The corporate world is finally back to a sense of normality; with workers returning to the workplace and businesses looking to charge ahead to meet goals and targets. For some, the move back to the workplace helps foster a greater sense of purpose and productivity – simply just being with the team is enough to maintain drive and enthusiasm. But what if productivity isn’t at the level it was at before? How can you increase performance? What’s causing the disconnect?
Teams need to be on the same page, if performance and optimal productivity is to be reached. They work best when working towards common, shared goals and have a mutual understanding of their role in the team and how they add value with their contributions. It’s important for team members to collectively understand the role each other plays within the organisation and to be mindful of how this connects to their own role.
As we rush towards the end of the year; some of us energetically and full of enthusiasm, others limping towards the finish line of Christmas, never has it been more important to understand the frame of mind and headspace of each and every team member. Uniquely individual, everyone will have different push and pull triggers, varying concerns and challenges and ideas on the future state of success. It’s quite possible that, unconsciously, some of these concerns and challenges might be contributing to not performing to their optimal best. Addressing these challenges with a human lens, enables you to look at the broader picture as their leader and work with them to find solutions to remedy any problems and provide clarity around the way forward as a team.
As a leader, do you feel as though you’re in touch with how your team is feeling? What’s preventing them from performing?
It could be that your team feels stressed, overworked, unsure on direction. In times of stress, when the brain has the ‘fight or flight’ mode switched on, it’s scientifically proven that it’s almost impossible to think and act with the same clarity of thought. With stress hormones surging through the body, people are more inclined to make rash decisions, without the awareness and focus required to perform effectively. By addressing any challenges, creating headspace for your team and being more aware of the challenges they might be facing, you’re positioning them strongly to succeed and perform as a group together.
Once you, as a leader, become more aware and mindful of the factors impacting the productivity of your team, there are several practical ways you can support them with mindfulness tools and techniques.
- Set up a monthly 1:1 with each team member, not just to ask about their work but try to engage and connect on a deeper level. Ask probing questions around how you can support them to achieve even more, how they’re finding their workload and ensure that they’re getting adequate work/life balance to help create that headspace.
- Start actioning mindful meeting techniques to keep everyone alert and focused. Start with a short guided meditation, encourage no devices in the room and provide everyone a chance to be heard.
- Stand up weekly team meetings – learn how to reconnect as a team and talk openly about how to support one another as humans, not just as team members. Be curious about what other members of the team need, who requires the most support and stay action orientated around problem solving.