Being able to work well together is the hallmark of an effective team. There’s nothing worth than sitting through a meeting where everyone disagrees and no one seems to be able to talk through it. Opinions and ideas may vary, but the key is to be able to work it out in a civil, timely manner.
You can hope and pray that your teammates will all be compatible in every way, but this is rarely ever the case. In order to build rapport and create a collaborative environment, it’s important to be able to focus on common areas that encourage understanding and positivity. That doesn’t mean everyone has to agree all the time, yet at the same time no one should leave a meeting feeling like the odd one out. To make even the most contentious members of a team play well together, use these four methods for creating a synergistic vibe in your virtual meeting.
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Be Inclusive
Throughout a meeting or project, there will be good ideas, mediocre ideas, and downright bad ideas. That doesn’t mean that you should be quick to label them as such. Even the bad ideas can have useful aspects to them. Whenever someone has an idea, give it the attention it deserves, even if it doesn’t some brilliant to begin with. When people feel included, they’ll be more likely to contribute, and that’s what you want from each person – engagement, involvement, and participation.
Find Common Ground
Conflicts and arguments may happen from time to time in a videoconference, especially when there are strong personalities present. The best way to handle them is to help the conflicting parties find common ground within their arguments. It won’t help to try to stifle the discussion by moving on, because then negative feelings might just fester. Instead, finding common ground is an effective form of damage control that addresses the conflict at hand without backing down or taking sides.
Talk About Objective Findings
Some data and statistics are irrefutable – they speak the truth without getting personal or emotional about it. For that reason, discussing objective findings is a way to kick off a meeting or carry a discussion that can be agreeable to every individual present. Looking at the facts also provides a solid grounding for a productive discussion.
Prioritize Consensus
It’s not always possible to get everyone in a video conference to agree on everything. However, that doesn’t mean that a meeting needs to ever be contentious or competitive. Everyone in the meeting has the capacity to prioritize consensus; that is, everyone can keep in mind that the goal is to work collaboratively, not competitively. When the entire team is on board with the fact that they must be willing to compromise, this keeps competitiveness at bay and the “winner takes all” mindset. By working towards consensus – a solution that every team member can live with, even if they’re just “agreeing to disagree” – discussions can lean more toward reaching a common goal rather than stroking any one person’s ego.
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