The team warm-up is essential for high-performance teams.

The best teams know the importance of slowing down to speed up.

Many of us will start January with a focus on our individual and personal New Year's Resolutions to be a better version of ourselves. We may kick of a January Whole 30. Or commit to keeping our inbox to one-screen page. But, after a long winter's rest, what do we do at work? We head right back work and dive back in to meetings, emails, and projects as if we had only stopped for a short lunch break. We pick up right where we left off, with no effort to get our work muscles warmed up and ready.

Photo: Carla Vernón and other members of the Princeton University Theater and Dance community warm-up under the instruction of Ze'eva Cohen.

Most of our new habits for the new year are an individual commitment. We rarely make a New Year's resolution as a team. So, how you prepare your team for a fast start in the new year? How do you start the year getting your mental muscles in gear as a team?

This January, inspired by the habits of the greatest teams in sports, the arts (dancers anyone?!), and the military, my team and I will slow down and start our first team meeting with a team warm-up. Warming up, together, as a team is a tool used by high performance teams across sports, the military, and the arts. The pre-game/pre-rehearsal/pre-mission/pre-performance team warm-up or PT is a key element for these teams. It allows members of the team to come together to prepare their minds and bodies for the upcoming shared mission. And it would be considered a great transgression to skip this vital team activity

In that spirit, my team and I have added additional time to our first team meeting of the year in order to do some work place warm-up together. How will we do that? And will it involve cardio and this horrendous song (Go, You Chicken Fat, Go!) from the 1960s President's Council on Physical Fitness Program?

Photo: The General Mills Natural & Organic team having a group discussion in the Annie's gym.

Not this year. This year, we will simply start out having a discussion of four warm-up questions:

1. What was one great or meaningful thing that you experienced on break? 
2. What is something you are optimistic/excited for regarding our business in the current fiscal year?
3. What concerns, apprehensions, stressors are on your mind regarding our business for the fiscal year?
4. How can this team support you in the coming days/weeks?

Each question is created with intentionality.

Question 1 - asks the team members to mentally return to their vacation for a moment. Why? On high functioning teams, it is important for people to feel some personal connection, empathy, and interest in each other...as people. Hence, my encouragement for a few people to share a bit of what they did over their vacation.

Question 2 - keeps the team in the upbeat, positive mindset for a bit longer. Allowing a gentle ramp-up to our discussion of work. We don't dive immediately into the burdensome elements. This also lets team members hear a groundswell of encouraging elements from each other for the upcoming business cycle. It is powerful to hear optimistic thoughts from people we know and respect.

Question 3 - Building a high-engagement team requires that the leaders show receptivity and appreciation when people express bad news or uncomfortable stuff. Leaders must repeatedly seek opportunities to show gratitude when people vocalize difficult news and challenges. This creates a climate supportive of courageous and honest actions.

Question 4 - This is based on some advice that my mom gave me about communication in marriage. My mom told me, "Carla, remember, your husband can't read your mind." This was her encouragement to make sure I am expressing what I need. Then, my partner is more poised to support those needs. In the workplace, we have can have a tendency to be "in our own head," simmering and stewing on the worries that occupy our particular and singular area of responsibility. We may not even realize that we have worries simmering on the back burner of our minds. And, most likely we are quite uniformed of the stressors that are occupying the mental file cabinets of our colleagues' minds. We are not mind readers. But, most people would welcome the chance to support their colleagues if they knew how.

The responses from the warm-up discussion can be synthesized into common themes. Weeks and months later, these themes can be revisited by the team as progress “mile markers”. Occasionally checking back on - “how are we doing versus the items we articulated in our team warm-up in January?”

This warm-up is useful beyond the New Year's context. Top performing teams consider the team warm-up as an indispensable priority for minds and bodies. So, this year, my team is on their own for cardio and in-box zero. But, they will be in good company for a warm-up of hearts, minds, and mission.

Carla Vernón is the President of the Natural and Organic business and a Corporate Officer at General Mills. She loves sparking inspiration and optimism within Corporate America. She is @CarlaInspired on twitter and your other favorite social media hot spots.