Reply To: What steps can be taken to ensure a supportive and collaborative team culture?

For team members to be truly collaborative, there needs to be an environment of respect and trust between the team and management and among team members. Provide team members with the opportunity to speak, be listened to, and to contribute, and also to participate in the discourse around ideas in a respectful manner. Acknowledge strengths and capabilities of team members and rely on their expertise. Give them opportunity to develop themselves. Being clear with expectations and consistently following through will also create an environment of trust and safety. The moment you say you are going to do something and you don’t, you have lost trust with your staff or with each other, especially if it becomes habitual. Working together toward goals also unifies a team. Team members and management need to acknowledge any attitudes or behaviours that are negatively impacting the team and hold each other accountable. Issues that are left untreated will poison morale and cause staff to mistrust each other and management.