It is going to take more than ‘team-building’
An extraordinary opportunity has presented itself. You might have noticed that your team isn’t what it used to be. The team you now have located in multiple locations might consist of the same members as before, but it is no longer the same team. Not only has the conversations you have together shifted, the connections and relationships between team members have changed too.
Some may have an experience of increased agility and unprecedented achievement, whilst others experience loneliness and loss. In some instances, new skills and capabilities have been revealed, whilst in other places disconnects and underlying tensions have come to the surface. Given this wide range of experiences over the past months, something deep and thoughtful needs to be planned to cater for this, and it as a unique opportunity to create a ‘new’ team that is up for something purposeful and exciting.
The coming months present a unique opportunity to build from a period of uncertainty and turmoil, and create teams that become more deeply connected than ever before. Teams that have the ambition and capability to cause outstanding breakthroughs.
Firstly, the range of experiences from working remotely and virtually is the very basis for re-connecting and deepening the relationships within the team. Both with respect to caring for the ones that have been impacted negatively and to explore what people have discovered about what is really important to them. Skilfully facilitating discussions that deepen connections creates a vital basis for building both ambition and resilience in a team.
Secondly, the same range of experiences has also caused a shift in how the world around us occur and what is seen as possible. Having peered into people’s homes on video calls, gotten more closely connected to customers and experienced the speed at which things can change, this is the perfect time for an unrestricted exploration of what is possible. Connect this to what has been discovered about what is important to the team members and a ‘new’ team will emerge. A team that is up for something exciting and has a new deeply rooted sense of purpose.
Thirdly, the adaptability and agility experienced in the past few months have opened up new pathways for making things happen that may not have been apparent before. Extracting learning from this period gives access to making things happen on timescales that might have been considered unrealistic before.
As restrictions ease, merely getting together to do activities, or what is often referred to as ‘team-building’, is a massive missed opportunity. The coming months present a unique opportunity to build from a period of uncertainty and turmoil, and create teams that become more deeply connected than ever before. Teams that have the ambition and capability to cause outstanding breakthroughs.