Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Leveraging the “Hidden Gems” on Your Team





In my last blog, I gave you some tips for assessing your team in the areas of communication, effectiveness, openness, work efficiency, and respect among team members.  I hope by now you’ve had a chance to evaluate where your team is in these areas, and collectively decide on the things you need to do as a team to move forward.

In my work using Lumina Spark with teams, there are a couple of things we discover that provide tremendous benefits when it comes to team performance, team communication and managing team conflict. Lumina Spark looks at three persona: 1) the Everyday, which is how you show up at work based on your role and what’s expected of you; 2) the Underlying, which is how you behave more naturally, and when relaxed; and 3) the Overextended, which is how you behave when you are under stress.

Recognizing the Underlying persona and identifying the qualities associated with that persona can reveal some “hidden gems” that may have lain dormant because they were not perceived as needed in the current environment. This may provide an opportunity to move forward from an area where the team has been stuck, by leveraging one of those hidden gems. Not only will it help the team, it will help the individual become more engaged and motivated by having the opportunity to use a strength that has been idle.

Learning how team members behave when they are Overextended, and identifying the triggers that put them “in the grip” is extremely helpful in managing team conflict. As team members become more self-aware in recognizing their own triggers, they can learn to manage their responses (Emotional Agility, launching April 1 in the US) and avoid nonproductive conflict. A certain amount of conflict is healthy in sparking creativity and new ways of thinking, but when it’s not managed it has a detrimental effect.

Take a look at your current team initiatives. What are your goals, challenges, and needs?  Are there hidden gems within your team that could raise your effectiveness in meeting these goals? In addressing some of your challenges? As an answer to your needs?

Would you recognize the strengths someone on your team might bring to the table if, in fact, those strengths seem opposite to their currently recognized strengths and job role definition?  Are you aware of how to find the power of passion for your individual team members?  If you can tap into this, you don’t ever need to worry about employee engagement.

When the going gets rough, are you aware of how you, as a leader, respond? What are your triggers? What are the triggers for the individuals on your team and how do they respond to stress?

What can you do, as the leader, to get your team “out of the grip” and back to high performing?

You can learn the answers to these and more questions and begin to propel your team forward with Lumina Spark.  Contact me at info-us@luminalearning.com or 888.827.8855 to learn more.