Is Your Team Thriving?

Leading a team that is thriving is critical to having employees that enjoy coming to work.  Of course, different personalities will value diverse experiences, and as your organization grows, you may find it hard to keep everyone happy all the time.  But it is our job as leaders to make sure we are continually evaluating our culture and our team.  

Here are some questions you and your leaders can ask and discuss to assess if your team is thriving or to look you could be even better.  

How do the goals of the individuals align with the goals of the company? Your company goals and values should be clearly defined and discussed so that the individuals within the organization can get behind them and work to strengthen them. It helps individuals to see how their professional goals can help move the company towards greater success.  Find out the goals of the individuals on your team. Have conversations with them about where they want to be in 1 and 3 years.  

How are we learning together?  If you aren’t moving forward, you are moving backward.  And why not move forward together? High achievers love to always be learning.  Think on some ways your team can learn together. Maybe it is some soft skills in your field that would benefit everyone or maybe learning more about conflict or difficult conversations.  To keep learning new and fresh, you can consider bringing in outside experts to grow your team.  

What could be holding us back?  Are there things you are doing as a team that keeps you from maximizing your impact?  Is there a mentality of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”?. What do connection and trust look like in our company?  People need to feel like it is safe to share new ideas and make mistakes.  

What individual strengths are we using to make us stronger?  Which ones are we not utilizing? One of the best parts of being on a team is that everyone can use their strengths to make a massive impact.  Look at how the individuals on your team can complement each other as a whole. You want every member of your team to feel confident to contribute in their unique ways.  

Learning the keys to maintaining a thriving team can move your company beyond the normal to become extraordinary.