The Significance of Team Chemistry & How To Achieve It

Without team camaraderie and togetherness, a team will transform into a group of individuals all pursuing personal agendas. Recently, our friends at Nexxt laid out three of the top reasons that team chemistry is momentous in a company’s success and three steps to achieve it. We break down their key points below: 

Cooperation

When your team is on the same page, it will be easier to find success, and internal conflict will dissolve. Working together with a shared ‘end goal’ in mind will strengthen your team chemistry by default. When this level of synchronicity is established, your organization will reap quicker, more efficient results and positive developments. 

Productivity

When the bond is strong between employees, experts suggest productivity will escalate company-wide. Your team will begin to learn and recognize each other’s work styles, capitalizing on strengths and confining weaknesses. A lack of team chemistry can result in an argumentative culture with employees more concerned about expressing their opinion than finding a solution. 

Loyalty

Feelings of anxiety, low morale, and detachment are among the top reasons for disbandment and a lapse of loyalty. When a company is marked by discord, conflict, and individualistic mindsets, employees will seek greener pastures. If you desire to limit company turnover and construct a desirable workplace, you must set a precedent through consistent encouragement, provided opportunity, and an emphasis on engaging relationships. 

“Only 34% of U.S. workers feel involved, enthusiastic, and committed to their work.” (Gallup)

Generating Team Chemistry in Three Steps

Facilitate Communication

One of the most straightforward steps to generating team chemistry is through open communication. Keep your office door or phone line open and present yourself in an inviting matter to the rest of your team. If you appear readily available to answer questions and address concerns, your co-workers and staff will begin to feel heard and valued for their efforts. If you are ‘closed off’ in conversation, other employees will be influenced to do the same. If employees are not coming to you, go to them to initiate conversation. Set regularly schedule 1-on-1 meetings to share company updates, goals, and give way for open discussion. 

Know Your Team

Every organization consists of varying skill-sets, personalities, and inclinations. Through your 1-on-1 meetings and company gatherings (virtual or in-person), you show intentionality in knowing your co-worker or employee beyond their resume’s content. Exuding this effort is a sign of authentic leadership. It promotes being a ‘work-family’ rather than a ‘workplace.’ Giving everyone their time in the spotlight can allow self-confidence and attitudes to flourish. 

Provide Opportunities to Learn

When you provide opportunities to learn and grow, it shows your team that you are thinking of them and that you value and want the best for them. According to Gallup, 87% of millennials list “career growth and development opportunities” as vital to them in a new job. With increased opportunities, employees’ “confidence, effectiveness, and reciprocation of loyalty” will soar.

Wrap Up

If you want consistent and valuable contributions from your team, you must identify their strengths and weaknesses and place them in a situation where you know they will win. It is a difficult task to formulate an effective team out of contrasting individuals. Still, it is critical in identifying you and your team’s sense of purpose in your respective careers. 

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Eradicate These Flaws in Your Leadership

The best leaders are working to build strong units and empower their employees. This can be achieved in many different forms. However, there are countless mistakes that even the most highly touted leaders would confess. The difference between them and today’s lowly leaders? They were intentional in recognizing their mistakes, eradicating them, and researching ways to develop new habits. 

With the help of career coach Lolly Daskal and her blog ‘Lead From Within’, we’ve identified three critical flaws you MUST abolish. If made, these mistakes will lead to a poorly structured work environment and toxic culture. 

Selfish Tendencies

No one likes a manager with narcissistic tendencies. Your success is the benefit of a quality team of individuals. It is your responsibility to let that be known and share the spotlight.

Despite being in charge, you must never let go of your willingness and openness to learning. You may be the expert on a few particular subject manners, but being a great leader consists of knowing when you are not and entrusting those who are. Relying on your team members will keep morale high and build a positive workflow. 

Be powerful yet humble. Research would argue that leaders are more powerful when they are humble. Why? True humility is “when someone has an accurate assessment of both his/her strengths and weakness and sees all this in the context of the larger whole.” 

Causing Conflict & Avoiding It

When you know that you are a vital part of your company and its success, it is easy to gradually become arrogant and compassionless without even realizing it. You begin to disvalue your team’s opinions and close yourself off from the culture, all while demanding respect in the process. Your style of leadership may be the cause of conflict within your organization. 

When conflict arises, a poor leader’s response is to shut the door and deflect responsibility. Linking back to the topic of humility, studies show that those low in humility tend to overreact during conflict, refuse to apologize, and often plot revenge. Be efficient in your decision-making, but don’t lose sight of the big picture in determining what is best for everyone.

“Both arrogance and humility are contagious. Both can be taught and caught.” -Unknown.

Lack of Accountability

When things are not working out to expectation, weak leaders will look to pass blame and create excuses. Take consistent responsibility for your choices and encourage others to do the same. Without accountability, your company’s aspirations to carry out a specific strategy becomes wasted time. Productivity is destined to ‘take a hit’ as your rogue mentality will set the standard for employee performance. Sure, this mentality may not overtake every employee, but by that fact, it will only lead to ‘Me vs. You’ implication. Taking ownership of your actions or the mistakes made by your delegates will go along way in garnering respect and getting your employees to work harder. 

