How can we serve our teams better by being observant, vulnerable and caring?

If you are from Melbourne right now, I feel for you. If you have teams in Melbourne, I feel for you too. It is not easy to be trapped in-doors all the time and not have that human connection.

As a follow-on piece from my last article on being resilient, it is equally important to be vulnerable to be strong. Like everyone, our teams are interested first if we care about them and if we will be the ones that can help them. This requires us to be vulnerable, to reflect where we have had challenges ourselves to help them relate.

Here are some tips that I have used personally with my teams and hopefully this will help you working with yours:

1. Be observant – My coach has always taught me – Hear the whispers before the screams. This is even more relevant now with Zoom and other technologies making things impersonal. I usually ask myself – Has their behaviour / results / body language change? Do I feel there is something more hidden behind the words?
2. Bring things to the surface -  This I found requires a lot of people skills to be able to surface what they are feeling and observing. What has worked for me is to focus on behaviour rather than personality. It ensures that a person does not feel like you are attacking them, because you are not, you are addressing their behaviour. For example “I have observed … is there anything you would like to share?”
3. Be vulnerable – This is quite important to share how you have felt. I personally share that I have been feeling down every morning to get into my office where I have been for 12+hrs a day. People need to know they are not alone in their feelings
4. Action Plan – Help them put together an action plan or share your action plan. I have personally redecorated my office to create more light and colour, I have stuck a dream board in front of my laptop so that I can look at it and remind myself what I am doing and why I am here.
5. Follow-up -  This is quite important as its not a set and forget situation. I have started to check-in more regularly to see if the strategies are working and how we can help them more.

These are just some tips that have helped me.

Why don’t you share some tips you have put together to help your team and share them here? I am sure it will benefit many out there.