching also play an invaluable role in supporting the growth of the individual and team.

For more details, do get in touch with the team at Coach Mentoring Ltd…