The world is volatile, sometimes difficulties happen when we least expect it. The market situation, political changes, economic downturns or internal company problems all affect the team's work directly or indirectly.
Background stress is present in any team all the time, you cannot avoid it. But there are times when the bar for this stress rises significantly and ceases to be acceptable.
The reasons may vary — deterioration of the labor situation, protests in the country, downsizing, national tragedies, etc., but the bottom line is the same — team members worry, fear something, get nervous, lose motivation to work, feel the need to discuss what is happening and to feel calm, safe, and certain.
At such times, it is important to help the team to feel this certainty, and thus help them to overcome difficult times with minimal losses both emotionally and work-wise.
How to Help Your Team ❤️‍🩹
Gathered general principles and universal techniques for reducing stress around the team that become especially significant in difficult times.
Be Honest
Never stay silent or keep the team in the dark, waiting for the best time to talk or for news/updates from somewhere outside or above.
Even if there's no news, decisions, or changes yet, and you're in some ignorance on your own —don't avoid communicating with the team. Let them know you're aware of what's going on, don't be afraid to open up about your emotions. Show that you care about the situation and that you share the team's worries and feelings.
This is unlikely to cause more anxiety than the uncertainty does. On the contrary, it will create a space for sharing emotions and experiences within the team, encouraging them to be shared out loud, with you and others. In such a situation, you can keep your finger on the pulse and be less afraid of unexpected team behavior or behind-the-scenes discussions that you can't influence.
A chat space is fine for these discussions, but a live meeting is much better. Where you can spend time with people going round and round about what's happening to them, what it means to them. Team meetings at a time like this are very important. And not so much functional, but aimed at connecting people, because stress stimulates people to communicate less. We want to support each other, and the relationship deteriorates in this case. This is also where team games come in nicely! (on how to choose a meeting format — in a text below)
Teammates are the backbone of the team. Just being on call in anxious moments already does a lot and helps coworkers feel more in control.
Keep the Team Informed and Updated
If there is news or updates on the situation or changes in processes, the company, the sentiment at the top — share it. If no decisions have been made yet, but you know that a process is underway — talk about it and if possible, find out when a decision is expected to be made so you can let the team know.
Most importantly, keep and communicate a calm and positive attitude to the team. Different teams have very different lives, and in terms of the right type of meeting and space, each team needs a different way of living the situation.
Everyone Needs Different Support
A thought directly derived from the end of the previous paragraph. Teams are different, people are different. Somewhere the level of closeness of team members is high enough to discuss experiences honestly in a free format and that format will be most appropriate, while scheduled activities can be an additional barrier and inhibit discussion.
Some experiences and times, no matter how friendly the team is, require more individual discussion, some topics may be too sensitive and conflicting to be discussed in a team, in this case 1-on-1 meetings should be actively organized.
How to understand what the team needs right now?
The easiest answer to this is to try asking. This can be done in the format of a general chat message, a call or an informal meeting in the office, if possible.
How to ask?
- highlight the problem
I think you've heard that a neighboring department recently laid off a few people and is planning more layoffs….
It seems like yesterday we all spent our day in much the same way, watching the endless news and protests in the streets…
- share your feelings and emotions
I feel that you are concerned and also uncomfortable with the unknown and the fact that the company is going through a bad time…
I feel that even if I try to shut myself off from it, what is going on is still emotionally affecting my performance, I am worried about the people on the street and myself…
- explain your motivation
I realize that you may be anxious and disorganized too, so I would like to know how I can make work more comfortable for you now/how I can help you continue to work and feel calm/etc.....
- find out what step the team would like to take
Please tell me….
Write on post-its…
Write in the comments…
Vote in the poll…
Think about it and message me during the day…
- suggest options
More 1-on-1
Team meeting to discuss work processes
Informal meeting/call to relax and have fun
Just get together for a team chat
What to do if the team doesn't say what they want?
At the moment, there are several options. The first is to try again. Talk through why you are giving the choice: “I want to help you in the way that is best for you, only you know what is best for you”, etc. The second is to prepare for this outcome and offer options to choose from. If the team's opinions differ, you can either select multiple activities or divide into groups.
In general, if team members do not want to make any decision, express thoughts, wishes, and opinions about the process, it is worth paying attention to this and thinking about how common this situation is. Perhaps the team is systematically not ready to take over and make decisions for themselves.
This could be a wake-up call that the team doesn't feel they have the ability to make choices and influence their future. They are not used to making decisions and listening to their needs as a work unit and as part of the team, the company.
It is important to keep an eye on this and try to give the team the right to make choices more often. It helps to engage, build responsibility and trust. This right can be expressed both in small things (in what TV-series style do you want our retro or meetup to be?) and in more systematic decisions (do you think we should discuss this part of the work now or do you require a separate call?).
By giving the right to choose, we give the team a sense of responsibility for themselves. And so they will be more inclined to participate in the discussion of their needs and propose solutions.
Build Trustworthy Relationships Within a Team
The backbone in tough times is the team. If there is no trust in the team, bad times will come much faster.
Trust is an opportunity to be vulnerable with coworkers. It affects amount of burnouts, conflicts, productivity, effectiveness. People who don't show their vulnerability are not willing to give and receive feedback. By showing the best sides and not showing the vulnerable ones, people are afraid that feedback will not be received adequately, but will be perceived as criticism and aggression, an attempt to challenge.
There is no need to be afraid to complain about feeling bad, to explain your condition, to talk about failure and barriers, to ask for help. It is important to convey to the team (and to yourself first and foremost) the understanding that opening up vulnerability ultimately opens up a large number of opportunities for growth. Opportunities to learn from each other, to work on mistakes, to lean on colleagues.
Where does the ability to demonstrate vulnerability come from?
From seeing colleagues as people, not functions. This is particularly problematic for remote teams, but relevant for offline teams as well.
If we don't know each other, we're just functions. A colleague is not Yura, a cool guy with whom you can discuss AI news, but a person who fixes bugs and prepares reports once a week. In that case, we're alienating ourselves.
If we experience empathy, we could understand and interpret each other's words more easily. It becomes easier to open up and be vulnerable, because Yura is now acquiring human qualities in our eyes and also to some extent vulnerability (passion for AI).
How to build such an environment?
Incentivize yourself and your colleagues to be human! Show your human qualities and learn more about each other. Small talks, conversations by the water cooler, get together separately for coffee, do activities together (games, learning, conversation club, drawing), icebreakers, retro.
You can read more about informal team communication on the page: Why encourage informal communication?
Make time for this, even in everyday meetings. The teamlead’s behavior is maximally important here, as it sets the tone and example for everyone else, and broadcasts your positioning.
Help the team to help each other: somewhere you can always cover up, oversee the process of delegating tasks, remove tasks, give a day off. If business processes are aligned wisely, it won't destroy your system's productivity.
Stay human!
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đź“š A book that we partially rely on in the article that does a good job of exposing the role of the leader in a team:
