Just because you’ve made the team, doesn’t guarantee success. Just ask the Miami Heat who won their first NBA Championship with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh after a few years together or the New York Yankees who were swept in the postseason, despite having a roster of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano. Building a team doesn’t just take time, but it also takes the right environment.
Recently, I came across a great piece of advice from Jon Carlson, author of Time for a Better Marriage. While his book speaks about improving your marriage, I felt that the advice he provides is very pertinent for team-building, be it a manager of a team, a member of a sports team, or even a social media team.
Below are 5 ways to create an encouraging environment for your team
- Make healthy relationships a priority. Respect and positive communication are two key elements of making that happen.
- Practice encouragement daily. Don’t wait until somebody has stumbled on the path toward a goal. Recognize every effort and every improvement, even if it is slight, to let them know that your faith in them is unwavering.
- Be inclusive. For instance, include others in your decision-making process whenever possible; it shows your faith in their sound judgment.
- Don’t let conflicts fester. When we’re in conflict mode, it’s easy to slip into discouraging or belittling dialogue. Compare “I think you can do it” and “Looks like we have problem – what should we do about it?” with “Just let me take care of this” or “I told you to be careful.”
- Have fun!
By creating an encouraging environment for your team, not only will it help you get off on the right foot with your new team, but you can also avoid coming across as being too demanding or brash with team members. In doing so, you’ll also be able to foster growth with your team and help bring them together faster so that the team can be successful in less time.
What other ways do you create an encouraging environment for your team? Leave a comment below.