In a recent article from Partners In Leadership, they revealed six warning signs of a lack of accountability in the workplace:

  1. Low Morale
  2. Unclear Priorities
  3. Declining Engagement
  4. Ineffective Execution
  5. Low Levels of Trust
  6. High Turnover

Wrap Up

Anyone who lacks sound character is often incapable of quality leadership. As a result, your company may experience high turnover and displeased employees. Best-selling author and keynote speaker Bernard Marr knows the character traits that set true leaders apart from followers. In his recent article, he reveals eight signs that a person might not be ready for a position of leadership.
Examples: Lack of empathy; Fear of change; Wishy-washy; Too bossy. 

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What NOT To Do When You’re Having A Bad Day

When you feel annoyed or offended, it is customary not to act on those feelings with aggression. In relationships, it’s critical not to sever any bonds with a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction or comment in the heat of the moment. Whether it is a family member, friend, or significant other, giving yourself space, taking deep breaths, and returning to the issue at another time is always advantageous. When you have one chance at making things right, you do not want to put yourself in a position to make things worse.

Our friends at The Muse took the time to connect this sentiment to our responsibilities and tasks in the workplace. When a function needs to be taken seriously, you must illustrate the proper mindset to tackle it. When you enter a momentary rut or negative headspace, here are five things Alyse Kalish recommends you shelve for the time being:

1. Take an Important Call

If you’ve had a rough or busy morning and are dreading an upcoming phone call with a client, you are well within your rights to postpone the meeting a few hours. The key is to not cancel on them, but instead offer a ‘white lie’ to make way for more focused, productive conversation later on.

2. Have a Difficult Conversation

If you have an employee or co-worker that you need to deliver some harsh feedback to, proceeding while in a recusant state of mind will induce the individual unreceptive to your observation or criticism. It’s best to hold off on the meeting until you are mentally prepared.

3. Respond to an Email That Gets on Your Nerves

When you are not feeling like your typical self, even a subtle annoyance can send you into a tailspin. Maybe a co-worker just sent you a notice that they have not made any progress on their assignments for a big project. Perhaps it is your boss or manager responding to your question with “Figure it out.” 

When you receive an email that strikes a nerve, don’t jab back with a frustration-fueled response. If someone required an immediate reply, the message likely would’ve been delivered through a phone call or in-office meeting. Take time to unwind, collect your thoughts, and come back later with a professional response.

4. Make a Decision

If someone in your organization requires your input for a direction to take for a new project, now is not the time. Here’s why: Your ‘bad day’ may consist of feelings of recklessness or hastiness, which can lead to a bold decision that takes you off-track. While it may feel productive and as if you are removing a burden, it’s not wise to justify making that decision in an impulsive state. Instead, ensure your team you are dealing with it and offer a timeline for your answer.

5. Submit a Key Assignment

Days will come where you are not exhibiting an apt mentality to meet an approaching deadline for a research write-up, analytics spreadsheet, or outreach plan. Do not risk pitching a lackluster product when a few extra hours or days can provide a winning result. If you are comfortable requesting a deadline extension, offer a promise for desirable outcomes, set a new timetable, and ensure it won’t happen again. 

Wrap Up

Take care of your mental health. Pushing through a difficult day is never easy, notably when conditions like these occur. Still, with a little time and inward thinking, you can quickly return to the reliable professional you know yourself to be. 

For written-out examples on how to express reasons for the delay or push through when the task cannot wait, visit Alyse’s full article here.

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Using Technology To Keep Your Remote Teams Engaged

With the increase in employees operating remotely across the country, there is a substantial need for new technologies and innovations to upkeep productivity. The rise of Zoom was just one example of a platform that presented a quick solution to many organizations’ biggest fears.

Thanks to these technologies, companies are beginning to open new positions that start on a remote basis (some even permanently). Just this past week, I spoke with a prospective client who was forced to transition all their Sales Representative positions from the traditional ‘in-person’ model to a phone and web-based model. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, there is still an opportunity for his company and sales team to expand courtesy of decreased travel expenses and increased time at hand. 

Are you struggling to maintain team chemistry and attract top candidates to your job listings? Our friends at Nexxt recently dived into a few of the top tech-based tools leading the way. We review contributor Julie Shenkman’s top examples below:

Talent Recruitment

Are you extending your best effort when it comes to collecting visibility amidst the remote workforce? In developing an effective talent recruitment strategy, Julie strongly advises using a reliable recruitment marketing resource for your posting and promoting. Top examples include LinkedIn/LinkedIn Recruiter, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor, Hootsuite, Workforce, and more.

According to a recent U.S. technology research survey, the number of employees permanently working from home is set to double globally. Gone are the days of shying away from remote employees due to a fear of a lack of control. Julie believes using an online job site will help the right candidates discover your employer profile. “No matter their location, it lets them learn more about your company and its culture. That being said, it’s important to post as much valuable information about the open positions and your company within the job listing as possible, without it becoming information overloaded. You will want to make sure that the position clearly states it is open to remote employees applying.”

