Are You Meeting Your Team’s Needs?
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
In his book, Nonviolent Communication, Marshall B. Rosenberg writes, "It has been my experience over and over again that from the moment people begin talking about what they need rather than what's wrong with one another, the possibility of finding ways to meet everybody's needs is greatly increased."
Rosenberg highlights seven basic human needs he believes we all have.
Autonomy: Choice, freedom, independence, space, spontaneity, dignity, expression.
Meaning: Competence, challenge, clarity, contribution, celebration of life, mourning, growth, hope, learning, self-expression, to matter, creativity, discovery, etc.
Integrity: Authenticity, honesty, presence, wholeness
Interdependence: Acceptance, respect, appreciation, love, community, support, cooperation, consideration, mattering, trust, empathy, understanding, etc.
Play: Fun, laughter, joy, humour, adventure
Peace: Beauty, harmony, inspiration, balance, order, ease, etc.
Physical Nurturance: air, food, water, movement, protection, shelter, touch, etc.
These needs don't turn off when people come to work. They continue to influence how they feel, think, and behave, even if we ignore them.
As a leader, when you pay attention to what people are feeling, you get valuable data to change your workplace culture.
Feelings provide you with a window into what people are thinking and what their unmet needs are.
When you improve your own abilities to recognize and understand emotional responses, and give employees the skills and tools to accurately communicate their feelings and space and permission to do so, you can use this information to make changes to better meet their needs.
This can include changes to:
Job roles
Communication
Training opportunities
Policies and procedures
Team dynamics
The environment
Your own behaviour
As a result of meeting people’s needs through changes, you’ll generate positive feelings.
And, it will come as no surprise, when people feel good, they tend to do good.
As a leader, actively seek out opportunities to listen to people's feelings and what unmet needs they may be signaling.
Is someone's loneliness signaling a lack of interdependence?
Is someone's disappointment signaling a lack of meaning?
Is someone's frustration signaling a lack of autonomy?
Is someone's anger signaling a lack of integrity?
Is someone's boredom signaling a lack of play?
When conversations around emotions are regular and expected, it makes it easier to understand what people are missing in their workplace and to work together to create a culture that generates the positive emotions and energy people need to do great work.