It’s not enough for teams to simply know their Strengths and then to “play” to those Strengths—that is like telling a sad person to just “be happy”. It doesn’t work like that.
And, the reason for this—in both cases—is that all people need strategies for getting there. That is, once teams have learned their Strengths, they need some sort of roadmap for how to really develop those natural talents and to contribute more and at a higher level.
This is why Strengths-based teams make Strengths a part of their daily life at work. Teams that focus on Strengths, focus on what is working and take action to grow from that place—as opposed to trying to “fix” what seems to be broken.
So, what does it look like to make Strengths a daily part of life in the workplace?
It can start with items as simple as posting each team member’s Strengths publicly around the office. Some workplaces create plaques, others simply use paper printouts. Another easy way to begin nurturing the Strengths culture is to create space in team meetings to discuss a “Strengths Topic” or to have a brief roundtable on Strengths related ideas.
Some of the bigger ways that companies and teams foster a Strengths environment is by hiring Strengths coaches to serve the team 1:1 or in groups. They might also host workshops based on Strengths or devote entire conversations to what Strengths mean to the organization or business.
Strengths-based teams have been around now for decades, and still the philosophy of “focus on what works” is not yet mainstream. Nevertheless, the data is in from Gallup about the benefits of adopting this approach. For example, Strengths-based development helps organizations see up to 29% increased profit, 19% increased sales, 72% lower attrition, and 7% higher customer engagement.
At Accelerated Innovations, we’ve been a Strengths-based organization from the beginning. Out team is like a family, and knowing our Strengths has a lot to do with it. We make time and resources available for everyone on the team to learn their Strengths and then invest in developing them. In many ways, by investing in the individuals on our team, we are investing in the company as a whole at the highest level.
