Building Strong Team Member Relationships, Part I

At a recent team meeting, I had the opportunity to sit and watch as the members of this particular team interacted with each other. As I watched this small group, I had a strong impression that each team member had a strong connection with each of the other team members and with their manager. Throughout the course of the meeting, the team members were collaborating, and feeding off of each other. You could tell that they had mutual respect for each other, and that they relied on each other for support and strength.

After watching this team for a couple of hours, a question came to my mind, “How much of this particular team’s success was a direct result of their strong interpersonal relationships? I got the sense that the team members had a shared common purpose, and they were actively engaged in achieving their shared team goals and milestones. Furthermore, I sensed that the high level of connection amongst the team members was allowing them to accomplish greater achievements than they could otherwise achieve on their own.

While I watched this team, I wondered what our company would look like if each of the team’s within our company had strong interpersonal relationships and a shared common purpose. I also wondered how we could sponsor this type of team building throughout the entire company.

Since that meeting I’ve had an opportunity to discuss the importance of building strong team member relationships within our teams with a few of our managers. These discussions revealed that there are really two key relationships within a team; (1) the manager to team member relationships and (2) the team member to team member relationships.

Let’s take a closer look at the manager to team member relationships.

Managers who create and maintain environments that allow for authentic feedback are usually rewarded with increasing loyalty, innovation, and achievement from their team members. Managers who create an environment where team members feel connected and needed, typically have less turnover and achieve higher levels of team performance.

How do managers create this type of environment? Let me suggest a few ideas.

1. Prove that you care for each team member. Prove it through your words and actions. Make sure that team members’ voices are being heard. Give each team member a forum to bring up their ideas and concerns. Weekly one-to-one meetings between the manager and team members are a great way to create a safe place for team members to share their thoughts and concerns.

2. Truly listen to team members. As we listen we will discover our team member’s dreams, hopes, aspirations, and achievements. Some of us fall into the trap of trying to multitask, when we should be intently listening. When an opportunity to talk arises, focus your attention on the team member.

3. Show empathy and appreciation. To really connect with team members a manager must sponsor an environment where team members feel like they can be open and honest with the manager. Some of us may feel that if we truly open up and share our important purposes and concerns with our manager, we will be criticized, lectured, or rejected. These fears hold back growth for both the team member and the manager. When a team member opens up to a manager, the manager should show true appreciation for the team member’s comments. If the team member truly feels understood and appreciated, the connection between the team member and manager will continue to grow and flourish.

4. Bring candor and authenticity to the relationship. No one benefits when a manager or team member holds back their true feelings. Managers should strive to set clear expectations for their team members, and give clear feedback regarding the team member’s performance. On the flip side, team members owe it to their manager to be open and direct with their feelings. Relationships grow when both parties believe that there is authenticity in the relationship.

By focusing on these simple four areas, team managers can create an environment where authentic feedback is the norm, and the manager is rewarded with ever-increasing loyalty, innovation, and achievement from his or her team members.

In my next blog we will take a closer look at building the team member to team member relationships.

I’d love to know your thoughts. tony@repowell.net

Tony

www.repowell.net