Three Ways to Increase Team Cohesion
Cohesion, when referring to a team, may be one of those words that is starting to get worn out, kind of like “authentic” is in the leadership space. But I still love it. Cohesion refers to the sense that each team member has of how connected they and others are to the whole. Teams are entities in and of themselves, beyond just a loosely gathered group of individuals. How much would it take to dismantle that entity? That will give you a good sense of how cohesive a team is.
If you feel like your team could use a bit more unification (See, I’m trying to find synonyms for ‘cohesion’!), I offer three practical ways to create more of that ethereal stickiness.
Upgrade your regular meeting
If you’re not meeting regularly, that’s a good place to start. Meeting regularly, whether or not there’s a fire to put out, is a proactive move that gives the team a steady touchpoint. There’s always something for the team to work on.
Assuming you are meeting regularly, try upgrading that meeting. Take a step back and ask if that time together s really generating the results needed. You may benefit from adding some more structure, but you could probably also add a way to build relationship (adding a check in is one good way to do that).
Build some explicit operating agreements
Agreements are the way a team governs itself. They’re the codified result of an intentional conversation where you get together and ask yourselves, how do we want to do things around here? You can’t expect smooth sailing if you never talk about what “smooth” looks like.
Start learning together
Can your team become a forum for learning? The way to begin is to just start talking about what is being learned. Learning about individual leadership strengths through reflection and feedback. Learning about the business through post-mortems and honestly assessing unmet goals. If the team is a place where leaders feel they come to grow as both humans and as leaders, the team will remain a desired place to be. That is a distinct competitive advantage.
There are other important aspects to a cohesive team, such as having shared vision that connects personally for each team member, and of course high trust, but those are more obvious. (By the way, the three paths above also increase trust and can contribute to shared vision). I chose the three paths above because I wanted to give you tangible first steps, that when committed to over time, will result in a well bonded team.
