Two strategies to keep healthy teams healthy and get dysfunctional teams functioning

COVID-19, financial struggles, racial injustice, civil unrest — these are stressful times. If your team has navigated them successfully so far, establishing these two habits can help keep it on track. If your team is falling into backbiting and dysfunction, these habits can help turn things around.

1. Managing conflict. It may seem counterintuitive, but conflict is actually a critical part of having a high-functioning team — as long as it's managed properly. Conflict is natural, and if team members are able to bring their ideas to the table, hash them out honestly, and express disagreement respectfully, the team will be stronger for it. Many teams try to avoid conflict, yet can't stop focusing on the negative. Healthy teams do the opposite.

2. Practicing gratitude. Focusing on what you're grateful for and actively expressing thanks to colleagues has benefits for social, emotional, and even physical health. Positivity is contagious, but so is negativity. When a team starts to fall into patterns of negative thinking, refocusing members on what is going well can be the first step to reversing that trend and creating a positive gratitude cycle. That can take work. Looking for the good doesn't always come naturally. But as with anything, the more you practice gratitude, the easier it becomes.

Read the full FPM article: "Two Habits of a Healthy Team: Managing Conflict and Practicing Gratitude."