Knowing the People Behind the Processes

by Syrup | Jan 28, 2020

What I love most about Syrup is that I get the opportunity to work with such amazing people, each with a unique personality that is their very own. But I know how easy it can be to get stuck on the work and processes of your business over the people. I have a goal to fully understand our team, as coworkers, but more importantly, as people, rather than focusing heavily on the work and how it’s done. 

In pursuing this goal, I have found that knowing more about a person and the way they do work sets the whole team up for success. I highly encourage you to do the same. 

Here are a few simple things you can do to get to know your people:

1. Find out their working styles.

You might have someone on your team that prefers to focus on smaller tasks in the morning and save the heavy work for the afternoon when they are the most focused while someone else might like to have the shorter tasks worked into their schedule throughout the day to spark their creativity. Although it’s not always possible to implement with every project, knowing the different working styles of your team members and keeping them in mind will help keep the team energized and focused. 

2.  Ask the important questions.

At the end of each week, ask your team members what worked exceptionally well over the past week and what didn’t. The reasoning behind this exercise is to uncover the issues around current processes or workflows that might be slowing the team down and discover what has been working well, so we can continually improve together. Doing this in a group setting is key – it allows everyone on the team to talk freely and ensures that every person’s voice is being heard. We are all on the same team, working towards the same end result, and this exercise is a great reminder of that. 

3. Be understanding.

No matter how much time you spend planning something out, it’s important to know that things happen. Being understanding when unexpected issues or roadblocks pop up and working with the team to find a solution is more beneficial in the long run than showcasing frustration or stress. There is almost always a solution or workaround to every problem, and working with the team to get things back on track shows you are a team player, even when things seem tough.

Processes are an important aspect of creating high-quality work, but so are the people doing the work. Take the time to learn, listen, and understand your people on a more personal level. What I’ve learned so far is that this will not only bring you closer together as a team, it will create amazing work.