I was lucky enough to enjoy the sweet sounds of Sting and Paul Simon in February this year. At first, I was curious to know how they would make this work and I can’t say that I was completely surprised when they didn’t just ‘pull it off’…but they absolutely NAILED it!
I walked into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and the moment I took one look at the stage my heart started racing, I knew I was about to witness something incredible.
Both artists’ bands had assumed their positions and were taking up the entire stage; a total of 17 people! It got me thinking, did all these musicians meet each other and hit it off immediately? When discussing their ideas, did they always agree? It didn’t take long for me to realise that the chances of that were slim to none, but there was something that each one of them must have shared for them to have executed the concert as superbly as they did…
A commitment to the team, their purpose and their supporters.
Some people are under the impression that things are just easier done on their own, mostly because they have a false assumption of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Or that the time it takes discussing ideas, and tweaking the finer details, just isn’t worth it. But when you combine the talents of a group of people, big or small, who share a passion and are driven towards innovation and a common goal, magic things can happen.
With each person having something different to bring to the table, and the willingness to embrace each others’ skills and perspectives, the opportunities for ideas and improvement are endless. For example, it’s very common for a non-client facing team member to feel that they ‘aren’t qualified’ to share their input when discussing a new idea. But regardless of their day to day involvement in that particular area or whether their suggestion was worth pursuing or not, their ideas should always be acknowledged and genuinely appreciated.
Studies have shown that when employees feel appreciated and valued they:
- increase their individual productivity
- increase engagement among their colleagues
- are more likely to stay with their organisation
If a boss or colleague is unreceptive to an idea that has been shared, it will only make it easier for a person to close off and feel as though they aren’t in the position or appreciated enough to share input again in the future. When individuals within a team start to feel this way, there is a major problem. Not just in terms of team buy-in and involvement, but equally with team morale.
In order for a group of people to be able to grow and innovate, both as individuals and as a collective, this sort of behaviour has to be avoided at all costs!
How incredible would it be if your entire team not only felt comfortable to actively share ideas but were also excited to get their team members’ input?
Here are a few ideas to start getting your team more involved with the future of the business and each other;
- If working on a new concept, break people up into smaller individual teams so that each person is given the opportunity to share their ideas.
- Leaders should encourage an ‘around-the-table’ discussion, and allow each person to share their ideas or opinions before speaking their own.
- Leaders should only attend group meetings where necessary to avoid excessively influencing an outcome.
- At least one group member should be assigned the role of ensuring that people’s idea’s are not criticized or ridiculed. This should be a different person for each meeting.
- Regular ‘big picture’ meetings/discussions to reinforce the purpose of the team and business, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
I have been fortunate enough to find my fit within a team of people that all share a commitment to each other, our purpose and our supporters.
So, I challenge you to take a step back and evaluate your team’s involvement, as well as the responsibility that you ALL share to each other. Do you ALL encourage each other to share ideas? And are you ALL willing to give each other the opportunity to enjoy a bit of the spotlight?
You can go and put as many processes in place as you like but at the end of the day, the attitude of your team is just as, if not more, important. It really does come back to the age-old saying ‘there is no I in TEAM’.