A team that is highly resilient will overcome obstacles. When it comes to business and team building, resilience is especially important so that successes can be built on, lessons can be learned, and targets can be met.
Understanding resilience in the workplace
What is resilience?
Resilience describes a person’s ability to handle difficult situations. A person’s level of resilience will vary depending on their unique set of personal circumstances and the challenges they face. There are questions that leaders must ask themselves and their teams to build resilience and ensure consistency.
Practical ways to build a resilient team
Building resilient teams
Leaders should always encourage an environment that promotes honest feedback and conversation. By speaking openly and freely, teams can come together to build strategies as to how they will overcome challenges.
Team members should also be encouraged to have compassion and empathy for their co-workers. This promotes the concept of sharing successes and encouraging a deep-seated team spirit.
Story sharing is a great way of building trust and honesty between team members.
Highlighting that any points can be discussed freely and without consequence is a great way to promote free speech.
By considering the above, efficient leaders can identify weak spots within their team and address them accordingly.
How leaders can support their team’s resilience
Managing resilient teams
Leaders should always show that they care by taking a genuine interest in their teams. They must carefully listen to what is being fed back to ensure areas lacking in resilience can be addressed.
Interim management leaders can hone their leadership and resilience-building skills within their teams by expanding their network and joining a professional body such as https://iim.org.uk/. Interim management will find resources, advice, and a like-minded community, all of which can help leaders to strategise how they will best meet their full potential.
Team resilience is like a battery in that it needs to be topped up and charged for team members to work at their best. It is the job of leaders and interim management to ensure team members are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to keep their team’s battery charged.
Summary
This article explains what team resilience means and how leaders can build it. It recommends encouraging open feedback, compassion between colleagues and honest story-sharing to build trust, and stresses that leaders should listen closely to spot weak spots. It also points to joining a professional body for interim managers as a way to develop resilience-building skills further.
Questions this article raises
- How can a leader tell whether feedback is genuinely open or just polite?
- What does resilience-building look like for a fully remote team?
- How long does it typically take to build a more resilient team culture?
