I’ve written about ‘toxic teams’ in previous blogs. There are also those teams and individuals that are ‘out of control’ and have limited time and ability to do a great job.
The Out Of Control Team is so frantic being busy, with too much to do, or too much time spent on tasks that are not important that they are feeling stressed, which further limits their ability to get stuff done.
This team may spend all their time fixing problems as they arise, going from one issue or problem to the next and there is no time to think about working on the business or thinking about the purpose of their team. They may be so passionate about what they do, that they step beyond the boundaries of what they should be delivering and try to do more than they are being asked.
The organisation or their leader may also have unrealistic expectations on what the team is capable of producing, which creates more stress which in turn down-regulates their ability to think effectively.
An out of control team doesn’t have time to build relationships with their team members, trust is low, and people are focusing on just surviving. There may be hidden agendas that undermine the role of the team.
The out of control team can greatly benefit from pausing and thinking about why they are doing what they do. Taking a moment (or a day) to think about the type of culture they want to be part of.
Moving from an out of control team towards a calm culture is imperative.
Helping team members re-engage and build trusting relationships with colleagues starts to reduce stress levels and allow individuals to feel safe, trusted and engaged.
What are you doing to create calm teams?