OWP liVe REPORT

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How to talk to your team for better performance

L E A D E R S H I P

It is more important than ever to foster dialogue to provide relief to the stresses that may be undermining your team’s success, according to Professor of Leadership and Organization Ben Bryant. If there is one thing all organizations have been dealing with this year, it is crisis mitigation. In any crisis situation, people tend to go to anxiety reducing states within a group. This may look like them agreeing more rapidly with each other or moving to flight or fight. Another form of crisis response is when the group turns to one person to follow, like a sort of savior. None of these situations is collaborative nor productive, they are just anxiety reducing. If your executive team has moved in any of these directions, it’s time for dynamic dialogue to get everyone back on track.

and certain things the team always shies away from discussing. People settle in these routines because familiarity is a strong antidote to anxiety. The problem is that it also takes a toll on innovation and creativity. Executives are paid large salaries not to be comfortable, but to make sure everyone performs at their best, which means sometimes stirring the proverbial pot and making sure people don’t get complacent or “stuck”. The real work that shifts the dynamics of a group from complacency and being “stuck” is to understand the underlying reasons for the group dynamics: Why does one person hang back while another dominates? Why do certain people always back each other up while others routinely clash? To get to the root of these problems there are certain tools leaders can use. Getting unstuck

If that is lacking, or the group doesn’t seem to really know each other well, one exercise the group can use is the Three Objects Exercise . In this exercise, you give the group a picture of many objects and have each person select three and relate them to a story in their life that they relate to the group. This helps the team get to know each other beyond work roles. It can help form bonds and build trust.

BEN BRYANT IMD Professor of Leadership

"Executives are paid large salaries not to be comfortable, but to make sure everyone performs at their best."

Get comfortable being uncomfortable

Teams tend towards routines, and members will play the same roles in most team meetings: One person may dominate, the same people are in alliances, there will be routine conflicts,

Psychological safety: Forming bonds

Before you can get any team talking, establish a level of trust within the group.