Leading Teams on a Shoestring (Pt. 1)
On March 2, 2020, I started a new role heading up a new team – I was thrilled for the opportunity, and ready to dive in.
Two weeks later, as we wrapped up the day on Friday, March 13, I said to a co-worker, “You might want to forward your desk phone to your cell phone. I don’t think we’re coming back on Monday.”
I had been with the organization for five years at that point, and as the world lurched into a terrifyingly disorienting state of frozen chaos, our entire way of work turned upside down.
Over the next four years, I had to learn not only how to be a people leader in alignment with my values, but how to be that person in a world that at times seemed to make very little sense at all.
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As a result, I’ve become passionate about supporting leaders to grow and shift their workplace cultures. However, teams and organizations are oftentimes short on resources – budgets and capacity for change is stretched.
So how do you implement positive change in your team? Large organizations might have the budget for culture assessments and change initiatives, and private sector companies might be able to pay for incentives like bonuses, offsite team-building retreats, or employee education benefits.
But if your organization doesn’t have that kind of budget? Or if you’re a leader but you’re not in charge of budget allocation? What then?
I’m not an advocate of pushing to do more with less or asking people to take on the work of 2.5 FTEs while being paid the salary of 1.0 FTE. That relentless grind is unfortunately the reality for many people, and it leads to burnout, high turnover, low morale, and workplace dysfunction.
There’s important broader work around dismantling the systems of oppression that contribute to all the ways people can be harmed in their workplaces. This is layered and complex, and shifting workplace culture is a challenging endeavour. But small changes can be made at the local level, and ripple out.
The first no-cost leadership principle is Curiosity. These ideas can be adapted for individual contributors, large teams, middle management, or the C-suite. The key element is maintaining an open and curious mindset.
What do your team members need? Perhaps they need role clarity; flexibility for school pick-up; meeting-free blocks to do deep work; or access to your time to review weekly priorities.
How can you help? Your support can take many forms, including elevating team members’ successful projects to senior leadership for recognition and career advancement; mentorship to navigate challenging conversations and situations; or ensuring you’re not the bottleneck preventing people from meeting deadlines.
How does your team like to work and communicate? This could include weekly kick-off meetings; asynchronous project management in Teams; flex workspaces for connection and collaboration; or text messages for urgent items. For hybrid or remote teams, developing a digital charter can be very helpful.
What helps people process information? Think about providing advance access to materials before meetings; opportunities to contribute post-discussion, etc. Considering neurodiversity in the workplace can help create a variety of meaningful ways for people to engage.
How do team members prefer to receive feedback? Is it in the moment, as things are happening; or after a project is wrapped up; a written summary or a verbal discussion? Using a future-focused feedforward approach can have positive results.
The list could go on. But the point being – there’s so many ways that simply being curious can shift things significantly for other people. And it doesn’t cost you a dime.
Leading Teams on a Shoestring will be an ongoing series in Leadership Learnings. Sign up for the newsletter to get the next issue delivered straight to you.