In this video, you’ll find some Cliff notes for all of you advocates and Superheroes to remember so that they power you to translate the people work into a continuous improvement habit and really start seeing that HumanDebt diminishing:
- It’s hard, undoubtedly but it’s worth it – it will take time, organisational permission and a willingness to put in hard work and eternally deal with nay-sayers but it is the one truly sustainable and game-changing thing you can do for your team and your enterprise;
- You’re not alone – look around and recognise the others like you who can and will do this “people work” then lean on them;
- This is the time for the human topics and therefore the people work;
- Maybe most importantly: start noticing how big a deal it is and focus on observing the results – lookout for your teammates’ reactions to the human work they were once resistant to – the frequency of smiles, the sudden light-heartedness, the less gratuitous negativity, the absence of gossip, the ideas, the volunteering, the sharing, the helping each other, the eventual productivity and evident different vibe in the team.
As we were reflecting on some clients’ teams in our latest PeopleNotTech retro, it occurred to us that we don’t make enough of a fuss of how big of a deal it is when people do engage with the human work.
Let me be clear now – it’s monumental.
If we define the “people work” as all the actions put in place with the intent to better the human relationships and dynamics of the work environment and in particular the team by the teams themselves, then we know it is all too often lacking from most workplaces.
The causes are many, sick cultures that are too toxic to allow people to care at all, a lack of advocates and Superheroes and teams that are far from being empowered, a propensity for confusing the data-based, regular, intentional behavioural people work with lip-service or empty and incessant inspirational talk and many many more.
What happens in the absence of the people work, is that a myriad of ailments befalls every employee in ways that are not even measurable other than in the eventual bottom line of the company.
They experience everything from anxiety to depression, from stress to burnout and the post-pandemic flux, all amassing into a generalised sense of dread we have collectively learned to live with and accept as part of “adulting” in the workplace. As we have come to accept that our feelings aren’t welcomed in the workplace. So we aren’t to even communicate this dread.
Conversely, what happens when people are empowered and emboldened to do the human work is that there is a space held for this work dread to start diminishing. All of a sudden people’s emotions matter, they are to be expressed and bettered and our work-lives no longer have to be a carrousel of joyless tasks with the occasional bearable or inspirational moment thrown in, but instead can become a place where improvement is possible.
There is no way to accurately describe the joy we see in the tens of teams that have made the people-work central by focusing on their team dynamic and Psychological Safety. It is glaringly evident that they feel amazing – hopeful, encouraged, open like never before and feel like they are building a work environment they love and work results they can be proud of together.
They feel seen, heard and important. The impact is gargantuan.
We keep saying Psychological Safety is not a moral but a business imperative first and foremost and that is still absolutely 110% true because it’s essential for high performance but the blessed by-product is that teams are happier and individuals are finally experiencing ways to grow together and how huge is that?
So yes, doing the people work is a very big deal indeed but it’s one of the best deals we’ll ever come across.
May your week be filled with big deals.
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The 3 “commandments of Psychological Safety” to build high performing teams are: Understand, Measure and Improve
Read more about our Team Dashboard that measures and improves Psychological Safety at www.peoplenottech.com or reach out for a DEMO of our software at contact@peoplenottech.com and let’s help your teams become Psychologically Safe, healthy, happy and highly performant.
To order the “People Before Tech: The Importance of Psychological Safety and Teamwork in the Digital Age” book go to this Amazon link