9 Ways to Build and Lead a Cohesive Team

1.     Expect the Best of People

We are all familiar with the term that references seeing the glass as half-empty or half-full. That’s typically referring to how you read and react to a situation in front of you. We all want to be the person that sees the glass as half-full. We all want to be that optimistic person. It is possible to train your brain for this?

What if you did the same thing with people? What if you always choose to see them as half-full?

When something goes wrong with a project, instead of thinking that your team member didn’t care or didn’t try hard enough, try looking at it from another point of view. Maybe they cared, maybe they tried, and maybe - just maybe - you hadn’t given enough clear direction on the project.

When someone seems to have an “attitude,” many times we can become offended or take it personally. Try removing yourself from that point of view and think instead, “I wonder what's going on with Amy." I’m going to make some time to sit down with her and see if there is anything I can do to help.

2.     Own Your Mistakes and Teach Your Team to Do the Same

That leads to this next – and very important – part. When there is a mistake made on your team and you’re the leader, it is basically your mistake. You should own it. If someone isn’t meeting their deadlines, what can you do better to make sure they do? If someone on your team is turning in assignments as complete but that have loose ends hanging, how can you train them to meet your expectations?

Leading by example on this one is so good. People see you saying, “You know, I should’ve given a clearer timeline for this” or “I don’t think you were ready for this assignment. Next time, I will evaluate the situation better and make sure you’re ready and have the support you need.” The time will come that you will feel you did do it all correctly. In that case, you say, “I thought I gave a very clear deadline. How could I have done this differently that would’ve worked better for you?” Now you are opening the door, not to blame, but to improving team performance and a little soul searching for both of you.

3.     Create a Culture of Engagement by Having Consistent Meetings

Regular Team Meetings build a bond of team performance that can’t be done without them. Six heads, or 10 heads, or even 3 heads are better than 1. Done wrong, the team meetings can feel like a waste of time, or worse, could fuel arguments. As the leader you first set the tone each time you meet, starting from before you walk through the door. Next, you’ll want to create an agenda that is expected and followed each time, and this includes a time limit.

I suggest 1 to 1.5 hours, depending on how often you meet and how many people are in the meeting. I love the idea of starting and ending the meeting on a positive note. My current agenda goes something like this:

• Start with Positivity: Each person shares a quick piece of professional good news that has happened since the last meeting.
• Watch a short motivational video (rotate who chooses it each week).
• Cover any “To-Do”/Follow Up assignments from the last meeting to make sure they were completed by the deadline.
• Go over current topics. All team members have ongoing access to this list so they are able to add any current topics that they would like to cover as a group at any time between meetings. Add any “To-Do”/Follow up assignments coming out of this meeting to the list.
• End with Positivity: Each person shares a piece of personal good news that has happened since the last time we met.

In addition to the Team Meetings, One-on-One Meetings are invaluable in building a team culture that promotes sharing ideas and sharing feedback. These may be once a week for small teams or just once a month, but no less than once a quarter. One of my favorite agendas is:

• Review their Word of the Year and monthly refinement goal with them and see how they’re doing in both areas – in their opinion.
• Ask them to share what is going really well right now.
• Do a quick capacity check for each role they do, making sure they aren’t overwhelmed or underwhelmed.
• Review the status of all of their outstanding projects and tasks.
• If there are any issues that need to be addressed, do it here, privately.
• End the meeting by asking them something like, “What can I do for you this week to make your life at work easier?” or “What can I do this month to help you love your job more?”

4.     Treat Them Like the Adults That They Are

In my years as a leader, I have found that people perform best when they know they are trusted and respected. For me, this means providing guidelines with freedom when it comes to working on a project. It also means allowing schedule flexibility as much as the position allows for. If they prefer 7:30-4:30, then give that a try. It may work; it may not work. Either way, your team member will know you tried it and that makes a difference.

5.     Share the Wins

As important as it is to address room to grow, it is equally important to “share the wins” when the team as a whole, or one member of the team individually, has success. Some people love the spotlight, so sharing the win with as many people as you can is meaningful to them. Some people cringe at being complimented publicly. Know this about your team members and react and share accordingly.

6.     Use the Platinum Rule

Just as everyone likes to be celebrated differently, they also have differences in how they prefer to be managed. There are all kinds of assessments such as the DiSC available to us out there, but ultimately knowing your team members as individuals is where the magic happens. The Golden Rule is to treat others as you would like to be treated; the Platinum Rule is to treat others as they would like to be treated.

7.     Regular Feedback

Transparency and honesty in any relationship strengthens that relationship. This is true in a marriage, a friendship, and a working relationship. Many managers think this focuses on providing negative feedback or constructive criticism. It sure does. But it also means to do the same with positive feedback. Our job as leaders is to help our team members grow. It is a balance between too much freedom and micromanaging. Clearly expressing your expectations to your team members is crucial. This includes everything from the big picture (overall expectations for them in their role) to the small picture (like individual projects). At the beginning of a project, as well as in any steps in the process, being specific is key to allowing your team members to feel success.

8.     Invest in Them – Support Their Personal and Professional Growth

One of my favorite things about training and pouring into your team members is this: What if you train them and they leave? What if you don’t, and they stay? I can’t remember if this quote is directly attributed to someone, or if it is just a common example used on why we want to train our team members - but it is so true.

Each member of your team needs to know they’re important to the team and to the company. Coach them; mentor them, counsel them. Invest money in them to send them to training opportunities. Pour into them to help them grow out of their current position at some point. As their leader, that is what they deserve from us. It’s one of the hardest things to do – support them and help them when they are ready to move into another position or even another opportunity at another company.

9.     Have Fun Together!

Last - but not least - is have fun together as a team! Invest in regular lunches together – on you, once a month at least. Take time for quarterly social time together doing things that allow for as much interaction as possible. Some of my recent favorites are Top Golf or the escape room concept. A simple happy hour or dinner out is always beneficial for team bonding as well. Sometimes we get so busy that things like this get pushed aside. But many times, it is when we are the busiest that we need this focus the most. Sometimes ongoing issues, and solutions, end up coming out in these moments. Most importantly, your team will be able to see how much you value and appreciate them as individuals as well as members of the team.