[14 June 2021] Day 14 of the fmco* in Malaysia
Today, I return to the upside-down org chart and explore another aspect of leaders in such an organisation. So far, I have written about stewardship, vision and foresight, passion, compassion, and commitment to others. This time, it’s about the ability to build strong communities.
A sense of community is important in an organization, especially when staff work in a shared team environment. Under this leader, people rally around a common purpose. They know, share, and believe in that purpose. This purpose is the reason for them to do what they do, in the way they do it.
Isn’t it for the money only?
Isn’t the goal of all businesses to make money? Of course, profits are important. The reason anyone goes into business is to profit. Nobody starts a business to lose. But the meaningful purpose that lies at the foundation is to solve a problem in society by providing innovative products or helping their customers achieve their goals.
The right leader should be able to create a feeling of belonging to something larger and foster team synergies to build a strong sense of community. Some concrete things that can be done are:
- Provide space, time, and material for unstructured time together
- Organise social events
- Create ways for staff members to team up for non-work related project
All these allow for deeper engagement. The hidden value derived from these is the mental stimulation each team member receives.
Team-building events are fun, and it’s nice to say you do it. I encourage all companies to take time to organise it with activities that allow team members to share beliefs and values, as well as experience. The bond is stronger that way.
Lock-down challenges
Today, with lock-downs, it’s harder to do this. People go online for work discussions and meetings mostly. Many say they are having more meetings than before. Some say they are at breaking point already. Nothing replaces the water-cooler chats, the lunches and breaks taken together, and even the after-office activities. Even cigarette breaks together are gone (for those who smoke). As a leader, will you look into what can be done to replace this? What ideas have you heard? Are you willing to try something out of the box?
(Read the other parts of this org chart series.)
About the Author: Gina Phan is a consultant and trainer with Zinfinity Consulting. She currently conducts courses in workplace performance skills. Click here to contact her, follow her on Facebook or connect with her on Linkedin.
#leadership #organisationchart #servantleadership #buildingcommunity #communitybuilding @meaningandpurpose
#trainergina #ginaphan #gp
(Feature Image by Anemone123 from Pixabay)
*fmco stands for Full Movement Control Order.
Thanks for sharing Gina.
Most welcome, Happy-Thomas.
This was inspired by an experience a few years ago. I was facilitating in a leadership workshop. One of the participants spent most of his time complaining about his staff — how they were slow, how they always make mistakes, and how they are not committed to their work.
But after hearing the other leaders talk about their staff in positive light, he was perplexed. He asked “Where can I find people like that?”
Food for thought.