Teams play a critical role during change for some very good reasons:
- Team decisions during change are potentially more representative of a wide range of interests in the organization than are individual decisions.
- Teams facilitate the development of especially creative solutions and approaches to new situations due to the diversity of skills, perspectives, and information available.
- Team members and those they represent are likely to better understand and support decisions and strategies about change that they have played a role in shaping.
- Team participation provides opportunities for learning and development that may spill over into other aspects of the members’ jobs.
Research has established that teams do not always perform better than individuals; but on certain types of tasks—including formulating new approaches and addressing ambiguous situations—they are capable of significantly surpassing individual performance. The demands created by change foster exactly the sort of situation in which teams are potentially the most effective.
But even in situations where teams can outperform individuals, they often do not. They may waste resources in arguments, develop ineffective or poorly thought-out solutions, or fail to follow through on their assignments. They may operate in a way that suppresses ideas, shuts down discussion, and alienates team members. Or they may simply plod through their work, producing adequate results but never reaching their full potential as outstanding contributors to the performance of the organization.
A team’s resilience is its ability to maintain high performance in the face of high disruption. Resilient teams use their resources efficiently during change—both conserving resources by preventing the wasteful use of time and energy, and liberating resources through processes that bring out the strengths present in the team.
How do we create resilient teams?
First, it’s helpful for everyone to understand what resilience is, learn about their own resilience, and be aware of the personal resilience strengths and other resources the team’s members bring to their work.
Next, we want to help the team deal draw on the resilience strengths, rather than the weaknesses, of each member when challenges arise. This calls for a strong set of communication and collaboration skills.
Finally, we want to help the team continually strengthen their performance during change. We can do this by tracking effectiveness and identifying areas for ongoing development, and by helping leaders create an environment that fosters and supports resilience.
If you’d like to learn more about building resilient teams, contact us for more information about our Team Resilience Report and Certification.