Building a successful team takes patience. Placing the right people, with the right skills in the right positions is not something that will happen on day one.
One area of team development that can and should be started on day one is your willingness to give your team a voice. No matter the size or experience level of your team, giving them the space and the empowerment to voice opinions will go along way to improving team cohesion and confidence.
There are various options available to give your team a voice and can be as simple as holding one-on-one discussions and ensuring team members are aware that they are safe spaces to talk about any subject they wish. Team meetings or huddles with an agenda that allows for open discussion are a good starting point, but depending on personalities within the team can lead to some team members staying silent.
A solid way to give your team a voice is to set-up a process that does exactly that. a ‘Voice of the Team’ process that puts together a small committee of team members that gather feedback in private from around the team and presents back to you, with no names mentioned for privacy and to encourage participation.
Another employee led way to give your team a voice is to implement a feedback process where team members can provide feedback on other team members when they are meeting team or company core values. By providing the outlet and then sharing this feedback to the whole team, it encourages team members to both live up to a set of values and to recognize those values in others.
There are many reasons to give your team a voice, such as increased engagement when they feel valued and their experiences are heard. Decision making becomes stronger when employees understand that they are able to provide input and share ideas.
Overall providing a safe environment for employees to voice their opinions and feedback improves the culture of a team and enhances the potential for improved retention with an increase, longer term in organizational success.
