Chances are your life is full of teams and the people on them. Whether in ministry, business, church, or family, our teams either accomplish more together or quickly fall into discouragement. As leaders, we need to intentionally build the habits of an encouraged team.
Words that describe an encouraged team are energized, collaborating, committed, life-giving, motivated, and passionate. This type of team has the momentum and strength to endure when things get tough.
Here is the reality – when we start to evaluate our teams, it is easy to identify areas that should be changed. I often hear people say things like:
“We avoid difficult conversations with each other.”
“I want to be a more effective leader.”
“Trust is broken on our team.”
“We need to improve our communication.”
“Our team feels stuck and lacks momentum.”
“Our differences are just too big.”
Build the Habits of an Encouraged Team
A few years ago, I joined a team that was stressed, distrusting, and inching close to burnout. I turned cynical and dove into discouragement. Thankfully, our team and leader (can we give a shout out to all brave leaders!) recognized the need for change and worked hard to build the habits of an encouraged team.
It is difficult to pinpoint one thing that produces a healthy and encouraged team. Simple answers and quick fixes do not exist for the complex challenges and situations teams face. Yet as I interact with a variety of teams, I have noticed a few simple habits that often get overlooked. Habits, that when intentionally cultivated, create avenues to build up and encourage our teams.
Spend Time Together
You might be thinking – well of course! But often teams get so busy checking off to-do lists that regular time together gets the brunt end of the schedule. Over and over, I have observed teams that simply cannot find time to meet. I am not talking about that once-every-quarter meeting with a logistical agenda the size of Mt. Everest. Nobody likes those. Instead, teams need brief daily or weekly huddles that include short rhythms of prayer, learning, discussion, vision casting, and, of course, a bite of the logistics.
At one point our team recognized that when things get busy, we need to meet more often, not less. This was a ‘light bulb’ moment. Predictably, we could not find a regular time to meet other than the wee hours of Monday morning. But we dragged our sleepy morning selves out of the house, coffee-in-hand, because spending intentional time together is vital for team health.
Cheers
Most of us have good intentions of speaking words of encouragement. Yet inevitably if it is not built into the habits and fabric of team life, we quickly begin to starve our team of affirmation.
Cheers are verbal recognition and encouragement with the whole team present. This may be a simple “Jane I appreciate the way you stayed calm and kept your head when dealing with multiple emergencies last week. I want to learn from you in that way.” Trust and appreciation are built between team members when the whole team participates.
Many times, the simple habit of opening meetings with a time of cheers is all the opportunity a team needs to get started. Other times the words get a little constipated and awkward. As a leader, you may need to intentionally build more awareness around strengths and weaknesses before your team is truly able to celebrate each other.
Clarify the Why
Does each member know why they are part of your team? Do they realize the value they contribute? For example, someone can simply be the janitor who cleans up after everyone else. Or that janitor can be the Director of Hospitality who creates an environment where customers feel at home. Create clarity around how each person can be a hero on the team.
Go ahead and ask your team a few intentional questions at your next huddle. If you get vague rambling answers like, “I’m in a support role” or “I just do what I’m told” or “these are the list of tasks I do,” then you have work to do! While flexibility, support, and task lists are part of nearly every role, a team member who owns their greater purpose will be more motivated to do their job well.
Give Proactive Feedback
As leaders, we often wait to give feedback until there is a problem. Then because it is uncomfortable to pull people into the office, we wait to address problems until they are too bad to ignore. Too often our teams are left wondering what their leader thinks of them and the job they are doing. It is high time to make meetings in the office normal again!
There are many ways to give feedback, but my favorite is to create Key Results Areas (KRAs). This refers to a short list of expectations and goals. Both the team member and their manager rate performance in each area. As the two sit down for a conversation, the goal is to express where the team member is excelling and areas they could improve. Feedback that is given well and consistently provides clarity, reduces conflict, and encourages trust.
Learn Together
Does your team life feel a bit stagnant? Part of leadership is creating the space to brainstorm and problem-solve as a team. A culture that continually asks, “how can we do it better?” opens a channel for improvement and collaboration.
Learning as a team can take many forms such as workshops, podcast discussions, book studies, communication development, skills training, etc. My favorite part of a workshop is seeing a team go from bored and uninterested to brainstorming, problem-solving, and having fun together. Regardless of what you choose to learn, remember to leave plenty of time for your team to ask questions and discuss practical application.
Celebrate!
I’m a big fan of celebrations. All too often our teams rush from one thing to the next, forgetting to take time to recognize what has been accomplished.
Celebrations may conjure up visions of elaborate events with grand menus, lists of logistics, and lots of expense and time involved. While these kinds of events certainly have their place, I am talking more about simple and regular celebrations that become traditions for your team. Maybe it’s Cokes for all when a goal is reached? Or pausing for a session of worship and thanksgiving prayer when a particularly busy season has ended? It may be grabbing a giant sticky note and listing the wins for the quarter? As a leader, make sure your whole team hears and celebrates the big picture wins!
Jesus is the ultimate team builder. In some of His last words to His team, the disciples, he gave these famous instructions, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” (John 13:34b-35 NIV) One way we are identified as followers of Jesus is when our teams love and work together well. This truth spurs us on to do the hard work of building habits that encourage the teams in our care. Wherever you find your team, remember the words of Jesus, and go unleash the potential on your team!
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