Teams Need Love Too!

• Posted on Carolyn
• in Leadership
• on February 14, 2014
• Comments Off on Teams Need Love Too!

It’s Valentines Week and everyone’s talking about love.  I’m all for romantic love, but what about the “love” you give to your team?

The best leaders get to know their team members and do little (and sometimes not so little) things to foster team spirit.  When you are part of a volunteer team this is no less important, as a sense of camaraderie helps when working towards a common goal.

Here are some simple ways to spread the love with your volunteer team:

• Latte anyone? Give them gift cards for coffee ‘on me’ to encourage committee meetings
• Birthday cards/emails to your team members (because you actually know their birthdays, not just because you got a reminder on Facebook)
• Thank you cards or calls – appreciation for achieving small milestones, for completing a project or going the extra mile
• Thank you notes to bosses or significant others – your team members are volunteering, which means extra time away from their paid job and family
• Ditch the conference calls. If you can’t meet in person (always best!), then utilize technology (Skype, web conferencing, Google Hangout) so you can see faces and share documents

A little love goes a long way to creating a cohesive team.  What other ideas can you add?