Disruptive stressful experiences are often growth opportunities. Crises can help lift the "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" syndrome, creating opportunities for employees to contribute to how things can be bettered. As everyone begins to work predominantly from home and start working together with others. As teams are forced to take on new challenges, face new uncertainties, they begin to work together, internalise their abilities and those of their peers and those that can be developed. To instil this growth mindset in themselves and the teams, managers can follow these steps.
Be patient
We have started to work remotely in the last 4 months and are slowly settling down to using the remote software like Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and are still getting used to working remotely. Be patient and recognise the effort being made by the team members, and remember it takes longer to reshape deeply ingrained work practices.
Learning new practice is challenging and lack of measurable progress can be discouraging. Focus on the valuable insights you are learning rather than the shortcomings.
Teach the growth mindset to others
Lead by example. Like Satya Nadella, teach your team the value of "learn it all" rather than "know it all". Share monthly learnings of your top learnings and encourage groups, teams to discuss theirs. You can dedicate part of weekly or monthly meets to share what has been learned during the last month.
Send right signals
Both what you say and how you say it send critical messages to others. Encourage your team to constantly learn and share experiences with the team. Informally reward progress, encourage, reward lessons learned, recovery from mistakes as much as performance. Share not just your triumphs but also setbacks and roadblocks along the way.
Reset expectations and revisit established practices.
The shift to remote work and a new way to get the work done provides the right opportunity to reset expectations around giving and receiving feedback. Ask for feedback from team members and they will be ready to accept feedback themselves.
This is also a good time to assess and improve established practices. online working highlights coordination failures and get others to implement immediate course corrections.
Get to know teammates better
Working remotely you get to know your teammates better and in a different light. You get to see their family, pets. Research has shown that being less worried about social evaluation and embarrassment stimulates experimentation and creativity, which are key to growth.
It also helps the leader to grow new growth mindsets in self and teammates. The right mindset can help teams to coordinate better, innovate and come out stronger.
6 Ways a Crisis Can Help You Cultivate a Growth Mindset
by Susan J. Ashford, Maxim Sytch and Lindred L. Greer
HBR August 20, 2020
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