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3 ways to build team resilience
Assembling a team of resilient individuals doesn’t make a resilient team.
The pandemic forced many organisations to accelerate change right when resources were at their lowest. This has boosted the need to ‘get more from less’[1] at work, as many of us now operate in a fast-paced, pressurised and constantly changing hybrid environment. Because of these increased demands, developing people’s resilience is key to driving growth. But, organisations that focus only on developing individual resilience are missing a trick.
Just like individuals, teams need to be able to handle pressure, overcome challenges and bounce back from adversity. Research shows that a team’s health and performance can plummet when faced with adversity, even if it is made up of highly resilient individuals [2]. For example, teams with resilient members can still:
- Suffer from breakdowns in communication
- Be unable to manage conflict effectively
- Lack insight into how the team works together best in tough conditions
- Fail to hold one another accountable
- Desert rather than support each other when in need
For teams to stay healthy and overcome challenges in this shifting working environment, they need to be able to develop their resilience.
Just like individuals, teams need to be able to handle pressure, overcome challenges and bounce back from adversity.
What is team resilience?
Team resilience refers to a team’s ability to absorb, cope with, and recover from pressures, challenges or adversity[3]. Resilient teams outperform those who are not, because of their ability to both handle and thrive on pressure[4].
Resilience acts like a shield, protecting the team from the potential negative effects of shared pressure and disruptions they may face. It enables them to improvise, adapt and recover in challenging times[5]. But, team resilience is much more than weathering or surviving a storm and coming out all battered, bruised and broken. Any team can do that. To be a truly resilient, high performing team, they must sustain or even improve their performance and come out the other side with their cohesion, health and resources intact.
Three ways you can build team resilience:
- Create a purpose that inspires during tough times
Creating a team’s reason for existence involves connecting to people’s purpose, cause or belief that inspires them to do the work they do [6]. A clear and meaningful purpose drives and guides the way team members think, act and communicate. When a team is clear on its purpose and inspired by why it exists, they can make better decisions under time pressure, information overload and ambiguity.
Think about your team: Is your team aware of what drives it? Do you have a clear purpose that people deeply believe in, agree on, and are personally motivated by? If not, work with your team to create a purpose which energises and mobilises them. This clarity will inspire your team to push on in darker moments and move forward in the face of setbacks.
- Show teammates ‘I’ve got your back’
Back-up from teammates and the team leader is critical for helping the team to perform under pressure [7]. This involves recognising the signs that a teammate is stretched and offering support with their work. These gestures not only help teammates who are struggling, but also boost team morale and make the team more efficient.
Think about your team: Does your team value support from one another? If not, as a leader, role model the actions you want to see. Offer support to teammates when you can see they are stretched or go out of your way to acknowledge other team members when you see them doing the same.
- See adversity as a time for learning
The most resilient teams view disruptive or challenging events as opportunities for learning, and failures as a chance to evaluate how they approach tasks.[8][9][10]. This perspective allows teams to confront their failures head-on, armed with the knowledge that the experience they gain will help them aim higher in the future [11].
Think about your team: To develop a culture of team learning, facilitate meetings so that your team reflects on what went well and what didn’t, what they learned, or what benefits were gained from the situation.
Team resilience is just one of the elements that high performing teams share. Read more about what separates high performing teams from those that simply function in our white paper, What gives teams the edge?
[1] Robertson, I. T., Cooper, C. L., Sarkar, M., & Curran, T. (2015). Resilience training in the workplace from 2003 to 2014: A systematic review. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88(3), 533-562.
[2] Bowers, C., Kreutzer, C., Cannon-Bowers, J., & Lamb, J. (2017). Team Resilience as a SecondOrder Emergent State: A Theoretical Model and Research Directions. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1360.
[3] Alliger, G. M., Cerasoli, C. P., Tannenbaum, S. I., & Vessey, W. B. (2015). Team resilience. Organizational Dynamics, 44, 176
[4] Jones, G. and Moorhouse, A. (2008). Developing Mental Toughness: Gold Medal Strategies for Transforming Your Business Performance. Oxford: Spring Hill.
[5] Meneghel, I., Salanova, M., & Martínez, I. M. (2016). Feeling good makes us stronger: How team resilience mediates the effect of positive emotions on team performance. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(1), 239-255.
[6] Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. Penguin.
[7] Bowers, C., Kreutzer, C., Cannon-Bowers, J., & Lamb, J. (2017). Team Resilience as a SecondOrder Emergent State: A Theoretical Model and Research Directions. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1360.
[8] Barnett, C. K., and Pratt, M. G. (2000). From threat-rigidity to flexibility-Toward a learning model of autogenic crisis in organizations. J. Organ. Change Manage. 13, 74–88. doi: 10.1108/09534810010310258
[9] Jackson, S. E., and Dutton, J. E. (1988). Discerning threats and opportunities. Adm. Sci. Q. 370–387. doi: 10.2307/2392714
[10] Weick, K. E., and Sutcliffe, K. M. (2006). Mindfulness and the quality of organizational attention. Organ. Sci. 17, 514–524. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1060.0196
[11] Morgan, P. B., Fletcher, D., & Sarkar, M. (2015). Understanding team resilience in the world’s best athletes: A case study of a rugby union World Cup winning team. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 16, 91-100.
