Reconnecting Teams after "Separation"

Reconnecting Teams after Separation

Teams need regular contact to maintain relationships and trust. A prolonged distancing will change the dynamic, high performing teams rely on. The recent “self-isolation”, will have changed people and without the opportunity to re-balance those changes, a whole team may not act as it did before. Because of this, there is an urgent need to reconnect and re-establish relationships before high performance can be achieved again. Massive enthusiasm will not be enough to return to previous levels of performance, and the leader’s skill will be crucial in this phase of business. However, it is unlikely that many leaders will have experience of dealing with this return from enforced absence before. What will they need to do to deliver a reintegration program?

 A Leader’s role in welcoming a team back, falls into four separate stages and within in each stage there are keys questions they must answer. 

1.    Return 

·      how is each team member feeling about getting back to working with each other?

·      what has changed or is different about being back in the workplace?

2.    Resilience 

·      how did each team member deal with self-isolation?

·      what new elements or effects of being in self-isolation do they bring to the team? 

3.    Reflection

·      how does each team member see themselves or their role/position differently to before the “separation”?

·      how does each team member see or think about other team members/colleagues differently to before the “separation”? 

4.    Re-engagement-

·      how does a leader facilitate the teams’ journey back to a place where, they can perform effectively and better than before quickly and smoothly?

·      how does a leader facilitate the teams’ expectations about what the journey will be to get back to a place where they were before the self -isolation?

In Summary

Returning “Faster, Stronger, Better!

The call to return to normal work, “improved”, is understandable but unattainable, unless leaders can anticipate and upskill, to meet the emerging demands of returning individuals. Each team member will need careful stewardship if they are to become “Faster, Stronger, Better” as a team.

Awareness of “team dynamics” and an understanding of the methods needed for team-reconnection, after a period of isolation is crucial. It is also a significant opportunity for investment to improve the working environment with “best practices” that ensure teams emerge with working principles of being; Outcome driven, Connection Based and Blameless, in their normal interactions. In that way, “Faster, Stronger, Better” teams and team members may well be achievable.

 The responsibility to “hit the ground running” falls to each team leader. The skills and techniques necessary to support this re-engagement, in both “one to one” and group formats are available. If you would like to learn more about this reintegration program, please contact the authors.

Anthony Sheldon

 https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/anthony-sheldon-amec-ac-msc-dip-cbt-ianlpc-2733381/

Omar Ismail

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/omar-ismail-impact-and-influence-facilitator-54a38b4/