ABC's Of Team Building - Z Is For Comfort Zone

How often do you step out of your comfort zone? For many people, being comfortable with feeling uncomfortable can cause a great deal of anxiety. However, the more you push yourself out of your comfort zone, the easier it becomes to do so. The end result is the ability to take on new challenges and achieve things you didn't know you had before - in our personal and professional lives.

As a leader, it's important to know when your team is feeling good and needs to challenge to get out of their comfort zone. Employees need to be reminded that if they relax and play it safe all the time, they will never grow old, they will still be competitive, and may even be promoted. It certainly helps to come out of a very relaxed environment if the employees feel they are part of something bigger than themselves. Therefore, if your company has a lot of growth opportunities or incentives to reach new personal and group goals, you can use it as a way to overcome complacency.

As you think of ways to challenge your team, remember that everyone's comfort zone is different. You'll need to spend some time working with each member of your team to see what each person can really do when they step out of their "safe" environments. Start with small steps to see who is very hesitant and who is ready to move on. Be prepared to answer the question, "We've always done it this way, so why do we need to change it?".

Brainstorming and making sure your team knows they can think outside the box is a great way to start getting them out of their comfort zone. If you have a diverse team with different profiles and mindsets, they can bounce ideas off each other and discover new perspectives. Make sure not to heat up differences of opinion, but instead learn to disagree in a healthy and constructive way. This can lead to new product ideas or improvements to existing operations. Making mistakes is an important part of growing up, so you'll need to remind them of this to maintain a positive work environment. As stated many times "Your last mistake is your best teacher".

The search for new knowledge is a critical component of dealing with complacency. Encourage your employees to learn about a variety of topics. If your company allows it, invest in courses they can take to help them with their professional growth, perhaps reserving time of day for each person to study a new topic and then report back to the team. Keeping your team a part of the learning environment will help unlock new ideas and ultimately new growth opportunities. This will ensure that you and your team always have a challenge to step out of your comfort zones!