Like most businesses impacted by COVID-19, our team is working remotely, and sticking together as a team is as important as ever during these uncertain times. Each member of our team plays an important role in the career transition process, and we have the process pretty much down to a science, having worked together for many years. That process and our way of working it has been tested recently, much like everyone else who is adjusting to doing business with social distancing as the new norm. Staying motivated has also been tested, as our work centers around bringing people together to share best practices. We thrive on seeing a lot of people and activity in our career center – that’s when we do our best work.
So how does a team stay motivated when working together means operating from a distance?
Our team decided to participate in a team-building session using the FIRO-B assessment to gain a greater understanding of what motivates each of us personally. We kept to the social distancing norm by utilizing Zoom, and adjusted the workshop to meet the constraints inherent in online platforms. What we discovered about ourselves was not earth-shattering, but we learned a bit more about our team members and which of the three interpersonal needs motivates us. The assessment measures our need for inclusion, control, and affection and how much we express those behaviors toward others and how much we want others to express those behaviors toward us. Understanding the interpersonal needs of our teammates can really help us to adjust our behavior to meet those needs, needs that are being tested daily these days.
Our team is quite diverse, and all three needs were equally represented across the group. Now that our team has a better understanding of our differences and which needs motivate us, we can adjust our process and way of working to better meet those needs. A note of caution, once the boss understands what motivates you, look out! My greatest interpersonal need just happens to be inclusion, so guess what’s happening to my inbox? You guessed it, yikes!!
To learn more about FIRO-B and how this assessment may help employee engagement during these turbulent times, contact me at rbemiller@cpibn.com or at 716-445-0275.
