Recently, I was asked the question: what are the five components of healthy team behavior?
This question made me think about the teams I have been a member of, managed, and lead. After much thought, I came up with these five skill sets: organizational skills, functional communication, social skills, problem solving skills, and emotional regulation.
1) Organizational Skills
Organizational skills are essential in teams to make sure key tasks are broken down and defined clearly. Once this occurs, responsibilities of the team as a whole can be shared, delegated, and everyone is clear of their job and responsibility. This is also where clearly defined job descriptions and performance expectations are outlined and communicated to all team members. For assistance in organizing these tasks, see this blog post: How a Task Analysis Can Transform Your Life.
2) Functional Communication Skills
If there is a want or a need from the team, this is expressed and carried out by leadership. Leaders of teams should hold 1:1 meetings with team members to make sure their individual wants and needs are being met, but also as a collective whole, giving all team members a safe space to communicate their needs. For more information on holding 1:1's see this blog post: Four Strategies When Holding 1:1s.
3) Social Skills
Key social skills that need to be displayed by all team members are the following interpersonal skills: eye contact when communicating, polite tone of voice, and making sure there is a safe space for transparency among team members. Team members should be able to hold conversations with all members of the team, in a healthy team culture. For more strategies on building a healthy team culture, see this blog post: Two Ways to Build Team Culture.
4) Problem Solving Skills
Problem solving skills are essential to any team. These behaviors include conflict resolution when there is discord with team members, but also includes those moments where there is an issue with a client or customer. It is important to observe and measure how the team works together to problem solve, as opposed to relying on just one team member or a few of the team members to problem solve. Once these data are collected, team performance goals in this skill set can be created and shaped. David Marquet's book*,
is an amazing testament to this as he discussed how he turned his ship, the Santa Fe, into the worst performing ship in the US Navy to one of the best performing ships in the US Navy.
5) Emotion Regulation Skills
Emotion regulation skills of a team can be defined as providing support to one another when a team member needs assistance in those moments of conflict or in those moments of frustration. As team members, however; we should keep in mind the larger picture of the team's performance goals, so that in our assistance, or conflict with a fellow team member, we can avoid an escalation in conflict by displaying verbal outbursts or passive aggressive behavior.
Have additional skills to suggest as "healthy team behaviors?" Leave a comment below!
*Please Note: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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