6 + 1 tips for more team mindfulness

02/27/2021, 12:00 p.m.

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Mindfulness is a resource for the individual and for the team. Both individual and collective mindfulness can be trained – for personal happiness and shared innovation.

If 2020 has taught us one thing, it is that nothing in life can be taken for granted. Not even we ourselves. But when it comes to job, career, family and private construction sites, very few manage to devote enough time to themselves. So it happens that we no longer listen to ourselves and end up in the hamster wheel of everyday (professional) life. It’s good that with trends such as New Work, agile working methods and mindfulness, a rethink is slowly taking place.

Mindfulness, job satisfaction and the ability to innovate go hand in hand

Most of them know from their own experience: The more carefully you deal with each other in the company, the more comfortable you feel, the more creative and productive you are and the less likely you will ever think of a termination. Research confirms these empirical values: In one Team mindfulness study by Lingtao Yu and Mary Zellmer-Bruhn from 2017, the researchers show that a higher degree of mindfulness in teams is associated with a lower potential for conflict within working groups. Teams that treat each other more consciously promote their own satisfaction and thus lay the basis for sustainable corporate success.

So there are many reasons to start your own team mindfulness journey in 2021. Here are six tips and a bonus note to get you started:

1. At the beginning there is an inventory

First of all, you should adjust to the correct way of thinking: Mindfulness is a marathon, not a sprint. And a marathon also requires a certain amount of preparation. It is worthwhile to start by evaluating where you stand as a team in terms of mindfulness and wellbeing. This includes, for example, regular surveys, feedback discussions and discussions about how you want to work.

2. Mindfulness requires care, rules and communication

A mindful and positive attitude can be cultivated. But like any culture, it needs care, rules and communication. Mindfulness can be cultivated, for example, by not only going through tasks in daily standups, but also voluntarily talking about the general well-being of the respective team members. It’s not about “jammer meetings”, but about expressing what is missing in order to reach one’s own creative and productivity zone.

However, none of this is possible without consciously set rules of conduct. Without them, teams run the risk of creating conflicts instead of resolving them. That is why companies cannot avoid writing down some rules. Which ones are so important that they should be written down differs from company to company. In a manual, however, it could be, for example, which basic setting and which “vibe” everyone wants from each other, how one wants to start the working day and which values ​​should be lived and protected.

In general, it can be said for all companies: Mindful communication consists of respectful interaction, active listening, equal treatment and appreciation for the work and ideas of others. It is just as important to communicate your own limits clearly and firmly, but also in a friendly manner and to discuss them openly.

3. Mindfulness starts with reflection

One tool from agile working methods is particularly suitable for team mindfulness: retrospectives. This form of reflection and analysis is important for more mindfulness in teams. Retros are not anonymous surveys of employees, the results of which are analyzed and evaluated by a single person and in which unpleasant or painful aspects disappear in a drawer. Instead, the aim of the retros is to actively discuss and involve each individual in the joint reflection. This opening up does not suit everyone and needs to be trained. Retro beginners are therefore well advised to get psychologically and technologically sound help – for example through tools such as Echometerwho listen deeply with specific questions. The whole thing is a process that should be managed by particularly sensitized employees and for which external coaches can also be brought on board.

4. “Give away” more mindfulness!

Labor market researchers largely agree that money alone as a motivator has had its day. Therefore: Just give away some mindfulness! First, see which possible benefits are particularly thoughtful and considerate – flexible working hours, home office and remote work, educational leave or company holidays between the years are some examples. All of this serves to create free space. Another possibility is, for example, a “Mindfulness Day”. The idea: Each team member has one free mindfulness day per year. Without prior reason or ulterior motive. The only condition: The time is to be spent exclusively with and for yourself – without a doctor’s appointment, dealing with the authorities, family obligations, e-mail checks or WhatsApp messages to colleagues. On top of that, you can provide a budget. Whether it’s a massage, yoga, zoo, amusement park or a rental car to go hiking in the surrounding area: the tax office can declare and settle the budget as a recovery allowance. It is important that such an offer should by no means just be another day of vacation or a hidden form of sick leave. Constant stress, burnout and psychological problems are serious illnesses that such a day does not magically cure. It is just a small “gift” to be more mindful.

5. Instead of action: why not a mindful team event?

You can also focus more on mindfulness at team events. Instead of action-packed paintball shootouts or regular after-work parties, quieter events let your mind and thoughts wander – be it tinkering bottle gardens, collecting mushrooms or baking together. If you want to deal with yourself or with each other in depth, you can book team mindfulness courses.

6. Mindful habits can be copied

Not every mindfulness ritual is suitable for everyone. It is important to try out. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t look at what other colleagues or companies have established for themselves. One of the colleagues relaxes best while jogging, the colleague swears by breathing exercises and sunrise simulation in the bedroom.

Contrary to many assumptions and the hype about digital detox, it is perfectly okay to rely on little technical aids such as apps or gadgets. Mindfulness does not require that we walk alone through nature for hours. So keep experimenting until you find the right one for you individually and together as a team.

Bonus tip: Your four-legged colleague shows you how

We can learn a lot from our four-legged colleague with the cold nose about what it means to live in the moment and take breaks. In addition, it has been proven that the presence of dogs in the office makes colleagues more considerate of each other. A team dog is therefore a little extra joker for more mindfulness in everyday work.

Conclusion: Mindfulness is both a private happiness and a professional success factor at the same time

Mindfulness can be trained on a daily basis, both large and small. It is important, however, that mindfulness is not just seen as a new economic success goal that then develops into a stress factor. Your own and common path is the goal!

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