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3 Ways to Find Hidden Treasures in Your Team

I’m all moved in! My mom and I unloaded all of my belongings from my Hyundai Accent, carried them up four flights of stairs (yes, including a mattress...), unpacked, and set everything up in just two days’ time. I’m exhausted. And I’m pretty sure my mother’s back is toast. My brother and dad flew into Seattle on Friday, and we as a family have been venturing up and down the west coast – the Redwood Forest, Crater Lake, and Multnomah Falls (just to name a few). One of my brother’s hobbies is geocaching. So we’ve been randomly stopping the car to venture on the side of the road (or in the middle of a forest) to find these little hidden treasures. Here’s one we found on the top of Multnomah Falls.

 

 

When you’re not finding hidden treasures on the side of the road, spend time finding the hidden treasures amongst your team. Hidden talents, skills, and/or leadership abilities. Finding these attributes is sometimes difficult, as your employee/coworker may not fully recognize it themselves. So, here are three easy ways to find and encourage your team member’s hidden attributes and abilities.

 

  1. Express care in what people do outside of work.

First, it is important to care about your team. One easy way to express such care is to show an interest in what they do when they’re not at the office. This is also a great way to find out about other talents and skills that “may not have to do with work.” But, of course, they sometimes could be brought into work. Showing care in their hobbies may allow you as a leader to utilize those skills in the workplace.

 

  1. Give a task that moves your employees out of their normal everyday roles.

Whether this is a group project or a “special task,” throwing your employee in a fun, new assignment could highlight leadership abilities or a skill you didn’t know they had. John Kramp from The Riverstone Group even “promoted a work group participant after the project ended because [he] was so impressed by the leadership she demonstrated.”

 

  1. Take suggestions.

Allowing time in a meeting to ask for suggestions within the company can be a great way to source fresh ideas. You will be surprised by the amount of ideas and opinions your employees may have about company operations. This may even highlight a skill or passion one of your team members may have. It is also important to “reward and recognize good ideas, and get group input to improve on how they’re implemented,” affirms Human Resources Director.

  

The main idea here is to listen to your team, care about them, and push each member outside their normal everyday tasks. This will allow for continued growth as a company and team.

 

 

To read more, check out these sources:

The Riverstone Group’s 4 Steps to Discover Hidden Talents On Your Current Team

Human Resources Director’s Five ways to find hidden skills in your team

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