Working with strengths is another powerful antidote for teams operating in today’s VUCA context. Helping people bring their strengths to work everyday boosts engagement and can be a powerful motivational factor which we know is a key component for virtual teams today.
In this week’s Flashback Friday I wanted to link back to Teams365 #1240.
Here’s what I wrote about different ways to support a focus on strengths with your team:
Gallup has studied the realm of strengths for many years now and research shows that helping employees and team members leverage their strengths every day leads to significant gains. The Gallup Strengths Center mentions these as some of the benefits of strengths-based management practices in December 2016. 90% of organizations which incorporated strengths-based management practices found:
So what are some practical and tactical ways team leaders can support their team members in bringing their strengths to work every day?
#1 - Help you team understand what their strengths are - Knowing our strengths is not an intuitive process for many of us. Helping team members understand what their strengths are is an important part of the process. There are several ways to explore strengths including the VIA Character Strengths Survey, and StrengthsFinder. Helping team members consider the question "When are you at your best?" also helps team members become more aware of their strengths.
#2 - Get team members sharing more about their strengths - What they are and how they use them every day at work. This can be a great team meeting conversation touch point. Whether you make it part of a regular team meeting, or a special event, conversations like these lay the foundation for effective team building.
#3 - Pair people with different strengths - Teams which excel usually have complimentary strengths. Pair people on the team together who may have complimentary strengths.
#4 - Pair people who have similar strengths - You may also want to pair people who have similar strengths so they can compare notes and get inspired from each other about how they leverage their strengths.
#5 - Find ways to utilize your strengths more regularly. When we are able to use our strengths more readily engagement goes up as does our satisfaction levels. If using your strengths is not part of your everyday work, have some dialogue with your boss about how you could take on special projects which would leverage your strengths, and/or explore other development opportunities. I can think back to how my participation in many special projects and committees allow myself to bring my best to work, while further building my own skill set and opening up new opportunities where over my career progression I could use my strengths more on a regular basis.
What other ways do you see as possible for people on the team to leverage more of their strengths?
For those interested in learning more about this topic, do check out an excellent article by Courtney Ackerman.
Best wishes,
Jennifer
In this week’s Flashback Friday I wanted to link back to Teams365 #1240.
Here’s what I wrote about different ways to support a focus on strengths with your team:
Gallup has studied the realm of strengths for many years now and research shows that helping employees and team members leverage their strengths every day leads to significant gains. The Gallup Strengths Center mentions these as some of the benefits of strengths-based management practices in December 2016. 90% of organizations which incorporated strengths-based management practices found:
- 10% to 19% increase in sales
- 14% to 29% increase in profit
- 3% to 7% higher customer engagement
- 6% to 16% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations)
- 26% to 72% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations)
- 9% to 15% increase in engaged employees
- 22% to 59% fewer safety incidents
So what are some practical and tactical ways team leaders can support their team members in bringing their strengths to work every day?
#1 - Help you team understand what their strengths are - Knowing our strengths is not an intuitive process for many of us. Helping team members understand what their strengths are is an important part of the process. There are several ways to explore strengths including the VIA Character Strengths Survey, and StrengthsFinder. Helping team members consider the question "When are you at your best?" also helps team members become more aware of their strengths.
#2 - Get team members sharing more about their strengths - What they are and how they use them every day at work. This can be a great team meeting conversation touch point. Whether you make it part of a regular team meeting, or a special event, conversations like these lay the foundation for effective team building.
#3 - Pair people with different strengths - Teams which excel usually have complimentary strengths. Pair people on the team together who may have complimentary strengths.
#4 - Pair people who have similar strengths - You may also want to pair people who have similar strengths so they can compare notes and get inspired from each other about how they leverage their strengths.
#5 - Find ways to utilize your strengths more regularly. When we are able to use our strengths more readily engagement goes up as does our satisfaction levels. If using your strengths is not part of your everyday work, have some dialogue with your boss about how you could take on special projects which would leverage your strengths, and/or explore other development opportunities. I can think back to how my participation in many special projects and committees allow myself to bring my best to work, while further building my own skill set and opening up new opportunities where over my career progression I could use my strengths more on a regular basis.
What other ways do you see as possible for people on the team to leverage more of their strengths?
For those interested in learning more about this topic, do check out an excellent article by Courtney Ackerman.
Best wishes,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources.
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources.
RSS Feed
