Resilient Teams: 6 Strategies For Thriving
In my book Show Up Hard: A Road Map For Helpers In Crisis I focus on individuals and what it takes to show up heart-forward and thrive, even as we do challenging work. I’m all about giving it all we have and avoiding burnout at the same time. It’s such a balance, a practice, a way of being.
In fact, there is also so much we can do as managers and leaders to shape the environments we work in to support others in this same posture of showing up and avoiding burnout. I had such a powerful experience working in tandem with the team at PleasePrEPMe to co-create sustainable structures for working together that invited our whole selves to work, a relentless devotion to what is possible, and a celebration of thriving.
UCSF Women and Women in Technology at UCSF Invited me to give a talk on resilient teams, sharing some of the learnings and best practices from my experiences creating a thriving work environment. I share highlights of this interactive workshop here to inspire your sustainable team-building practices.
1. Develop & share a personal operating manual
Don’t you wish your co-workers came with instruction manuals? Do you wish you had one for yourself? Think about it: We frequently consult “how to” instructions before engaging with a new technology or tool. How might such a practice cultivate connection and belonging as humans? The Wellbeing Teams in the UK has pioneered a simple and actionable practice of one-page profiles where each team member completes the sections with information about:
What people appreciate about me
What is important to me
How to support me
Developing individual one-page profiles works well as part of a staff retreat or annual meeting. As part of teams I have worked on, we updated our one-page profiles annually and shared them when new team members onboarded. It is such a simple practice for better understanding how ourselves and others operate. I’ve enjoyed helping organizations create custom practices for developing, completing, and sharing personal operating manuals in a way that suits their specific-environments. What would work for your team?
2. Know your resources
It’s invaluable to have already mapped out the resources available to staff, in advance of needing the resources. We want to lower the bar to access, making the information easily accessible. Creating a roadmap of resources demonstrates organizational commitment and can also identify gaps. The Show Up Hard Resource Survey is designed for an individual perspective and can be adapted for organizational use. I have worked with a team to crowd-source resources in an annual retreat using large white paper on the wall and another team to gather resources in advance of an annual meeting through a google form. Both of these teams found ways to integrate the completed resource guides into their everyday workflow - one in a three-ring operations binder and another in their online internal office space. Both groups committed to annually updating the resource guide. I’d suggest also reviewing after a crisis - what did the crisis reveal about what resources worked and what else is needed?
3. Cultivate connection
As much as the first two tips are about information, and we certainly need information as part of our team infrastructure, we also must cultivate connection practices. “We systematically overestimate the value of access to information and underestimate the value of access to each other,” Clay Shirkey. Authentic connection is a practice, is built on trust, and takes nurturing.
4. Model coping strategies
Burnout is born from elevating the enmeshed way of showing up, the hamster on a wheel mode, the overwork as inherent value mindset. To offset this often “normal” way of doing business, model your own coping strategies: talk about your breaks to stretch, the “commute” to your home office as a walk around the block, or as one of my dear friends has done- add your therapy appointments to your work calendar. Show what it looks like to take good care.
5. Operationalize resilience investments
Resilience investments are the self-care practices we proactively put into place to avoid burnout. We invest in ourselves so we can show up hard for each other. Map your resilience practices as a team. Then just like you schedule reports and meetings - schedule resilience investments. Send a group calendar invite for meditation or yoga. Have team check-in/check-out practices at the beginning and end of meetings. Create regular opportunities for screen-free work.
6. Advocate for equitable access
Too often access to resources, the privilege to talk about our coping strategies, and the flexibility to operationalize resilience investments is correlated with our income or position in an organization. This leaves the hardworking frontline people, who often most need the resources and resilience investments, without easy access. Thriving teams strategize pro-actively about visible and invisible access to the tools needed to thrive & talk about what equitable access looks like.
What small steps can you take with your team? What thriving strategies do you currently have in place that you want to share with me? I’m so eager to learn.
Here’s to your thriving!
#ShowUpHard
For more tools to thrive at the intersection of empathy & resilience, sign up for my free 30-day e-course.
