Leading Libraries Series: Leading for Resilience

 

Social resilience

 

Helping groups function well

So what can we do to increase the 'emotional health' and resilience of the groups and teams we are part of?

There are many practical steps you can take to help your groups function in a more healthy way regardless of whether you have a formal leadership role or not.

People will almost always welcome suggestions about more positive ways of interacting or conversing and, sometimes, just drawing everyone's attention to 'group health' can initiate a great creative and collaborative conversation.

When you are thinking about how to build your group resilience, there are three key areas to focus on – each of which will affect the overall group climate in a positive way:

• Agreeing group principles – how we want to be with each other
• Focussing on psychological safety – making sure we have a climate of openness and trust
• Creating group rituals and practices – introducing specific behaviours or processes which can form 'habits' every time you meet.

 

Group principles

Having a specific conversation about 'how we want to be together' can be hugely helpful.

This article by Tim Segaller describes a set of useful principles that support group coherence. Once you have read the article consider his examples as well as the list below.

Examples of team principles

• Candor – being open and direct
• Resourcefulness - solving problems together
• Compassion - acknowledging our humanity
• Humility - asking for help when we need it
• Attend - show your interest (even on Zoom)
• Be there - avoid multi-tasking
• Care - notice each other's emotional state
• Don't interrupt
• Encourage - support each other by focussing on what IS working

How might you initiate a conversation in your own group which helps people think about principles for 'how we want to be together'?

 

Psychological safety

Psychological safety is a complex concept - but there is a straight forward article here 'What is psychological safety at work?' from the Centre for Creative Leadership.

Read the article and consider some of the factors in the table below.

What aspect of psychological safety is your group most effective at? What one factor could do with some improvement?

Psychological safety factors

	Direct	Curious
Org relationships	Effective disagreement challenging thinking Stating positions and priorities Offering feedback	Asking open questions Seeking to learn from errors Asking for feedback Framing the work as learning
	Vulnerable	Appreciative
Personal relationships	Admitting not knowing Sharing personal impact Asking for help	Including everyone Appreciating contribution Proactively offering help
	Push (me or my agenda)	Pull (you or your agenda)

 

Group rituals

There are many useful rituals that we can form to help our groups build the four characteristics that will keep them healthy (see the reminder below).

Rituals and practices some examples

• Belonging - individual ‘check ins’ at start of each meeting; regular ‘temperature checks’; proper welcomes and leave-takings
• Place - setting expectations at the start of each session; having clear roles in the group for each conversation
• Fair exchange - story sharing; owning vulnerabilities and challenges;
• Loyalties - paying attention to diverse views and histories; being respectful of each others’ beliefs and personal practices

This article from the newsletter 'Heartbeat' lists some of the practices that you can initiate as a group leader.

What practices or rituals does your group already have that promote resilience? What one new practice would you be interested in introducing?

 

Pause for reflection: Taking an action to support group resilience

This reflective exercise is designed to help you make an offer to a group that you lead or one that you are a part of. Consider how this group is working at the moment and the ways in which you work together to support the resilience of the group.

Do you have an agreed set of team principles? If not, how would you describe the group's 'ways of being together'? What one principle might improve your way of operating together?

Is there a sense of psychological safety in the group? If not, which of the key qualities is missing – directness, curiosity, vulnerability or appreciation? How could you demonstrate that missing quality yourself?

What are the 'group rituals' – recognised or 'just how we do things'? As a member or leader of the group, what one new ritual would make the biggest different to your personally?

 

Making a commitment on behalf of the group

When you are done, review your answers. Choose one new habit or conversation you might like to introduce to the group. Imagine how you might have that conversation, perhaps using the 'Four Sentence Conversation' framework.

If you would like to challenge yourself, make a commitment to making that suggestion the next time you meet. (If it feels like a difficult thing to do, you can ask another member of the group to support you in making the suggestion!)

Continue to: Resource list