How can you build strong relationships with your team?

You really have to have the long term interests of your team at heart. People can sense whether you do or not. With that as the foundation you can have difficult conversations as needed while remembering to celebrate wins as well.

Do what You Say and Say what You Do. That creates reliability and trust in you. Admit your own failures shows that you are a reflected person.

Walk the talk! As simple (and hard at the same time) as it is. Be what you expect your team to be. Like being a dad. Your kid will follow your example.

Em minha experiencia tenho visto que a preocupação com o outro tem sido o responsável pelo sucesso da equipe. Essa preocupação se dá no interesse em entender e capacitar da melhor forma seu time. Temos o cuidado de lapidar, treinar, buscar consultoria para desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional.

Authenticity is key in leadership for building strong team relationships. It fosters trust, as leaders who are honest and transparent encourage a culture of openness. This approachability promotes effective communication and collaboration. Acknowledging weaknesses and mistakes humanizes leaders, making them more relatable and respected. Authentic leaders, sharing their values and passions, inspire their teams, creating an environment of mutual growth and inspiration.

Absolutely! Listening to people is a powerful way to show respect. When we truly listen to someone, we are actively paying attention to their words, thoughts, and feelings. It shows that we value their perspective and consider their thoughts important. Listening also allows us to understand others better, empathize with their experiences, and build stronger connections. It's a way of honoring someone's presence and showing that we genuinely care about what they have to say. By listening, we not only demonstrate respect but also create a space for meaningful and authentic communication.

Active listening is not just a feel-good phrase that we can use as a filler on a resume or in discussions on our skills. We need to use it as a tool to ensure clear communication and sharing of ideas or a vision. Many leaders evaluate staff on their communication skills which includes acting on information shared. We need to practice these skills on a daily basis. These can include parroting what others say, repeating back what we heard and how it integrates into the conversation. We can repeat to ourselves what is being said, this helps us focus on the conversation and prevents us from trying to format a response while the other person is still speaking. I challenge you to make it a habit.

Active listening is 90% of any problem solving! Not only it helps to get deeper insights into what stakeholders are dealing with, but also, what is the required pathway for them to achieve the possibilities they are after!!

Active listening is indeed the cornerstone of building strong team relationships. In my practice, it goes beyond merely hearing words; it's about genuinely understanding the underlying message. This approach fosters a deep sense of trust and respect. I make it a point to focus completely on the speaker, free from distractions or preconceived notions. By asking clarifying questions and reflecting back, I ensure that I've accurately grasped their perspective. This not only aids in resolving conflicts but also encourages open communication. Practicing active listening daily has proven to be invaluable in creating a team environment where each member feels heard, valued, and understood.

One thing I have really learnt is listening helps us not only understand the other person's opinion but also helps us to trust them. The more we listen the more we tend to form the attachment the team needs but as well to focus on what is needed rather than assume. It not only helps the team grow but also makes the people feel like they belong.

It's tempting to try and make feedback less threatening by toning it down, but a key secret to making feedback work is to focus on building a culture that makes feedback more acceptable and not personally threatening. Do this by modeling the behavior for others by asking genuinely for help and celebrating others' feedback when they give it.

The purpose of feedback is improvement. When we give and receive feedback we will demonstrate the importance of achieving the best version of ourselves together.

Building relationships as a leader means that you are willing to hear the negative feedback and not just the praise staff may share as a means to gain favor with the boss. We have to be wiling to hear when staff are not clear on your instructions or when you make a mistake that they are being held accountable for. All staff, from line level to the corner office need to practice open ended questions as a process to communicate feedback. If all we do is have "yes or no" questions, we have no discussion. And, with no discussion feedback is not provided. Also look at the time and place used for feedback, usually in the boss's office. When was the last time you had someone stop by just for a cup of coffee?

For me, it is important to work out the employee's strengths, interests and goals and use them accordingly. Feedback is not a one-way street but is essential from both parties. Where did the activities/tasks match the interests/strengths and where did they not? Where is there potential for development? What is still missing to achieve the common goals? Acceptance of the feedback can be increased if the message is in the "I" form and based on observations (concrete examples if possible).

Feedback is important but getting it at the right time is equally important. It should not be shown as a blocker to the career rather projected as a stepping stone to grow. It should help us learn in the right direction and improve.

I love to start each meeting with WINS and ask that all team leads do the same. It creates and encouraging environment that honors achievements. In a fast paced world, celebrating can spur more future wins and honor teams and team members for their contributions.

Showing appreciation and celebrating victories is not just a great way to build strong relationships, it's vital to the culture of the company. Employees should be able to see, hear, and feel the encouragement. It also helps separate the managers from the leaders.

