Team Building Ideas: Creating a Healthy Work Family

Many leaders and organizations say they’re like a family and then behave in thoroughly dysfunctional ways. I've found we get different results if we create a work family that gets along well and where everyone treats each other with respect and kindness; you know, like in a functional family.

Our work families are often designed based on what we saw in our own.  We depend on each other because there is strength and security in numbers and in people working together to survive. Our training knowledge now tells us that we can create work families that enjoy the same togetherness while also emphasizing positive behaviors.  This gives you the opportunity to make your workplace as healthy as possible – a concept that can make you much happier.

With this new ability to improve the health of your workplaces comes a great opportunity to enjoy your work interactions like never before. You also get to deal with challenges in new ways and involve your team in helping things run better. For example: If In the past you let conflict fester and continue endlessly you now have a chance to actually fix things. The way you do it is by applying tools such as team building, effective communication and problem solving.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself and your team when you run into an obstacle in your workplace:

What is the problem really about?
Do you know what each employee thinks about the problem?
Have you all worked together to come up with possible solutions?
Is everyone’s voice listened to and given equal weight?
Does everyone on the team know how to listen to other points of view?
Can team members deal with conflict without making it worse?
Is conflict an opportunity for change in your organization?
How are your team building and communication skills?
Do you have a consistent system for using your team to resolve problems in the workplace?
Do you ask for neutral help or advice from uninvolved third parties when you need it?

Resolving problems at work has a lot to do with the skills and experiences we bring to the table as leaders. A lot of us repeat the patterns we saw at home or in earlier jobs but we now know that we can use the wisdom and perspectives of our team to resolve virtually any challenge. Getting people involved also helps them feel valued and important. What will you do to create a healthy and functional work family?

Take care,

Guy
Team Building and Effective Communication