¿Cuáles son las mejores maneras de comunicarse con su equipo para reducir el estrés?

Calm. Clear. Honest. Open. Transparent. Are brilliant styles of communication. However part of communication is listening too. There are times when it’s less consultative due to the nature of business life, but communicating at those times and empowering your team aren’t mutually exclusive. And it’s often what is said at times when it’s not formal communication that builds great team culture and communication is part of any organisations culture. Focus on both and you’ll have a great recipe for 2-way communication. Being heard means you listen too. And make sure you follow up with different ways. It’s not all just verbal or written. Both are needed. It reduces ambiguity. And supports clarity and builds mutual trust.

Nothing will strain the trust and confidence of your team more than poorly communicated expectations. In today’s fast pace, environments, most professionals in high demand jobs hardly have time to do everything on their plate once, let alone twice. Lastly, though I believe, most importantly, is checking in . As mentioned above, trust and confidence, come from a valid support network. This comes in handy by making sure people aren’t suffering in silence and provides just the right amount of involvement to maintain their confidence and autonomy.

In my experience, I've found three tools and guides to be extremely helpful in achieving alignment and healthy dynamics in a team: 1. The Speed of Trust (Stephen Covey) - gets you a long way in learning how to build trust in the team. Flash cards are particularly useful. 2. The Karpman Drama Triangle and its reverse Empowerment Dynamic - crucial to identify and fix damaging group dynamics. 3. The 6 Steps to Success (Julie Hay) - as a framework for creating and maintaining alignment at critical levels both 1:1 and with the group as a whole.

Next to using positive language, using a positive approach to "utilizing" skills in the group is a major stress-relieving factor. Leaning into the strengths of your team members instead of focusing on trying to have them improve on weaknesses boosts well being, reduces the odds of burnout, and leads to the most effective use of your resources and hereby to optimal performance.

Choosing the right mode and frequency of communication within a team should be the result of an open dialogue, where individual preferences and group needs are balanced, with the manager facilitating the discussion.

I think this is often one of the forgotten methods. How many times do you tell your staff to go home at lunch and enjoy the rest of their day? Or "take Monday off because you've worked so hard recently?". Self-care isn't always easy and can be quite hard to fit in, so by giving your team the time, along with the recognition of a job well done, can go a very long way. A good thing I've seen in some companies is having strict rules around meetings. For example, no meeting starts before 10am or finishes after 4pm. Some companies go even further and say no meetings on a Friday. Definitely worth considering.

Next to this, encouraging people in the team to look for mentors and coaches outside of the team, and creating a coaching culture have been proven to yield great results in terms of wellbeing and performance of the team. Lead by example: engage as a leader in coaching and mentoring for yourself, and share the insights you've gained with the team as appropriate.