Fast pace, uncertainty, little consistency: the current world of work often makes it difficult for teams to achieve good performance. In this excerpt from Debora Karsch’s keynote on the topic of psychological empowerment at the persolog® Summer Conference 2024, you will learn what leaders can do to support their teams in the best possible way under these conditions.
The Biggest Challenge for Teams: Permanent Change
We are currently undergoing the biggest transformation I have ever seen in a company, at least in my lifetime. There are constant innovations and updates, and I have often talked about how this affects leadership. However, I have not yet talked about what it actually does to teams. This is also very important, and the questions arise: How do teams need to work now or in the future? What needs to be ensured so that they can continue to perform successfully and help us move forward in the company?
New Work: Meaning and Understanding
What does New Work actually mean? This term is like a container term that can contain anything: New world of work, hybrid working, mobile office, work-life balance. There is no official definition. In the following, I will show you the four typical understandings that are regularly measured by “The New Work Barometer”. This barometer from the Institute for New Work and Coaching (INWOC) at SRH Berlin University examines what people understand by “New Work”.
- The first understanding comes from the philosopher Frithjof Bergmann. He invented the term “New Work”: “New Work aims to overcome the current wage system…”. His idea: you work three days for a wage and the rest of the week you do what you really want to do.
- The second understanding is the New Work Charter principles: These are certain principles that stand for New Work regardless of any methods, for example self-realization, freedom, collaboration, sustainability, and much more.
- Since Corona, there has also been a third understanding: autonomy of working time and place of work. This means that New Work makes home office and mobile working possible.
- And last but not least, the fourth understanding: psychological empowerment. This is about finding various measures that all aim to increase the psychological empowerment of employees. So that people find meaning and fulfillment in their work. That is the basic idea.
What Does ‘Psychological Empowerment’ Mean?
There are four dimensions behind this: Firstly, self-determination. This is not about objectivity, but about personal experience. The experience of “I can act in a self-determined way”. The second dimension is meaningfulness: “I am doing something that is meaningful”. The third dimension is influence: “I have influence over what I do.” The fourth is competence: “I feel competent enough.”
What Prevents Teams from Achieving Performance?
In the future, many teams will no longer be the way they used to be or, in some cases, still are. It will be more like Hollywood with classic film productions: There is a director, an editor, an actor, make-up artists and those who actually shoot the films. But they also change from film to film. They may work together for a long time, but there are situations where they only work together for one film or short film. So the trend is that there will be small, flexible teams and no large, permanently employed core teams. That’s why there will be a lot more freelancers or experts joining teams in the future. Teams will also have to find each other and perform quickly. To stay with the Hollywood example, let’s think of an actor: he has to get involved in a new situation quickly, find the new role quickly, prepare well and then perform.
In the same way, team members need to be systematically integrated because we won’t have stability over the years, but constantly new constellations. There will be many more flexible working conditions and people working together from anywhere. Under these circumstances, it will be more difficult for teams to perform. Managers need to manage the following aspects well in order to achieve performance quickly:
The Role of Technology and AI in Teams
Technological possibilities are transforming our teams and overwhelming them. If you follow me on LinkedIn, you will see that we at persolog are working intensively on AI and finding new tools. It is simply unbelievable what is possible. On the one hand, it brings many advantages: Accelerated digitalization, AI integration, lifelong learning, training individualized instead of centered and increased employee retention through data analysis.
But on the other hand, this means enormous potential for tension and conflict for teams, uncertainty, fears, constant challenges and changes. That’s a lot of pressure, of course. This means that there are advantages, but it is a massive challenge for our teams and also for team leaders to develop this potential further. And what is often forgotten is that managing hybrid teams is much more complex. But there are solutions for how managers can manage hybrid teams well so that the stumbling blocks of this way of working do not become a disadvantage.
Teams Need Psychological Safety as a Foundation
In today’s working world, trust is a key element for the success of teams. Psychological safety, i.e. the feeling that you can speak openly in a team without having to fear negative consequences, is essential. Managers have a great responsibility to promote this trust, but the team members themselves also play a decisive role.
An experience in my own leadership experience shows how difficult it can be to create psychological security. As a manager, I tried everything to develop a harmonious team. But despite all my efforts, a critical situation persisted. This was mainly due to one team member who was negatively influencing the dynamic. The decision to move this person to another team was difficult, but necessary. The result was positive: after a while, the team developed psychological security and was able to work more effectively.
Appreciation and Individual Recognition
Another important aspect is individual appreciation. Different people feel appreciation in different ways. Some are happy to receive public praise, while others are more pleased with small, personal gestures. Here, a manager should keep an eye on the personality, i.e. the behavioral dimensions. For example: Highly cautious people, are more likely to be motivated by a well-structured and organized work environment and by appreciation in a one-on-one meeting than by praise in front of the assembled team.
Feedback as a Growth Accelerator
Feedback plays a central role in team development. Constructive feedback not only helps the recipients to improve, but also promotes trust within the team. An open feedback system, in which criticism and praise can be expressed in equal measure, accelerates the growth and adaptability of the team.
Self-Perception and External Perception
A common problem in teams is the discrepancy between self-perception and the perception of others. If someone sees themselves as a “big tiger” but is perceived by others as a “little cat”, this leads to tensions and misunderstandings. It is important to create systems that enable team members to develop a realistic picture of themselves and understand how they are seen by others. Model czynników osobowości persolog® provides a good basis for finding a common language for self-perception and the perception of others.
More Freedom in the Workplace: Success Stories from Practice
Companies such as Spotify, Zappos and Google show what successful teamwork can look like. Spotify relies on autonomous squads. These are agile teams with a high degree of decision-making freedom. Zappos gives employees the freedom to find individual solutions in customer service and Google allows its employees to use 20% of their working time for their own projects. These approaches not only promote innovation and speed of response, but also employee satisfaction and loyalty.
For successful team development, it is essential to create psychological safety, show individual appreciation and establish an open feedback system. Leaders and team members must work together to create a culture of trust and openness in order to be successful in today’s complex working world.
You would like to know more?
If you want to help empower teams to perform in the new world of work as a coach or trainer, then I invite you to take part in the Team Development Expert training. With expert Debora Karsch & team. The motto of the training? Learning, sharing and growing. You can find more information here.
