Resilience in the team ensures better collaboration
Team resilience – successful collaboration in difficult situations
When teams work together, there are always critical situations and problems that need to be overcome. This creates stress. To consciously reduce this stress and be able to use your own resources at all times, teams need resilience. Resilient teams work together successfully in critical or stressful situations and overcome such situations together. They are defined by good internal team interaction, the way the team is led and the personal resources that each team member brings to the table. Team resilience is based on mutual respect and empathy for one another. At the same time, the focus is placed on shared positive emotions and the conscious handling of negative emotions is trained. In resilient teams, mistakes and failures are seen as the basis for further development.
Team resilience is important for working in teams in several respects, as such teams emerge stronger from crises. The physical and mental health of the individual team members is also maintained. Team resilience is based on four factors:
Psychological safety
Psychological safety within a team ensures that no team member is laughed at or punished for directly addressing ideas, concerns or mistakes. The individual team members therefore also feel psychologically safe in their working environment. The team deals positively even with immature thoughts.
Dealing with unexpected events
Teams as a whole must be able to react to stress, crises and pressure. Critical situations that pose a challenge are rarely predictable. Teams that can deal well with unexpected events remain calm in critical situations, are reliable and support each other. They adapt their working methods flexibly to unexpected events.
Dealing with critical situations in a healthy way
In order for the team to be balanced, it is essential that each individual team member is able to handle critical situations well. Resilient interpersonal relationships are the linchpin for this. They contribute significantly to the development and maintenance of resilience in entrepreneurial teams – even when dealing with critical situations.
Holistic progress as a team
In critical situations, making decisions about how to proceed is particularly complex. Resilient teams also manage such difficult situations in which the interests of the team as well as those of the company or individual divisions must be kept in view. In this way, the company remains capable of acting even in times of crisis.
Growing together as a team and building team resilience is a longer process that develops step by step. This includes an organizational framework that suits the company and must be planned in advance.
Building sustainable team resilience
Establishing holistic routines within the company is necessary for healthy team resilience. This strengthens the team’s resilience, enhances its ability to overcome upcoming challenges and promotes the ability to act more successfully. Overall, the following routines should be firmly integrated into everyday working life in order to objectively promote team resilience:
- Supporting self-care and mindfulness
To ensure that team members are fully healthy at work at all times, individual team members should be consistently encouraged to take care of their physical and mental health. Valuable contributions to this are taking breaks together, relaxation exercises and mindfulness exercises. Good self-care supports the individual team members in strengthening and possibly shifting their stress limits. - Promoting community and collaboration within the team
To fully utilize the team’s potential, individual team members should be encouraged to support and learn from each other. It is beneficial that the goals set are pursued together. A joint approach distributes the pressure across several shoulders, which in turn strengthens the team resilience of the entire team. Regular team meetings increase the sense of togetherness and team spirit. - Allow mentoring within the team
There is heterogeneity within the team, so it makes sense for experienced team members to take team members who do not yet have sufficient experience under their wing and pass on the experience they have gained. This also contributes to cohesion within the team, promotes the exchange of knowledge and supports the personal development of individual team members.
- Developing individual strengths in the team
The aim is to identify the strengths and skills of each team member and thus promote personal development. Strengthening the personal skills of individual team members helps to build self-confidence and increase self-efficacy. This enables individual team members to draw on their resources even in difficult times and improve the collective resilience of the team. - Establishing a culture of open communication
In order to build resilience in the team, the individual members must have a clear understanding of the common goals and individual responsibilities. An important basis for this is regular communication of expectations and ensuring that all team members are on the same page. This helps to avoid misunderstandings and keeps the team focused even in difficult times.
A core element of successfully operating resilient teams is flexible thinking and action. The teams can adapt quickly and flexibly to changing conditions, and change is seen as an opportunity. In this context, it is important that existing problems and difficulties are also addressed directly. In order to be able to take a holistic view of a positive future, the entire team must accept that not all existing problems can be solved.
The team resilience model consists of three levels and a total of nine building blocks. The basic level – the normative level – is about the effective use of all basic tools and effective leadership. Team values are used to create a common value base in order to hold the team together. The greater the identification with the team values, the stronger the bond between the individual team members and their team. The prerequisite is that the management staff exemplify the defined values.
However, the goals set are the milestones on the way to the vision that help the team to recognize progress and success. Sufficient interim targets must be set for this purpose, especially as the achievement of interim targets provides additional motivation. In order to avoid internal team disputes, the structures, rules and roles should be defined from the outset. It is important to establish a climate of respect and appreciation in order to establish a good communication culture. Openly addressing problems reveals opportunities for improvement.
The middle level – the attitude level – deals with the attitudes and mindset of a team, which distinguishes between strong and weak teams. Resilient teams show a behavior of initiative and action. Resilient teams believe in their abilities and are convinced that they can overcome even major challenges on their own. This positive thinking and confidence stems from past successes. When problems arise, resilient teams immediately focus on their strengths and consider their options for action.
In the event of setbacks or failures, resilient teams are not discouraged but support each other. Managers always support the approach of resilient teams. The upper level – the motivation level – reflects the individual motivational attitude and mindset of the individual team members. Resilient teams are intrinsically motivated and derive benefits for themselves. The leadership of the team must create a corresponding climate. High-performing team members should receive recognition or appreciation for their achievements.
