More flexible and personalised, based on autonomy, trust and dialogue... Post-COVID management is evolving to recreate team cohesion. Step by step, managers are designing the company of tomorrow by exploring the keys to team performance. How are they going about it? We take a closer look with Solange Hémery, HEC-certified coach and practitioner in appreciative inquiry.
Two years of pandemic have shaken up team cohesion. At first, managers and staff remained united, experiencing the period as a challenge, with a kind of adrenalin rush. Then, faced with a mixture of uncertainty and pressure, the feeling of belonging was replaced by a feeling of division. So how can we collectively face up to the challenges of tomorrow? How can we recreate the sense of belonging to a team that is so essential to the smooth running of the business? To recreate team cohesion, managers have two priority areas for action: re-establishing communication and uniting employees around a common project.
Communication as a lever for team cohesion
The key to team cohesion remains communication. Of course, the ideal is to have maintained it throughout this period. The most resilient companies are those that have been able to maintain communication, particularly in two areas. On the one hand, their internal communication affirmed the commitment of the hierarchy and conveyed a reassuring message about the usefulness of each person, the prospects for the future and the means to move forward together. The managers have also succeeded in creating opportunities for dialogue.
Benevolence, empathy and resilience for team cohesion
Recreating team cohesion requires management based on benevolence, empathy and resilience.
Each employee has experienced a different situation. Some are very affected by the short-time working (so my job is not essential for the company...). Others find it difficult to return to the site or, on the contrary, to stay at home. There are also those who no longer see themselves in the company and resign in waves. Finally, there are those who are deeply afraid of what virus...
The manager accepts these feelings, provides support and helps the team to grow.
Adopt the posture of the manager coach to open spaces for dialogue
With the spoken word proving to be central, in the post-COVID period the manager is turning into a manager coach. In most cases, training and/or coaching are necessary in order to make the most of this change of position. These enable managers to develop new skills. In particular, the ability to help the team, both as a group and as individuals, to overcome their obstacles and emotional states in the face of change. Turning towards employees, the manager coach enables them to explain their situation and even their difficulties after this troubled period. These dialogue forums offer regular opportunities to meet and talk freely, while remaining focused on the company.
The codev for team cohesion
The co-development (codev) is particularly relevant for making it possible to listen and to (re)initiate action. Trained in codev, the manager guarantees the methodological framework and compliance with the rules of the game. They make it easy for everyone to express themselves.
In concrete terms, over a period of one to three hours, depending on the codev format chosen, the manager helps a group of 6 to 8 employees to improve their professional practices, with each employee learning from the experiences of the others. One of the employees, known as the customer, presents a problem that he or she is facing. The other employees - the consultants - listen to them, challenge them and then express their feelings and/or experiences with regard to what they expect (ideas, experimentation, courses of action, etc.). Then, one by one, the employees exchange places. In this way, everyone learns that some are the resources of others. This structured consultation exercise builds cohesion between workshop participants.
With a more cohesive workforce, employees can commit to a new, more positive and forward-looking organisational dynamic.
Team cohesion: from one place to a shared project
Rather than switching to all-teleworking or a complete return to on-site working, the majority of companies have opted for two or three days' teleworking a week. The "every man for himself" mentality is being reinforced by the "every man for himself" mentality. Between face-to-face and distance learning, managers are experimenting with the "every man for himself" approach. hybrid management with a focus on the risks of splits and fractures in the teams.
People no longer (re)come to the office to work on individual tasks. According to annual barometer Telework 2021 by Malakoff Humanis, "In the company, employees want to find spaces where they can get together (46 %), spaces where they feel part of a group (32 %)"..
Creating new collective experiences
The advantage of a shared office is that it gives teams the opportunity to work together and exchange ideas. To encourage collaboration and adapt to new ways of working, managers can, for example, set a fixed day each week on which the whole team meets in the office. Managers then become creators of new collective experiences, so that everyone (re)discovers the joy of (re)finding each other. What's on the agenda? Get-togethers, meetings, team coaching, team building, creativity sessions, training...
Contributing to a joint project
A collective effort, of course. But above all, a group that makes sense. That's why managers need to focus on activities where everyone feels valued for their contribution to the success of a shared project.
I recently worked with the sales management of a company. The aim? To strengthen cohesion between the managers in this department, so that they in turn could develop it within their own teams. The method? The appreciative approach or appreciative inquiry which invites us to build on our strengths to co-construct tomorrow.
First of all, in pairs, each manager shared a successful experience, their strengths, key success factors and how they would like to see cohesion develop. Then, on the basis of these great experiences and the individual and collective strengths identified, the group defined the place of each manager within the team: what does he or she bring to sales management? What is their role? In what way are they a pillar for the others? In the next stage, the managers re-examined their ideas for developing cohesion and focused on three of their priorities. Here, they identified five actions involving the team to enable their ideas to come to fruition.
Everyone came away from the workshop reenergised, feeling like they belonged in the management team, with a head full of projects! Above all, the managers were ready to draw on their team's own strengths to recreate cohesion and commitment.
In short, this approach frees up energy to solve problems and grow together!
