Team Development

Team development is an ongoing process. It involves being clear about the team's purpose and what the success criteria are in terms both of output and of growth or development.

 

When I run a 'team development day' I emphasise that this day is a milestone in the overall development of the team; we may spend some time looking at the other milestones and plans for the future.

 

In the short term, a team development day may include looking again at evidence of success, at the roles and responsibilities of individual team members, at the synergy between them (who needs what from whom?) and at ways of improving communication within the team and with the rest of the organisation.

Communication is often the aspect that needs most attention - in team meetings, at the start of new projects, in an everyday way 'at the desk', and with other parts of the organisation. I often emphasise that in any communication the 'sender' needs to be very clear abut what they want the 'receiver' to know or understand that they didn't know or understand before the communication, with implications for action.

To succeed in this, the communicator needs to think about what kind of communication works best for the person they're communicating with - speaking on the phone, memos, emails, face-to-face.

 

It's often useful to look at different personality types, team roles or learning/decision preferences, so that individuals become aware not only of their own style and how it impacts on others, but also of the acceptable differences that need to be taken into account. A useful exercise is "How to communicate with someone who...."