How to Build the Best Team?

Summary: How to build the best team? Be thankful and appreciative of your colleagues. Period.

Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn recently shared a inspiring post on this topic:

As obvious as this may sound to some, it is oftentimes overlooked, particularly in companies and among teams for whom seemingly no results are good enough and no bar is ever set high enough. Yet, developing a high-performance culture and one that encourages the expression of gratitude shouldn’t be at odds. To the contrary, recognition can be an invaluable source of motivation and subsequently inspire people to do their best work. Looking back on my career, I’ve seen and experienced this dynamic more times than I can count, and conversely, have witnessed the negative repercussions of managers who take their teams for granted.

Below are a few points to note when you want to build a culture of gratitude:

1. Be specific and personal

• describe their contributions in specific terms, often citing their achievements
• tailored the thank you message for each individual, not to use the same template for all
• use hand-written thank you notes
• try to understand their likes and buy them these gifts when offering the thank you notes

2. Be genuine

• not thank colleagues because you need to
• be thankful to them in your heart first
• your voice tone and body gesture will tell whether you are genuine

3. Be reserved (sometimes)

• apply The Goldilocks Principle: Compliment someone too often and your words will ultimately ring hollow;
• don’t say thank you each and every time which will undermine the power of your gratitude
• express your appreciation at the right time
• the optimal ratio for giving positive vs. negative feedback is 2.9:1 (the Losada Ratio)

4. Heed contributions from down the ladder

• not just compliment on managers for team success
• ask managers to suggest key staff and thank them directly
• the more junior they are, the better
• “A good manager is one who shoulder blame a bit more and take compliments a bit less.”

5. Learn to take a compliment gracefully

• the better you receive a compliment, the better you can give
• Jeff Weiner suggested:

The next time someone compliments you on a job well done, try grounding yourself from the feet up, look the person straight in the eye, and let them know how much it means to you. That sense of recognition and connection is what we’re all trying to achieve. It’s also what ultimately makes the difference between a perfunctory thank you and an expression of gratitude the recipient won’t soon forget.