Can you believe it — the holidays are here, again.

The change of a calendar year can be a wonderful time to acknowledge the investment required to maintain growth and development, including the quality of your relationships at work.

One of my favorite tools for team maintenance is the Reorientation Process.

Assembling all the players for reorientation is a powerful way to acknowledge that ALL productive relationships go through periods of being highly oriented — aligned, in sync, in the flow — as well as periods of not being so.

When teams get out of sync, committed members feel they have to “push harder” on the content of the team’s work.

A more fruitful strategy would be for them to notice — and acknowledge — that the team seems to have lost energy and/or direction (energy and direction are my simplest indicators for a team being “built”).

When this happens (and it may happen several times in the life of a team) I like to say, “It’s always a good time to reorient.” Get started with this week’s 5-minute practice tip.

5-Minute Practice Tip

To orient or reorient a work relationship, gather the players together and ask each of them to articulate their views of the following:

1. The WHAT — what are we as a team to do together?
2. The WHYs — why am I here? What’s in it for me to be on this team?
3. The HOWs — how are we playing? What are our team rules and agreements?
4. The WHOs — who’s doing what where? What does each of us bring to THIS task at THIS time?

When everyone has been heard, asking the group to craft a clear and elevating goal together (one that’s meaningful to every member) will help refuel the WHY for energy and the WHAT for direction.

You’ll always know when this conversation is on track — because you can see, hear, and feel the group’s energy increase and the team members’ direction come into focus.

Reorientation is a great way to start a new year with your teams — with renewed, positive energy.

Let me know your thoughts and experiences with a quick comment below.

Christopher Avery, PhD, is a recognized authority on how individual and shared responsibility works in the mind and an advisor to leaders worldwide. Build a responsible team (or family) and master your leadership skills with The Leadership Gift Program for Leaders.