Over the next several weeks we will revisit an article titled Ten Ways to Create a Positive Work Environment. Each week we will examine some of the suggestions from this article for bringing and consistently maintaining more positivity on our teams.
4. Create Team Spirit
One of our basic human needs is to feel we belong to something bigger than ourselves, and for many people that need is met by being part of a supportive work group. As a team leader, part of your job is to create a feeling of unity among your staff. This unity will help your team members feel valued and that they belong. As a result they will want to be at work, tardiness and absenteeism will be minimal, your team will function smoothly and your team will be better able to carry out the missions and goals of our school.
To foster this team feeling you must convey to the entire team that every person plays an important role. Encourage an attitude of cooperation rather than competition. When you create team spirit and identity, staff members will see themselves as a group of people all working for a common goal, rather than a bunch of individuals competing with each other.
By letting each member know they are a valued part of the team you will teach your staff members to respect each other for their unique contributions. There are many group exercises designed to foster this kind of unity. One easy exercise is to begin team meetings by going around the table and having each person say one nice thing about the person on their right or left. Especially things they've noticed about their work with students. . Be sure to acknowledge the little things that mean so much to the students, their families and coworkers that are the mark of an excellent team member.
An important aspect of creating team spirit is demonstrating that you are open to communication from everyone, including students, families and team members. When you walk through the hall be sure you smile, are friendly, and acknowledge people you pass. You should always show that you are aware of and care about each person. This will demonstrate to them that you are aware of them as people, and are also aware of what's happening on the team. By doing this you will also demonstrate that you are willing to listen and are responsive to their needs.
Another exercise you can do with your staff to increase their appreciation of each other and feeling of team spirit is called Skill Appreciation. In this exercise team members recognize and appreciate each other for the unique skills each brings to the team. Take time at one of your team meetings to focus on this aspect. Give each person a 3 x 5 card and ask them to write their name at the top. Have each person place their card on the table in front of them, and then move one place to the right so they're sitting in front of their neighbor's card. Then ask them to write words of appreciation on the card of the co-worker, including positive personal characteristics, attitudes and skills they bring to the team. Examples may be things like:
1. Ability to relate well with students and families.
2. Creativity.
3. Ability to organize well.
4. Having a positive attitude and kind word for everyone, etc.
Have team members continue moving around the table and writing on cards until they are back at their original place.
There are many other ways a team leader can foster team spirit. Some of these are:
- Give verbal and written communication to individuals and the group for jobs well done.
- Make sure team members know a bit about each other's personal life by setting aside 5 minutes at each staff meeting to have one person tell about something positive that's happened in their life in the past month.
- Find reasons to celebrate together, such as birthdays, birth of a baby or grandchild, moving into a new house, etc., and have small parties to celebrate these events. It's especially good to share your celebration with all the teams by inviting others to join you or putting up a sign or banner in the break room saying "Today We Are Celebrating……………". By celebrating together you will be connecting the entire staff.
- Let them know that you are also part of the team by asking your staff what they need from you to make their job more satisfactory, and doing your best to provide it.
- Schedule stretch exercises that you do together before school. Have different staff members lead the exercises each day.
- Ensure that humor is part of the daily work environment. Put a humor section on the bulletin board and invite team members to post things they find funny (keeping good taste in mind, of course). Also, encourage them to respectfully find the humor in situations at work. It's important for you as the supervisor to learn to laugh at yourself, and model this for your staff. Let them know that since we all are human we make mistakes. It's much better to find the lesson and humor in mistakes than to become upset over them.
Please comment and share 3 additional ways you have or could build team spirit.
I try to show that I care about my team and their thoughts/feelings by asking their opinions. For example- we need to rearrange the re-do room. I might come up with an idea that I'm pretty sure everyone will be ok with but I will still check with each person to ask their opinion.
ReplyDeleteI've also heard that when you feed someone you show them that you love them. Fourth grade loves to eat, so our half-day Fridays are always a great time to bring in food to share. We are always so busy during lunch/planning that we don't sit and eat, so it's great to actually sit down for a few minutes and talk and eat. With the change in our team members we have gotten away from that but I hope to start it again in the new year.
I try to emphasize the strengths of my team members. We have a math expert- so any math questions I direct to her as "you're great at math, what do you think we could try?" or "You are awesome at organizing- what do you think I could fix here?"
I like the ideas in the article. I need to get better at finding my team in the morning to check in and then check out with them again when I leave. I hope that will help show that I am open to communication with them.
