Over the course of the past seven months I have continuously noted, “…we are not going back to normal.” And I still believe this whole heartedly. LIfe as we knew it has changed, and as a result we are functioning much differently than we were a year ago. From business, to school, to sports and recreation, everything has changed. Yet, despite all of this, what has not changed are the psychological elements to functioning well. Reading from my blogs over the past few months, you will notice an emphasis on individual wellness. But this week I would like to give focus to the psychology of groups. More specifically, how “teams” function.
Teams exist in all sorts of areas. There are sport teams, sales teams, administrative teams, heck you name it and we like to identify our groups as teams. There is a reason for this; most of these groups are about getting something acocmplished. Or better yet, these are performance groups. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, this has become even more complicated as we attempt to carry on via screen time.
What has happened is the creation of a “new normal” for how we are attempting to operate in our teams. For so many of us, work is now a short commute to a separate room in the house, with other family members scattered throughout also engaging with others through a computer screen. This means our personal arena has now overlapped with our professional and academic arenas. Frequently the “urgent” needs of someone in our household seem to overtake what we were doing with others on our screen, creating awkward moments that disrupt our work flow. In the business world, meetings are truncated down to brief episodes of “telling” rather than “discussing” so as to minimize interference from households, or out of respect for screen-time-burnout. Meanwhile, we see our children forced into screen time for classes and homeowork, creating afternoon zombies.
There also used to be a separation between home and office/school/work that allowed us to have a secluded and intimate bonds with colleagues. And to be honest, these types of connections are important. These type of relationships with peers and colleagues promote cohesion, otherwise known in the sport world as “chemistry”. Having strong cohesion is recognized as a pivotal aspect for teams to be successful as we learn to depend on our teammates. They provide support when we take risks or struggle, and become advocates for our accomplishments. Our teammates understand us because we share a common understanding of what we are doing together. We share a language, a common understanding of challenges and shortcuts, and all sorts of dynamics of what we work on with them. Much like sport teams who develop this lockerroom culture in informal activity, other teams are lacking the opportunity to interact in personal and meaningful ways beyond computers. Therefor, cohesion has become increasingly difficult for so many teams. Still, at their heart, all teams have specific needs to be addressed in order to be high functioning teams.
Two of these needs are connected to trust, perhaps the most basic need in any human interaction. The reason for this is that trust allows us to function implicitly with others in order to manage and perform our duties. Therefor, it is critical that teams are able to act interdependently, with each member trusting that one another is completing their tasks so as to support what the group is working to achieve together. Linked with this is effective communication. Members of high functioning teams develop the ability to share information efficiently by establishing patterns that create a flow for all. This used to be a quick walk down the hall, impromptu meetings, or in-house line calls. Not any more.
For the last several years, many performance consultants were recommending taking a break from email. We recognized that the continuous stream of email at work and home was overwhelming many of us, creating “grid lock” and inefficient use of time. There was a push to getting back to walking across the isle to discuss something face-to-face. We know this was an important ingredient for cohesion. But distance working/learning now means an increased use of email, and thus a return to the related stress.
We’ve also resorted to Zoom meetings that have created a whole new trend of memes. But as funny as these are, they reveal a difficult truth. No one likes attending meetings via screen. We feel distant and isolated. Students are disengaged from their classes. Professionals have a difficult time “reading the room” or connecting with a client, and business meetings feel impersonal. Without being in the same room with others, we feel disconnected. And without feeling that link with others, we lack the ability to trust.
Another crucial need for a high functioning group is compassion. The APA continues to publish striking statistics on the rise of mental health issues across America. Teens and adults are both experiencing spiked instances of depression & anxiety and the poor coping behaviors that come with them. Prior to the pandemic it was known that over 24% of us struggled with these two issues alone within a given year. That percentage has escalated at such a rapid rate it is now hard to measure accurately from week to week. But I can tell you I have colleagues providing mental health services who note they are overbooked and cannot add more clients. And this is why we need to have great compassion for one another. We are all stressed.
Compassionate teams start with such actions by leaders. One of the most important things a leader can do to be compassionate is to pause before any interaction and reflect on the person (or persons) they are about to work with, and the myriad of personal items on their plate other than the work at hand. Then, be grateful for the time these people have reserved to focus on the team. This has the ability to positively effect the way leaders communicate, showing resect for others’ time and commitment. In turn, individuals of the team are much more likely to have trust in a leader who shares compassion.
Similarly, being compassionate teammates builds trust among one another. We demonstrate to each other that we are more than the numbers of our product or work. Instead, we see each other as valuable assets to an important part of our life. There is no need for “over-sharing” here. But heartfelt check-ins go a long way. Asking a peer about their current state of mind communicates a caring for who and how they are now. And in a way, invites them to be more present as you work together.
Things are different now, and it will continue to become different than how we operated before. Some of us may end up being on teams that rarely meet in the same space. Others will find ourselves as part of hybrid groups who meet a few times a week or month. Schools will begin to offer altered schedules that are likely to be about providing greater flexibility for families. Sports will continue, however with revamped schedules for training and competition that line up with an evolving “new normal”. But we will still be on teams. What we need to to now is be thoughtful about how we address the foundational needs for groups to function well.
While I focused on emerging issues with teams in various contexts during this week’s article, next week I address more specific means for building a stronger and more cohesive team as we continue to work with each other across digital space. In the mean time, if you know someone who could use help in this pursuit, make the call and bring in an expert.