Team development
Have you ever worked in great team? Then you must know what it feels like to be in a flow together. Where the group of leaders produce better results than when they would be working on their own.
On the other hand, if you have ever worked in a dysfunctional team, you have experienced the energy draining and value destruction. People who are working in their own silos, where there is low trust, low morale, political behaviour, avoiding conflicts and lack of accountability. I’ve seen so often how this hurts the business and saps all the energy away from the leaders.
Of course, you can measure the added value of a performing team in things like the business growth, the retention rates, sick leave percentage or profitability. But often you don’t even have to do this. Just listen and observe the team members. You can just feel it!
Before you decide to make an investment in developing your team, there are two things to consider carefully.
- If you are going to make big people changes in your leadership team, make them first.
- Team development sessions are not a one-off! It will only really pay off if you integrate it into your leadership team process and if you are willing to continue to follow up.
When it comes to developing a team, there are three levels to look at.
- The business
- We
- I
We often refer to the business as the ‘what’ and to the people side as the ‘how’. We easily underestimate the importance of the how. However, the how is the glue that holds everything together! Just compare it to any other relationship: you need to continue to maintain and invest in the relationships, otherwise things will drift apart.
Some of the best business leaders that I have worked with over the years, never underestimate the importance of a performing leadership team. They make sure they don’t let things get out of control. They invest in the team long before they have to go into repair mode.
It’s nice to go laser shooting together, take a boat trip or have a BBQ. And I’m not cynical here. It’s really nice, but it’s not enough, especially if you want to develop or repair a performing leadership team.
Hope this inspires.
Paul Donkers
Paul P.J. Donkers is a sought-after global business coach and serial entrepreneur. More about his work and projects can be found via www.tencompany.org and via www.ikigaicoachinginstitute.com
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