In this episode of The Question, Ricky and Graham continue from episode 147, exploring the impact of constant change on teams.

The modern world of work is one of constant evolution, which, for some, can be a great opportunity. Still, for many, it feels relentless, risking creating change fatigue in the people you rely on to make the change work.

Change is a mixture of practical and people outcomes, and leaders can easily focus on the practical deliverables, leaving the people to transition to the change on their own. Graham and Ricky explore the practical things that managers and leaders can do that will help people move from surviving change to embracing the opportunities that change presents.

Sometimes, it feels like the workplace has become a place of constant change, with technology, economics and societal changes driving the need for teams to adapt how they work to meet changing needs constantly. Leaders who can help their teams embrace new ideas and working practices can drive the performance of their teams while at the same time protecting those they work with from the stress we feel when change is imposed on us.

In this episode of The Question Is, Ricky and Graham explore the leader's role in preparing their team in advance, creating a culture where change is embraced, not fought. They offer simple, practical steps, from explaining the change's purpose to creating a clear vision of how the new ways of working will actually work. If you have teams that are experiencing change, this podcast will help you help them.

In this podcast, Richard and Ricky explore some practical things you can do to build the culture in your organisation.

Org Culture is a big topic, and often you can get lost in the plethora of models and ideas. Culture feels big and something the most senior people have to take action on. Yet there are some simple, practical steps that any of us can take to improve the culture, even if it is just for our team.

From establishing the group's purpose, discovering the values, and aligning the business practices around measurement, reward and processes, manager have much more control over the culture of their team than they might believe.

What can I do to build rapport quickly? Rapport is a key skill when building relationships, when influencing others, and when collaborating, in fact, any time you want or need to engage with someone.

Ricky asks our resident psychologist, Paul, about practical ways to instantly build rapport. Together, they explore crucial elements to make rapport-building easy and impactful and get your connection off on the right foot.

If you want to avoid friction and get stuff done more easily, you almost always need to form a connection with your team, coworkers, suppliers and customers. Tune in for practical takeaways you can put into action immediately.

We like to think that all the teams in our organisation are aligned, collaborating effectively, and working in harmony. In an ideal world, all of our teams' passion and energy would be combined against the external world, beating competitors and solving problems that get in the way.

In reality, under pressure, we often turn on the groups closest to us. Not because they are the problem but because they are visible and identifiable. It is hard to blame people we can't identify, so we find an 'enemy' we can name, which can be as simple as the team down the corridor. Sales get frustrated with Service, Manufacturing with Supply Chain, and the front line with Leadership.

When the in-fighting bubbles over from noise to frustration, you need to deal with it before all the energy (time and talent) of your team is focused on internal battles and not directed towards delivering the outcomes you require. In this podcast, Ricky and Paul explore how teams get themselves into this position, and when you find yourself dealing with this, what steps bring alignment and harmony back to your world?

Frances Frei - How to build (and rebuild) trust. TED.com

https://www.ted.com/talks/frances_frei_how_to_build_and_rebuild_trust

When different opinions appear in the decision, the easy answer is to push the decision up. Let the boss decide.

There are two issues with this strategy. Firstly, while the boss will probably engage with the process, they will also hate it. They have enough to do without having to make decisions for warring teams. Plus, it never reflects well on those asking.

The bigger issue is when the team is in a matrix, and there is no obvious boss to pass the buck to. Then, the team has to find a way or risk the consequences of no (or late) decision!

In this episode of the podcast, Richard and Paul explore strategies that will help teams that disagree find solutions. From agreeing on where you agree to reciprocal behaviours, this podcast outlines strategies that you can use to create consensus and momentum.

Here is another podcast that examines the questions that regularly arise in our work. This time, Richard and Ricky consider why managers might avoid some of the more big (difficult) conversations that are needed between manager and team members.

Often, senior managers assume that these conversations are happening, only to find out as issues escalate that a culture of over-politeness or hoping things will sort themselves out if we ignore them for long enough has sowed ambiguity and misunderstanding.

Why do these conversations feel so difficult for managers, and what can we do to ensure that they happen early, ensuring small problems never get to become critical issues?

Richard and Ricky mention a great book on structuring these challenging conversations:

Grenny J., Patterson K., McMillan R., Switzler A. and Gregory E. (2021) Crucial Conversations (Third Edition): Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. McGraw Hill

In this podcast, Paul and Richard tackle one of the questions we have been asked a lot since the pandemic ended - How do you build trust between team members and teams that don’t spend that much time in the office.

Building trust between individuals and groups is far more complex than many of us realise because we do it so easily when we are together. We build trusting relationships through the micro-moments we spend together: before meetings, over lunch, getting coffee and in quick informal interactions. We also build trust through working together. It is the combination of both these types of trust that forms the relationships that we need to work together.

As leaders, we must change how our teams interact to ensure that the trust we need to achieve our goals is actively built so our teams can leverage trust when things get tough.