Mike BifulcoThis is Tiny Improvements. I'm Mike by ko No team is perfect. Working on a team that's in a bad place can be draining, demoralizing, and even toxic. A few times in my career, I've been part of teams that were struggling to find their footing. And once or twice I've seen a turnaround. There's no cure all for a bad work culture. But in my experience, the catalyst for change is often remarkably small.
Something I didn't realize until I'd been working for years, is that every person on a team contributes to its culture. This means that you have the power to shape the environment that you work in and the people that you work with. You probably have a sense of what your perfect team would look like. The right balance of autonomy. Intellectual challenge and comradery is different for everyone. And it's important to recognize that your ideal team might not be the same as someone else's.
I believe that building a great team is not far off from the golden rule. Be the teammate you wish you had and others will follow suit. Embrace the positives. And creating a thriving team culture. It's invaluable to draw from the positive aspects of past experiences. Think about the best team you've ever worked with. What made it so great. Borrow bits and pieces from that experience and remix them to fit your current team. Here's a couple examples that have worked well for me.
I'll start with gratitude. Cultivating a habit of expressing gratitude can profoundly lift team morale. Praise resonates differently with each of us. Some prefer public acknowledgement while others appreciate a private, thank you. It can take some time to figure out what works best for the people you work with. But no matter what expressing gratitude is always a good idea. Being openly thankful for your team's efforts. Foster is a positive environment and encourages everyone to contribute.
Enthusiastically. Take the time to show your teammates, the things that you genuinely appreciate about their work and their presence on the team. Receiving that extra bit of love feels great. And selfishly, it feels good to give it to. This can be particularly tricky to do when you're feeling overwhelmed or stressed, but it's in those moments that a little bit of gratitude goes a really long way. At craftwork, we've adopted the practice of a weekly five fifteens reflection.
A piece of work culture cribbed from my time at Stripe. Each week, every team member journals about what they accomplished that week, including the challenges that they faced and goals for the coming week, this reflection is time-boxed. They take 15 minutes to write. And each one should take no longer than five minutes to read. The result helps strengthen our understanding of one another's experiences, ensuring that no one's efforts or struggles go unnoticed.
They also serve as a handy reminder of personal accomplishments and growth during performance reviews. it forces self-reflection and it gives us each the opportunity to see a bit behind the curtain. With five fifteens. We often get to hear more aspirational and candid thoughts than we would otherwise hear in a typical work chat. It helps us connect better as complex living and breathing humans rather than semi distant colleagues smashing code into a computer week after week. Up next.
Fuck. The negatives. Adopting additive team behaviors is just as important as the elimination of negative ones. When was the last time you rolled your eyes or heave decide at work. This is probably a sign of something that's ripe for improvement. Whether it's a lack of transparency, ineffective communication, or a culture of overwork, recognizing these pitfalls is the first step in eliminating them.
For example, if weekly meetings have always felt unproductive, Consider replacing them with more efficient communication methods, like brief daily stand-ups or targeted updates through team communication tools. Encourage your team to be vocal about what isn't working and be proactive and making changes that foster a more positive and productive environment. This not only improves the current team dynamics, but it prevents repetition of past mistakes.
It's a great idea to do some introspection here, too. I've worked hard to jettison habits of my own that make me less fun to work with. Oh wide spectrum of behaviors from procrastination to communicating poorly when I'm stressed out to recognizing when I just need more sleep I'm far from perfect, but chiseling away at these things has hopefully made me a more effective teammate over the years. Here's the thing. Every job will involve doing things that aren't strictly fun.
In a sense, that's probably why your job is a job. But that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy and improve the people you work with or the environment you work in. To truly transform your team. Start by being the type of teammate you would want to have. Embrace the give and take of support, ensuring you're as reliable and approachable as you expect others to be. The most important team I've ever been a part of is my marriage.
And the best marriage advice I ever received was really simple: always over contribute. If both partners are always trying to give more than they take, you'll both be happy. I believe this holds for nearly all relationships, including those with your coworkers. Put yourself out there. Be a catalyst for change and grow with your teammates. As you build the team you want to be on.