Teams are made up of people which makes them as vulnerable, and sometimes more vulnerable, to challenging events and difficult behaviours as individuals on their own.
A resilient team is a vibrant mini organisation with the capability, capacity, flexibility and mental strength to rise up to, and overcome, stressful challenges; a team that works together to collectively develop and maintain their resilience (personal and team) and strengthen the psychological wellbeing of its members.
A team should be an oasis from a turbulent world, and that is how they become power houses for outstanding performance.
This requires teams to be harmonious and self-critical, with a culture that is open, transparent, yet stimulating, whilst achieving a common purpose. Above all, it requires a group of people to trust each other, so no time is wasted in second guessing the motivation of team members’ actions and behaviours.
A resilient team has the characteristics of:
- a thriving group of people, alert and open to ideas, opportunities and change;
- a cohesive group that is, also, flexible in its approach to challenging situations;
- a harmonious group that sustains mutual support within a self-critical context;
- an influential group that uses the strategy of conviction to persuade others;
- a robust group that gets its strength from ‘institutionalised’ learning from everyday experiences;
- a group driven to achieve high performance and great success.
Like any organisation, teams require constant attention to ensure they function successfully. A functioning team will be acutely aware of the need for its team members to feel consistently psychologically well, as this, combined with motivation and a positive attitude, offers the opportunity for it to perform at its peak.
And of course, it takes a great team leader to create and maintain a high performing team like this – a team leader who :
- has an adaptive style of leadership,
- is attentive to their team,
- gives control rather than takes it,
- shares responsibility for the success with their team,
- encourages everyone to look after their own psychological wellbeing and that of others,
- leads with emotional intelligence,
- applies intelligent behaviours when managing their team, and
- knows how to engage and motivate remote, hybrid and face-to-face teams.
No small challenge!
You can read more in Derek Mowbray’s Guide to Team Resilience
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