Employee Onboarding

Onboarding a new remote hire can be quite a challenge, but technological advances continue to ease the process. With an increased level of communication and resources, employees can stay much more connected throughout their transitions. Today, there are plenty of proven examples in various industries of how organizations are positively implementing new hires into their environment and culture from home. The Nexxt team details Oracle Human Capital Management as an excellent resource in providing agility, adaptability, and a ‘human touch’ through technology to businesses. The program is designed to make department training, performance management, and payroll more seamless.

Team Engagement

Was your company big on company-wide outings, team lunches, or happy hours to celebrate organizational ‘wins’ or to blow off some steam? It can be easy to feel disconnected when these luxuries fade away, but having a substitute is critical to maintaining team morale and cultivating passion. One solution Julie offers is implementing an online recognition software to strengthen workplace culture and values and enhance engagement. Everyone wants to be recognized, and through your intentionality, you can continue to celebrate strong performances, birthdays, and work anniversaries.

“Working remotely improves the health and wellness of employees by reducing stress—and limiting exposure to potentially sick coworkers.” -WeWork, 2020

Wrap Up

What technologies can best benefit your company and its unique needs? When you keep your remote employees top of mind and implement these strategies, you will better identify a model of success. “With a diverse set of remote employees actively searching for a job or already working from around the country, or even the globe, considering their unique needs is essential to the success of maintaining a well-engaged workforce.”

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Identifying Your Ideal Career Fit

According to a 2019 study by Toll-Free Forwarding, only 10% of Americans will land their conceived ‘dream job’ that they identified at a young age. Of that 10%, just 64% of those journeys play out to meeting their surmised expectations. Furthermore, 61% of those remaining do not regret the divergent direction their career path took. So what conclusions can be made? Do not fear the ‘no’ or the prospect of change when it comes to finding your ideal career fit.

If you require a little guidance when it comes to your career indecision, here are three thoughts you must consider when pursuing a complementary role for your next career:

Understand Yourself

Talk It Out – If you need a helping hand identifying your greatest strengths and the job features you desire most in a new career, ask those closest to you (family, friends, mentors, etc.). Not only will this provide some clarity on your career path, but it will provide encouragement and confidence when you need it most. Some of the answers you receive may surprise you.

When employees find themselves dissatisfied in their current role, it is often because they did not take the time to align their strengths, interests, passions with their job search. Their objective was merely to find a new job, rather than solidifying a long-term career. If you aspire to get more out of your career and find natural motivation, take career assessments to identify your greatest strengths, weaknesses, and career preferences. What interests or personality traits tie into your career preferences? Your blueprint for success is likely varying from that of your role models, friends, or co-workers. 

60% of employed Millennials are open to exploring a different job opportunity [Gallup 2020]

Company Values/Environment

Write It Out – Base your LinkedIn profile and resume around your ideal job and ideal employer. Courtesy of The Balance Careers, here are four key questions they recommend you ask yourself when determining your work style and ideal ‘fit’:

  • Which activities are most satisfying about your current job?
  • What might you like to avoid in your next job?
  • What does work-life balance mean to you?
  • What is your ideal company culture?

The more information you can collect about what you want, the easier it will be to make a decision.

When interviewing for a new position, aim to get a feel for the company by doing your research, asking the right questions, and walking around the office before your interview. Is the atmosphere collaborative or competitive? Are employees being micromanaged? Is there an option to work remotely? Is their model of business more structured or flexible? It is paramount that you take note of these considerations, especially when you are getting pulled in different directions in your job hunt.

What Do You Hope To Get Out Of Your Job?

Think It Out – Now that you’ve identified your strengths, weaknesses, and passions, it’s time to pinpoint your job search and make the most of your opportunity:

What is most important to you in a new job? Are the company’s values a top priority for your workplace happiness? Other top examples of job priorities include work culture, skill development, room for growth, salary/bonus potential, healthy work-life balance, job security, location, and trust. Which features are your ‘non-negotiables’? Don’t settle when your happiness and mental state are at stake. Finding your new career should never compromise what you stand for or your most coveted features. 

Wrap Up

Once you have a firm understanding of your desired job title and industry, it is time to get connected. Networking is your greatest tool when it comes to landing your desired job, so it is best to get started before the connection is needed. Why? Your desired connection will know you are not seeking immediate benefits out of the relationship, but rather to learn more about their journey and potentially provide support, even if through a ‘liked’ post.

Sure, sending a hiring manager a LinkedIn invitation with a personalized message is unique and highly recommended in the job search, but imagine the difference if you already share a connection within the organization you are hoping to join. Effective networking does not involve asking your network to find you a job opening. It consists of building functional working relationships you can tap into when you discover a shared connection (and vice versa).

With some self-reflecting and dedication, you will begin to discover your dream job is closer than you first believed. 

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