“We know it has to be done, but it’s hard to do so without it being perceived as personal!” said Jess.
Do you occasionally face a similar situation?
In Jess’ case, it was just a simple thing: removing a former member of the team from the team’s chat group. But it was hard because they had a good relationship with the former team member.
Are you trying to craft a set of norms for your team?
A well-crafted set of team norms is a great way to shape your team’s interactions and collaborations, allowing them to function more effectively and achieve greater impact.
If this is your first time crafting team norms, you might be wondering where to start. The process of crafting them is not complicated. To help you get started, I have listed some team norms for your consideration.
As a team leader, I want my team to work together effectively. Having a set of team norms is one way to shape how team members interact and work together.
There are several advantages to having a set of intentionally crafted team norms. The best time to do this is when the team is new and malleable. While you will face some challenges in reshaping your team’s norms if it has been around for a while, the benefits are still worth the efforts.
Team norms exist, whether you like it or not. Any team that works together develops a certain set of norms over time.
These organically developed norms, which are often unspoken, help team members know how to behave and interact with one another. While some norms help the team function more effectively, other norms might erode the team’s effectiveness.
Leading a team is not an easy task; that is if you want to lead effectively!
A leader has many responsibilities: setting direction, formulating strategies, planning, aligning stakeholders, motivating, being a spokesperson, being a change agent, developing team members, etc. Unfortunately, we can’t do all of them well; even a super talented person has his limit.
During my conversations with leaders, one leadership topic keeps showing up. Specifically, how a leader could create an environment that encourages learning.
It’s not as simple as just providing training for your team. I know of many leaders who’d gladly send their staff for training; even providing time and funding for them. While emphasising training is good, that alone would not create an environment that encourages learning.
Continue reading “The Key to Creating an Environment that Encourages Learning”
It’s hard to have a good team. I’m not saying it’s rare; I’m saying it takes an effort to nurture and maintain one.
Some of us have been with teams where the leader is only interested in getting the job done; in which we’re mere tools for the leader to achieve his/her goals. Chances are, I would move on as soon as an opportunity comes along.
Continue reading “5 simple ways to show your team you value them”
One major challenge of all team leaders is to keep their teams motivated. A motivated team would not only give their best but also stay together longer.
I was privileged to be with highly-motivated teams and have led several ones too. But not all teams started that way.
One team that I led was particularly challenging because they were already demoralised when I took over as the team leader!
You have probably heard the saying that “Leadership is getting things done.” or, “Leadership is getting things done through other people.”
A good leader, however, needs to realise that leadership is as much about the people as about the tasks. You can only succeed as a leader if your team succeed!
Continue reading “Five things your team need from you, the leader, in order to succeed.”
Leaders are a busy lot of people.
We are responsible for getting our team (or organisation) to the goals and making sure the team accomplishes its mission. Apart from our primary objectives, we also have secondary responsibilities, like taking care of and motivating our team, among others.
Each day, many things demand our attention: not only those we’re primarily responsible for but sometimes those we are not directly responsible for. With so many things to deal with, we tend to be very busy most of the time; though some leaders actually wear “busyness” as a badge of honour!
Continue reading “Why Every Leader Should Have a Regular Reflection Time”
