The team is the central hub of work productivity and communication and the best place to ensure the wellbeing of an organisation. Teams usually consist of people with different skills and personalities who perform complementary job tasks. A well functioning team should meet regularly to discuss each person’s progress, concerns and to share ideas.
The best team accepts:
- the need for difference and diversity
- is mutually supportive of each other’s strengths
- can make up for people’s vulnerabilities in times of personal or professional challenge. In the case of a team member experiencing any sort of health condition, including mental illness, a good team can be mutually supportive and flexible around roles, and provide backup to meet deadlines.
The size of a team is ideal for noticing and supporting a person who is unwell. If an organisation promotes awareness and provides workplace training about mental health conditions, each person in the team environment is in a good position to be supportive of their colleagues’ mental wellbeing.
Create supportive team environments by:
- challenging myths about physical health conditions, culture diversity and mental illness and deterring the use of stigmatising language or behaviours
- structuring regular team meetings that enable active communication
- encouraging out of hours opportunities to celebrate achievements and strengthen interpersonal relations, along with other activities like shared lunches but be sure to make these events optional as some people who experience social phobia or anxiety may find these stressful
- encouraging home and life balance
- providing information to all staff about valuing diversity and being aware of physical and mental health issues:
- through occupational health and safety training, educational programs and other training
- by making available summaries of the Disability Discrimination Act, Privacy legislation, etc.
- that links people who have mental illness, and their colleagues into external resources and information (links to employment support agencies, external case-managers, fact sheets, etc.)
- through access to Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace e-learning course and Mental Health First Aid training
- about available accommodations and flexible work practices that can be used in the event of mental health issues
- developing within the team, specific strategies that allow team members to support a colleague with mental illness.