Cultivating a Joyful Environment with People-Driven Teams
In 2022, I turned my student job moonlighting as a war crimes investigator into a team effort. Running out of institutional resources, I put together a team of volunteers and launched a legal aid project from the library at my university.
It turns out I’m not the only Millennial or Zoomer who ventured to freelance during the earlier part of the decade. Many of us questioned the authenticity of business “leaders” in power. Many of us felt isolated and struggled to find more traditional jobs after graduating.
As we swing into a new era of Y2K revivals and return to office mandates, more than half of the U.S. workforce retains memories and fears from the handful of years prior. Businesses and leaders can directly contribute to their joy and success by providing meaningful opportunities to work flexibly and collaboratively.
People-driven teams with strong values cultivate these joyful envrionments and allow businesses to succeed.
Workforce Finesse through Freelancing
In the last handful of years, freelancers have learned new skills and sharpened their finesse. Leaders can take advantage of real-life connections to foster creativity and build a strong, recognizable brand. Artisans and freelance crewmembers are a great asset for people-driven teams.
Workforces comprised of freelancers are often more affordable, and also allow for modular teams to be created. Your freelance friends might also become full-time employees once your wallet and capacity to provide benefits grow. The fact that they’ve already worked with you before is an advantage in familiarity and trust.
By hiring an ensemble of freelancers, you retain the flexibility to use teammates for the best things they can do, and they will continue to trust that you will give them meaningful, exciting work.
Listen Discerningly & Lead from Within
Listening to your crew provides more space for feedback, which will strengthen your business or project. Your team is in the trenches, and often they know more than you. Showing up for them as both a teammate and a coach will solidify your position together.
When you listen discerningly, you take in feedback from your team and make the decision yourself whether to apply it. Agreement, and even alignment, are not necessarily the goal. Instead, you provide room to lead and listen from within the team, not from above.
Today’s workforces are asking for more flexibility when it comes to remote versus in-person experiences. You can directly serve this by finding sensible opportunities to take meetings online while also finding spaces to connect and give feedback face-to-face, fully analog. Your audience and consumers will likely appreciate opportunities to do the same, like in-person merchandise sales and online flash sales.
Final Musings (AKA, The Part You Can Skip To)
Your brand is built not only on the images, products, and services you provide. It rests in the subjective opinion of the public and your audience. A people-driven team stands out as a caring and fruitful environment for growth. A leader who listens is better at fielding feedback.
Writing, creating, and working together flexibly allows us to increase symmetry in our voice, tone, and values. The work products created by your team are more than fun projects or daunting tasks, they are part of the environment you cultivate and present to your consumers. Ultimately, if you build trust within your team and give them chances to shine, so will you.