A few weeks ago, a friend called me. She was expressing her struggles at work. She wasn’t getting along with her colleagues and there was so much negativity and team morale was down. She was finding it hard to get motivated to go to work each day.
Days later, I saw a post on facebook, a teacher upset that one team member was dragging the team down with negativity and abruptness with children.
Then, on the launch of my blog, I recieved this….
“We are struggling at the moment with team work. Some people are doing too much, some people not enough. Inappropriate conversations/negative thoughts etc. Would love your ideas/input about it”.
–Instagram follower.
No one wants to feel this way. No one wants to feel like they are doing all the work, or be brought down by one negative person. We all want to feel supported by the team in a team environment and feel joy as we walk through the gate/doors to our workplace. We all want to work in a place where we are empowered… right?
I have learned that the strategies we use with children are just as valuable, relevant and effective when used with adults, in teaching and in life in general.
Nearly 10 years ago, I attended ‘The Incredible Years’ professional development course. This course had some real gems that have stuck with me. “Where the attention goes, the behaviour grows” is one of my faves and is so relevant here. Praise the behaviour you want to see.
How do we tackle the challenge of some people working harder than others?
Praise the behaviour, efforts and practices you want to see.
Face to face – high fives and thank yous go a long way. You can do this in front of others or quietly, one on one, but to double the impact, be sure to highlight these efforts later with others.
Leave personalized notes for individual teachers to find, recognizing their efforts in practice. You can target individuals with them – if there is someone who always does the washing, put one on the washing machine for them. If they work in the kitchen, put one in the microwave. Get creative. Have fun.
Leave quotes around that capture the essence of team work.
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”.
-Helen Keller
“Coming together is the beginning.
Keeping together is the progress.
Working together is success”
-Henry Ford.
Set out to make their day, spread joy and foster a culture of kindness.
How do we tackle inappropriate/negative conversations?
We shut then down. We dont feed in to them or give them attention. There is no place for this is teaching. Children download us at such high rates they are taking it in without us even realizing. Not just our words, but our body language.
“Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate”
-unknown
“Dont worry that children never listen to you, worry that they are always watching you”.
-Robert Fulghum
We need to put emphasis on the conversations and behaviours that are acceptable.
Put challenges out to your team…
Quotes are powerful. Use quotes to foster reflection and highlight the behaviour and practices you want to see. It is so easy to find relevant quotes on Google. Just type in ‘communication quotes’ or ‘teamwork quotes’.
Seek quotes that capture the behaviour/practices you want to see more of.
“The word LISTEN contains the same letters as SILENT.
Think about that.”
-Alfred Brendel
“Hold your tongue and protect their bubble”
-Heart School
“Before you speak, THINK… is it
T-rue
H-elpful
I-nspiring
N-eseccary
K-ind?”
-Alan Redpath
Place the quotes in creative places, you want to make people smile. When they are found, use this moment to foster reflection, discussion and double the impact…. ask a thought provoking question… “that’s a really powerful quote, perhaps you could share your thoughts about it with another teacher? What do you think about that? How does it make you feel? In what ways do you feel we do this well? Can you come up with a way we could do this better?”
There comes a point when we need to step up and take responsiblity for what we believe, be the change we want to see. Let’s not leave it up to the boss, or leader to create this space for us. Let’s show them how it’s done. Then, we can all benefit; mentally, socially, emotionally and physically.
So my advice to you is to foster the change you want to see. Put in some effort to make your workplace a more positive place for all. Kindness, motivation and inspiration is contagious. Lift the morale. Bring in some fresh cut wild flowers, some fruit off your tree, veges from the garden.
We are in this together, so take time and make the effort to value and appreciate your workmates because
“where the attention goes,
the behaviour grows”.
..I will do another blog in the near future that will go deeper into establishing a cohesive unit and fostering unity in practice. But this is one where you will benefit from a strong leader or person to step up and take responsibility to drive and sustain it.
If you try these strategies or have any feedback, please share below.
Arohanui,
Nickie
