Team Depression: a recipe for first-aid
Posted in Management on October 5th, 2012 by Matthew Butt – Be the first to commentAn interesting parallel occurred to me the other day during a conversation with a colleague: the mood of a team is subject to changes, just as that of an individual, and sometimes depression can set in. So, just as we can learn techniques to fight of depression in ourselves, maybe we can do the same within our teams.
It became clear to me a few weeks ago that my team was in the doldrums: we had come to the end of several significant pieces of work, but had released this work with very little fanfare, which led to a feeling of deflation; furthermore, our future workload was both daunting in size and vague in scope, with few clear short-term goals, which gave us a sense of listlessness; in the past few months, several really talented team members had left us, and we hadn’t yet managed to to find a new dynamic for the team, so we had lost the buzz that comes when collaboration becomes second nature; finally, a raft of factors beyond our control meant that we kept finding our work blocked, which just added another layer of frustration.
I had recently taken on the role of team lead, which meant not only that these issues became a particular problem for me, but also that I had an opportunity as primus inter pares to do something about this. In working to find a way out of this morass, I came to a realisation: I had been here before, and I already knew how to deal with it.
A rich seam of depression runs through my family, and it has been part of my life since childhood. In the past few years I have pushed it into remission, and it rarely raises its head now. However, from time to time I do catch the onset of a spell of depression, and I have identified a set of first-aid techniques that I can use to stop it developing further. Many of these techniques—regular exercise and fresh air, early nights, cutting down on alcohol, making time to read and relax—seem simple and obvious, but these are just the habits that can get sidelined when depression sets in, so I have to treat them as a strict regime and push myself to follow them. The result of this is incredibly effectively for me.
Here are my key actions in fighting the signs of depression:
- I have identified and look out for the early warning signs, so I know when I need to take action
- When I spot these signs, I acknowledge that the situation warrants special behaviour, even if this means putting other priorities on hold
- I have identified specific behaviours that I know help me recover
- I stick with these behaviours until I am back on an even keel
This brings me back to my team’s situation. Of course, the ideal is to develop good everyday habits that keep depression at bay, but while we work on that, we may well find ourselves slipping into the doldrums occasionally. It seems to me that all four of these actions can apply to a team just as readily as to an individual.
I would be interested to hear other people’s experiences of dealing with lapses in team mood, as well as thoughts on how these ideas fit with various codified working patterns. Please share your ideas!