Today, I wanted to share some lessons I've learned in the past years that have helped me build better teams and get better delivery from teammates by focusing on each person as an individual. I'll share a few stories about how past leaders I've worked for have shown me ways to focus on the individual and practices that I have been working on to help understand the teams I work for better.
When I first came into this role, I was bounced from one product team to another within 12-18 months, until I finally landed within the application development responsible for our company's first mobile application. It was a challenge for me as we were adopting new API framework technology and a new front end that I had not worked with before. Had I known what I know now I would have spent more time doing the following two things:
Pair programming with both UI development team members and API team members. Because these tools were new to me and I was learning them, I didn't think I had the time to commit to pair programming with each team member. It would have helped me see the struggles they were dealing with and more clearly define their work. We would have ended up with better quality along the way as well. Schedules were difficult because the entire team was in India and I am in the US Central timezone.
Their knowledge of the development process was fine, but they needed stronger guidance in our back end as well as our business models. Through this project and more since then, I've realized the critical importance to make sure your contract developers truly understand the business we're all trying to improve through technology.
Connecting with individuals isn't something that comes naturally to me. Some individuals can turn on charm and charisma and always have a professionally positive spin on whatever comes their way. My boss is one of these people and he's both inspiring and makes me somehow feel that he is superhuman in his ability to look at the bright side or win others over to his way of thinking all the time.
In one of my most stressful periods of work and life during the coronavirus pandemic, I broke down in a one-on-one. I was leading a new team of developers in React Native, and not the strongest framework or library that I have worked with. I had led us down the wrong path based on our organization's understanding of a vendor contract which felt like a failure to me. At the same time, I was dealing with time commitments at home and trying to manage the kid's home learning schedules. It was all too much for many of us, but he had the compassion to give me space by sharing a time that was no doubt an immensely vulnerable moment for him too. This gave me the space to collect myself, know that I wasn't alone, and share that we're all dealing with something so it pays to be compassionate with others. It gave me more respect for him and his abilities as a leader than I thought. In the early moments of this meeting, he'd already listened, absorbed what was going on, and shared an empathetic moment of his vulnerability.
This leader at our organization, years later is still my boss, still a mentor, and still pushes our team in many challenging ways as we shift our technology footprint. His biggest challenge to us is to be leaders, not managers (I'm not a manager by title). Being a leader is more than coaching fellow employees and trying to motivate others, it is also these things.
To be effective leaders and build your team persona, you need to get to know each individual on the team through team-building activities and individual activities. Here are some ways to work within your teams to build empathy, communicate better, and be open-minded to others' experiences.
Put yourself in their shoes: Empathy requires seeing things from another person's perspective. Try to imagine how they might be feeling or what they might be experiencing. This can help you better understand their point of view.
Acknowledge their emotions: People want to feel heard and validated. When someone shares their feelings, acknowledge them and let them know that you understand how they're feeling.
Communicate clearly and honestly: To build trust and understanding, it's important to communicate clearly and honestly with your team members. This means being transparent about your intentions and expectations.
Practice active empathy: Active empathy involves taking action to help others. This could involve offering support, providing resources, or simply being there for someone when they need it.
Finally, it's essential to approach every situation with an open mind. Be willing to consider other perspectives and learn from your team members. This will help you build stronger relationships and foster a culture of empathy within your team. If you can do this one team at a time, you really can change the culture of your department and company.
