Listening to What Isn't Said as a Leader: Diagnosing Team Dynamics
Have you ever left a meeting and wondered why the tension in the room doesn't match the words? Perhaps the tone of voice was angry, though the words were on topic? Are you hearing what your team isn't saying?
The underlying team dynamics can impact everything from the productivity of a meeting to your team's ability to meet your annual goals. Sometimes the problem is a little more obvious and direct, such as a conflict between two employees and they have both voiced frustration to you. While that's not necessarily easy to deal with, at least you are aware of what the issue is.
What becomes more difficult is when it’s more subtle. Sometimes, people are frustrated with their team, but even they aren’t clear on the source of their frustrations. These more subtle team dynamics can really impact the way that a team functions together and can have a significant impact on how you are able to lead your team, and what they're able to accomplish.
Often these underlying tensions translate into a more significant issue the longer they go on. It may feel subtle, but over time they start to wear down on people. This is not just about processes and efficiency, but there is a mental load people carry when they need to work in a less functional environment on a long-term basis.
Diagnosing these problems becomes really critical to understanding how you can support your team more effectively. You’ve probably seen these situations before, but the challenge (and sometimes the fun?) of dealing with team dynamics is that even with the same people in the mix, the solution is never the same twice.
Wrapping your arms around the extent of the issue is the first step. Who are the impacted people? What work is impacted? How long has this been going on? Is this a squeaky wheel situation that needs a little reassurance, or is there something larger happening that needs more comprehensive direct intervention?
Typically, your intuition can guide you on the depth of the issue. If this feels like an individual issue, working directly with that person, and empowering them to speak up for themselves is often the best first step. If you have a sinking suspicion that this is not a limited issue, it’s important to trust that instinct. This work takes time, and as a leader that is often a precious commodity, but it is time well spent if it frees up the team to move forward productively.
If the issue is larger, it is still often best to start one-to-one to give people a space to open up. If this is not something that you've done before, this is sometimes an opportunity to pull in an outside person who can be those ears to hear the range of frustrations and the range of concerns and start to think through how we untangle the problem.
Perhaps the issue is an unspoken power struggle between two people who are hoping to be promoted. Assuming both are equally valuable to you, figuring out how to support each of them will help with team retention and function. Perhaps there is a new team member who does not understand the team norms and culture and it is causing a rift among existing team members. Likely the best approach here is to gain an understanding of all viewpoints, and then facilitate a meeting with all impacted individuals to find common ground. Do the norms need to be revisited? Are they unspoken norms that the new person was not even aware of? Including all impacted people in the solution will give more staying power and open up the creativity of the solution.
Team dynamics are complex and ever evolving, which is what can make this work difficult. Your time spent on resolving these issues is an investment in your team which ripples across your work, and speaks volumes to the people you lead. Not only are you lightening their cognitive load today but you are signaling to them that you hear both what is said and unsaid and that you care.