This area has been particularly challenging for me this year. I have tried and continue to try several strategies to encourage my team and help them feel a part of the team and valuable to me. One of the ways that I hope I'm reaching out to my team members is by simply asking how they are doing, if they have anything exciting going on and if they aren't well, I usually send a message to them in the evening to check on them.
ReplyDeleteWe are also incorporating snacks into our team meeting daily. This has appeared to help some, but I'm always willing to look for other ideas to build the team atmosphere in a positive way.
I really liked this article!! I agree with Ellen, I need to work on checking in with my team in the morning and throughout the day, and make sure I'm getting to the other floors. One thing that has been a inadvertent team building is that my team started having lunch in the plaza together to watch the kids. This is the time we can ask each other about classes or life events and know what's going on outside of work. It has turned into a fun little break during the day to share what we are doing for lessons and ask each other about challenges.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try adding more written communication for good deeds/practices throughout my team. I started giving out certificates for perfect pacing guides and my team loved them. Just a silly little thing, but now my team tried really hard to get a perfect PG and saves me a bunch of work!
What you did for pacing guides made me think of something I've tried. when I'm doing the summary, if I noticed their testing was a lot better, I try to send a quick email. Its simple "you have more kids passing this month, keep it up".
DeleteI've been stepping out of my comfort zone to add more personal touches to things. I ask how dr. appt's go, a teacher had a grandparent get sick, so I spent $2 on a silly notebook that she still points out and laughs about. I also started something where if I notice testing scores improve when doing pacing guides, I send a quick "good job" email. With the meetings, they suddenly feel so productive. I've been trying to ask teachers opinions on how the assessments went, trying to get everyone involved. The last assessment meeting, I left with a "that was a good meeting" and shared that info. I hope that making myself available more emotionally will open my team up and keep us all being respectful
ReplyDeleteI am really proud of you stepping out of your comfort zone and being more personable! I have noticed it and I have noticed a change in your team this year too!
DeleteI think having a positive work environment contributes to the success of the school/business! Getting to know the staff and talking to them every chance you get is my goal.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the food days help too. The middle school has been doing this occasionally and I think sharing food and small talk really brings a staff together.
I also feel that communication is a great tool too. Any time I'm gone for a meeting/testing/coaching/etc., I like to let the Middle School staff/support staff know where I'm at so they are aware in case something comes up and they know the next person to contact.
I've gotten some compliments about being easy to talk to. This makes me want to strive to continue doing this and try to improve by trying to reach out more to the staff.
At the middle school, food has always been part of the planning day agenda....eating lunch together.
ReplyDeleteI too look to the strengths and expertise of my team members and often look to them for help and insight.
We actually like eachother and enjoy being around eachother, There is always laughter around here. We work very well together to ensure that the students are all held to the same high expectations. Everyone looks out for eachother.
I feel like this has always been my strong point! I feel like my team knows that I care about them and that I appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I send an email, I always start with a positive note about how much I appreciate them and how great my team is. I try to check in with everyone at least once a day, make sure everything is going ok and if they need help with anything. I do need to make sure I get over to the ELL rooms more often, but it is really hard some days. I felt like I was over there a lot in the last few weeks though, so I will continue on that path. I always ask how they feel their coachings went. Whenever they need to vent or talk, I am always there to listen to them. Just being there for your team makes them feel happier.
We celebrate holidays and birthdays together. All of our birthdays are in the summer, so we usually get together at a restaurant in July and celebrate all at once. I always bring them little gifts on the first day of school, Halloween, Christmas, and Valentines Day. This lets them know that I care about them. We also like to dress up to the occasion. On Halloween, we were all super teachers, on Christmas we wore our ugly sweaters. I think this gives the teachers fun things to look forward to! We also do food, we usually do a potluck on half days. We also do a lot of team teaching. We do these "fairs" about once a month where we all have our own project we do with the kids. This brings us together and makes everyone responsible for a portion of the event. Another thing I do to make everyone feel important is delegate jobs. This one I have to give Sullins the credit for, but everyone has a special job, it makes my life easier and makes them all feel important. For example, Costello is in charge of making the common assessment record sheet, he puts the GLE's next to each item and then makes copies for everyone and Peterson is in charge of field trips.
I really like the ideas for opening meetings! I am going to do the one where you say something nice to the person next to you at our next meeting! This was a great article, I really enjoyed it!