In my professional experience a key element in building strong relationships with your team is to actively appreciate and celebrate their contributions and milestones. Acknowledgment of hard work and achievements, whether big or small, significantly boosts morale and shows your team that their efforts are valued. This can be done through public recognition in meetings, personalized thank-you notes, or celebratory events for major milestones. Recognizing and celebrating personal events like birthdays or work anniversaries fosters a sense of belonging and care beyond the professional scope. This enhances individual motivation and job satisfaction but also strengthens the team bond, cohesive and supportive work environment.

Appreciating and celebrating team achievements is crucial for building a positive culture. Expressing gratitude and recognition boosts morale and motivation. Whether it's through a simple 'thank you', public acknowledgment, or fun team events, these gestures make team members feel valued and respected. This not only enhances loyalty but also fosters a supportive environment where everyone feels encouraged to contribute their best. Remember, a team that feels appreciated is more engaged, collaborative, and successful. #Leadership #TeamBuilding #EmployeeAppreciation #Motivation #WorkCulture

Recognising hard work and dependability is very important. There is a tendency to be more comfortable providing developmental feedback as it has a purpose i.e. improvement. However, validation is important, more and more so with remote working. Tell someone, or their manager about positive impact. It will benefit the culture and a person's confidence / willingness to take ownership and responsibility.

Communication takes clarity, kindness and repetition to be effective. Often when conversations are difficult, clarity also needs confirmation. Asking if the individual can repeat back what they heard can help ensure people understand what is being communicated. It's very important in emotionally charged or difficult conversations. Also, signposting that a difficult conversation needs to happen helps signal the importance of what is being communicated. The SHIT sandwich approach actually diminishes this and I now avoid it. I talk about what's going well separately from critical conversations to ensure clarity.

George Bernard Shaw once said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place”. It's frighteningly true. No matter how clear and frequent our communications are, it's likely that the information shared has gone unheard, unread, misread, misinterpreted, or outright forgotten. Also, consider today's fast-paced world where business professionals are inundated with an average of 120 daily emails and 4-10K consumer advertising messages via TV, radio, social media, websites, email, and print media. Amidst this noise, overcommunicating is key. Yet, it's not just about quantity; it's about clarity. Be concise, use visuals, and foster a culture of active listening where all voices are heard and understood.

Building strong relationships involves creating inspiring visions that infuse purpose into daily work. Yet many companies settle for the status quo. Greatness requires bold leaps. At an executive meeting years ago, I cited the company’s past successes in launching game-changing technology, and the sales and competitive gains that followed. However, nearly a decade had passed without further breakthroughs. Instead of settling for “singles and doubles”, I urged the company to aim higher. Unfortunately, I was rebuffed. The demand for immediate wins stifled ambition...then and now. Today, I urge companies to heed the message on YouTube’s lobby wall. “If you’re not doing some things that are crazy, then you’re doing the wrong things.”

When given feedback that you don't agree with, the question isn't always 'are they right or wrong?'.The question to ask is; 'what has led them to believe this?' You might not like or agree with feedback, but it tells you something valuable about perception and how this person perceives you.

While conflicts are natural inside teams, its early and proper management are required within team members and leaders. Leader's task is not only to be a judge, leader must go beyond classic role and enhance courage, to award it publicly. Empowered team members tend to show conflict management leadership and communicate effectively when needs help.

Conflicts are inevitable in a team. Without them the team is merely a group of people. Conflicts help them grow right and grow together. These are nothing but different perspectives the team members get to the table, debating and deciding on the right outcome is the best part of having conflicts. Do you all agree?

Fully understanding and recognising ALL the strengths and capabilities in the team whilst also understanding that strengths show up in different ways. For example, Neurodivergence is very often a strength and not a weakness. Empower ALL your people!

One key foundational factor for building strong team relationships from my experience, is about discovering, understanding, acknowledging and supporting continuous development of individual team member’s strengths and talents. 
Through working in the strengths zone, individuals are more efficient and happy, and the understanding those insights create, maximizes relationship building and team collaboration.

A shortcut that captures many of the ideas in this article is to genuinely and actively be Curious and Care about the other individuals. If you do that, most of these other behaviors should flow quite naturally as a result.

In my experience the elements as mentioned above/earlier are important habits to maintain the spirit. A real team needs belonging, understanding of all members superpower and the lesser qualities. Morality is important underrated element of successful teams. In my opinion it is part of your specific team culture

A wise business leader once shared, "The minute I hire someone, that's when I go to work for them". That's a business leader that "gets it"! Most get it wrong. They think the people in their organization are there to SERVE THEM. The opposite is true. Leaders SERVE their people. They develop them. They grow their strengths. They ask about their interests and career aspirations and provide guidance, mentorship, and opportunities while tying individual and team development to the overall goals and success of the organization. In short, they put people, teams, and organizations in positions to WIN. That's the basis for building strong relationships.