3 Tips for Taking Care of your Teams Health

I’d like to share a little fable with you from which we can learn some important lessons that are highly relevant in the current crisis:

A lion used to prowl about a field in which four Oxen used to dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they fell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end of all four.

-Aesop, sixth century B.C.

In the past few months, many organizations, teams and people have been under enormous pressure. When we are stressed and tired and anxious, we are much more likely to quarrel with each other, and to privilege our own needs. Under pressure, it is easy to forget that we are much stronger together.

Many of us may have gone off “to pasture alone in a separate corner of our field” in recent months. Working from home and the fact that many of our encounters are now virtual creates additional difficulties. Our virtual work meetings tend to be goal-oriented, and what can fall by the wayside as a result is the social glue that is so important for binding us together as a team.

If we become too isolated in our home offices and virtual settings, without checking in on how we’re actually doing as a team, we lose the power of the “Circle of Safety” which Aesop describes so vividly.

Simon Sinek (Author and Instructor of strategic communications at Columbia University) describes the “Circle of Safety” as a space we create that is founded on trust. Simon explains: “Only when we feel we are in a Circle of Safety will we pull together as a unified team, better able to survive and thrive regardless of the conditions outside.”

 While we can deal with many things surprisingly effectively virtually and from home, checking in on each other has become more difficult. We need to find new ways of doing so, and must not forget that many of us are really struggling. Our own “Circles of Safety” needs active attending too.

Here are three tips for strengthening your teams “Circle of Safety”:

1 - Host regular “Team Health Check-ins”

Virtual sessions in which the agenda is completely focused on the team’s health. Allow team members to share how they’re doing, have a little fun and clear the air. Address any possible problems with current arrangements. Create a safe space in which the goal is to attend to your needs as a team.

2 - Poll the team on their current view of the team’s general health.

Send out survey  questions before to gage how everyone is actually doing. This will allow everyone to share what’s really going on for them. Do you feel supported by your team? Are you able to ask for help from team members? Do you need to clear the air on something? Do we all support team decisions that we have made? Do you feel that you’re getting all the information you need to do your job remotely? Are we clear on priorities? Do you trust your team to follow through?

3 - If possible, give the leader or manager a break!

Include leaders as participants rather than letting them lead the session. Ask a team member to lead or a trusted facilitator outside the team. Leaders can share something that shows vulnerability first. This will build trust and create “psychologically safety” within the team. It signals that truth and integrity are valued. It also allows everyone to adopt a sense of ownership to the situation, to support or correct the team’s current state and performance.

While we may be getting close to the end of the pandemic, let us not forget that “Winter is coming.” In times that are cold and dark, literally and metaphorically, it is essential that we over, not under-invest, in time with one another as a team. I know that’s hard and we’re all very tired.  As a client said to me recently, “We’ll never say to ourselves in April, ‘I wish we hadn’t invested so much time and effort in our team’s health during the pandemic, I’m not sure it was worth it.” 

Attending to our own “Circles of Safety” is always worth it, as Aesop already knew more than 2,500 years ago!