What Would a Good Manager Do To Build Team Spirit? DiSC

What would a good manager do to build team spirit?  Embrace change!

Under normal circumstances,  a few happy hours, bonuses, and kudos would go a long way to boost morale. Of course, normal circumstances once meant that everyone was under the same roof, in the same room. But right now we’re all looking at “normal circumstances” in the rearview mirror. And the new normal has been very disconcerting for millions of workers.

According to a recent survey, 70 percent of the respondents said they’re more stressed than they’ve ever been in their careers. And pharmacists around the country report a decided uptick in the number of prescriptions for depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

According to a 2017 survey by Mental Health America, workplace mental health problems result in as much as 500 billion dollars of lost productivity annually. Note: this was published 2 years before Covid19.

Translation: mental health support for workers must become a crucial component in business models around the country.

What would a good manager do to build team spirit? Unmask!

Yes, social distancing may require masks and gloves, but in this new business paradigm, it’s time to unmask and learn how to be human together so that we can work together.

More than ever, employees need to feel grounded, valued, and supported. That will require a personalized leadership style. For many executives, that’s a daunting thought. Some may be too territorial to leave their ivory towers. Others may be willing to humanize their approach to management but simply don’t know how to go about it. Fortunately, there’s an app for that called DiSC personality profile training.

DiSC is the ultimate widget for employers to better understand their employees. We’re all an admixture of 4 basic personality profiles: Dominant, Influential, Steadfast or Supportive, and Conscientious.

Insights into each one of these personality profiles can help bosses understand themselves and their workers better—and that’ll make working together a lot easier! Plus, DiSC can provide tools to help managers identify those employees who may be suffering emotional distress right now and learn how to support them.

What would a good manager do to build team spirit? Be teachable

As an executive, insights into your own personality profile will open your eyes to your own strengths and weaknesses.  DiSC training can improve your self-awareness and make you more teachable. 

It can teach you how to approach a Dominant employee differently than a Conscientious one and inspire each to do their best work for the team.  And with a better understanding of each employee’s behavior and work style, you can begin to take calculated risks. 

For example, you can risk building trust.  Ah! The “T” word! That can be a big issue if you’re used to micromanaging or shadowing your staff. But trust builds teams so it’s worth the risk. Trust must also be reciprocal and DiSC can facilitate that. Managers often expect the worst from people—and per the proverbial self-fulfilling prophecy, they get what they expect. 

With personality profile training, you’ll learn to expect the best because you will learn how to recognize the best in each employee. Their talents, skills, and strengths will come into sharper view. This builds trust and empowers workers to do their best.  And where you see weaknesses, DiSC training makes it safe to point them out and help your worker upgrade their emotional and professional IQ.

What would a good manager do to build team spirit? Be a mensch!

Mensch is a Yiddish word meaning “person of integrity or honor.” The distance created by the current lockdown makes it crucial that you create a different kind of closeness. Team-building requires authentic relationship-building based on trust, support, and acceptance across the board—no matter where people are on the corporate ladder.

Leadership based on integrity and honor will inspire trust, respect, and loyalty. If you make your expectations clear and fair and give employees a chance to give you feedback without being afraid of pushback, each worker will feel safe under your leadership and will learn to respect you more. 

And here’s another challenge for you as a leader: risk empowering your staff. If you give them permission to explore new ideas—even the wonky ones, you’ll fan the flames of creativity.  This can build a level of emotional confidence, personal autonomy, and professional accountability. And that will benefit the whole company through improved morale, increased productivity, and decreased turnover.

Help your staff embrace this new business paradigm! Make mental health support resources available to them without the stigma.  Develop virtual team bonding exercises to help refresh those who are suffering from 24/7 pandemic news fatigue, isolation, and loneliness.

Seek out fresh virtual opportunities for their professional development. Help each one achieve a better work-life balance. Flex their schedules and diversify their work assignments. That’s what a good manager would do to build team spirit.