Tips for Building a Resilient Team

Serve as a resiliency role model - How you respond is how you teach your team to respond, so make sure you showcase your resiliency in the best possible light. Though you may have strong personal opinions or reactions to a variety of situations, control your emotions and focus on how to overcome the challenge.

Let your team make mistakes - Building a resilient work team means giving your team the freedom to make decisions and make occasional mistakes. Let your team know that mistakes are acceptable, as long as solutions follow. Balance giving your team permission to make mistakes with clear expectations: they must own up to them, fix them, learn from them – and take measures to ensure the same mistakes do not happen again.

Introduce change - Change is inevitable, and often catches people off guard, so it is important to create a dynamic work environment where change is a constant and your team will learn how to adapt, and may even look forward to the next change. For example, you could get each team member to take on a different or extra role for a week. Activities such as these can build new relationships, expose team members to different functions within the organisation, and encourage adaptability.

Use positive language -  Instead of saying ‘No’ or ‘I can't’, find ways to say ‘Yes’ or ‘I can’. This doesn't mean giving into an unreasonable request; it does mean re-examining the situation to find a way to make it workable, if possible. For example, if a team member wants to attend a pricey logistics management seminar that is out of the budget, your answer is probably going to be no. However, there may be alternatives that you could say yes to. Is there an online video feed at a reduced price that your employee could watch in the office rather than going to the seminar in person? Is an online logistics management training course available that covers the same information?

Present challenges as growth opportunities - Where some see obstacles, others see opportunities. Obstacles and opportunities both require hard work, but your perceptions frame how you feel about that work. If you think of a mountain as an obstacle that gets in your way, you are bound to be miserable as you climb over it or detour around it. On the other hand, if you embrace the challenge and recognise the opportunities ahead, you may enjoy the climb – or even actively seek out similar experiences.

 Empower your team to solve problems - While it may be tempting for you to manage problems and conflicts that are brought to your attention, encourage your team members to come up with their own solutions. They're closer to the problems and probably have ideas about how to solve them. By encouraging them to explore their options, you are laying the foundation for a healthier, more resilient work team.

Building a resilient work team starts with you and your own responses to adversity, challenge, and change. Start by modelling desirable behaviour and empowering your team to solve problems. Create a flexible work environment, help your team find purpose or meaning, and encourage everyone to get involved in mentoring – either as a mentee or mentor. With a continuous focus on these core areas, you should notice improved resiliency in your work team.

This article has been taken from © LifeWorks 2021. Our employee assistance wellbeing app.