Dr. Brian Goldman is an emergency physician and host of the CBC’s White Coat, Black Art, and The Dose. His latest book is The Power of Teamwork: How We Can All Work Better Together.
Ready or not, employers in most sectors are calling their workers back to the office, at least part-time. At the big banks, they’re doing it. So are the people who work for Canada’s largest cities. Ad agencies are getting into the act.
In their 2022 State of Remote Work annual report (first conducted in 2018), social-media management company Buffer surveyed workers in 16 countries and found that 97 per cent of respondents wanted to work remotely, at least part-time, even after the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror.
While many companies are offering hybrid options, a return to the cubicle, at least part-time, is still part of the plan for many organizations. A return to the office might be cause for anxiety for some, but we must remember that returning to in-person work has a silver lining: It’s a glorious opportunity to reinvest in teamwork.
During the height of the pandemic, many workers discovered they could do much of their work from home with satisfactory results – but teamwork suffered.
A recent study of more than 60,000 Microsoft employees, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, provides insight into why. After studying the employees’ digital communications data during the first six months of 2020, the study showed that “firmwide, remote work caused the collaboration network of workers to become more static and siloed, with fewer bridges between disparate parts. Together, these effects may make it harder for employees to acquire and share new information.”
Working from home robs employees of spontaneous moments of collaboration, which is often where the magic of teamwork happens. For example, you might have the kernel of a good idea for a new initiative but are getting stuck on a detail that threatens to derail it. You step into a colleague’s cubicle, bend their ear, and in 15 minutes your colleague helps you get unstuck.
When you work remotely, you may be isolated from the team. You might feel less connected to something greater than what your own job entails.
As you prepare to put your work pants back on, why not use this milestone as an opportunity to renew teamwork? There are several things that you can do.
The first thing is to gather everyone on the team together in one place and at one time. After more than two years of talking to a computer screen, an in-person team meeting provides a visual reminder of what’s special about being together.
Use that meeting to have everyone reintroduce themselves. To make it fun, each person should introduce themselves as if they’re meeting the team for the first time. Whenever I hear my partner Tamara talk about herself to strangers, she always reminds me of some amazing things I’ve forgotten about her.
Every good team recognizes and acknowledges that each member has a superpower that makes teamwork better. One person is exceptional at coming up with fresh ideas. Another is great at marshalling resources. A third person is off the charts in customer relations. All too often, we take for granted what each person does well. At that first team meeting, I suggest that each person name the superpower of someone else on the team. Compliments resonate more when they come from a teammate.
All of this is leading up to the most important thing. The bedrock of great teamwork is accomplishing team goals. To do that, you need to know what those goals are.
At hospitals, where I’ve spent most of my career, the people who work in the operating room do this every day. In his groundbreaking 2009 book The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, author and surgeon Atul Gawande argued that modern surgery could be made safer by introducing a preoperative checklist patterned after the one used by pilots.
The checklist method is now commonly used in many hospital settings, including in Ontario. For a few minutes prior to an operation, the surgeons, anesthetists, scrub nurses and other key people stop what they’re doing and gather. They introduce themselves to one another and verify critical details, including the name of the patient, the scheduled operation and what special preparations are needed to make it a success.
At its best, the preoperative checklist is an exercise in team building. That presurgical briefing is an opportunity to turn the goals of each person into team goals. For the surgeons, it’s the skillful insertion of a new hip or a heart valve. For the anesthetist, it’s the safe induction of anesthesia and ventilation of the patient. For the scrub nurses, it’s making certain that each surgical instrument used inside the body is accounted for so that it’s not left behind.
In the OR, checklists reduce errors and save lives. They also promote teamwork.
Use that first in-person team meeting to have everyone weigh in on what the team’s goals should be. This is not an academic exercise. Spelling them out at an in-person event makes them feel tangible and new. Soliciting input from everyone increases buy-in.
One way or another, returning to work may lead to some trepidation. Recommitting to teamwork can make it more meaningful and inspiring.
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