Do you ever feel disappointed that your team is not performing at the level you know they could?
Having led several teams over the years, I’ve felt the frustration of not quite getting to the level needed. Since then, I have spent the last 15 years working with teams and want to share some helpful tips I’ve discovered.
I recently conducted an executive leadership team training and coaching session, where we looked at developing core components and dynamics of the team. Our goal was more about team development rather than team building, where you may choose to do fun activities together, growing deeper connections through experience, which definitely have their place.
These days I tend to use assessments to quickly get to the heart of key issues, nevertheless, I shared a framework to help the team explore areas of growth, and then we dug deep into team dynamics using coaching where the agenda was in the hands of the team.
I thought I would share some of the framework with you, which assists teams in understanding what to focus on for development:
- We looked at how well the team managed the relationships with the different stakeholder groups outside the team, such as, clients, board members, middle management, and other staff.
- We addressed external deliverables that needed to be carried out by the team to fulfil their mission.
- We discussed the tasks that need to be addressed inside the team, with clarifying team mission, values, objectives, priorities, team member roles, and accountability for effective operations.
- Finally, we spent most of our time coaching through team dynamics with the interdependent relationships inside the team, communication channels, clarifying ground rules for how to show up for each other, especially in team meetings, etc..
Step four is foundational, because if the team members don’t manage their internal relational dynamics well not much can be achieved at a high level. Also, if this is done early in the formation of a team it has the added benefit of assisting the team to better navigate through the storming stage, when it comes.
I enjoyed equipping the team with fun tools to implement for breaking emotionally charged interactions, where they could better self-manage these dynamics.
Part of the core learning for the exec team was improved self-monitoring and self-regulation approaches for higher quality interactions with one another and collective process development for improved team performance.
Not only did we have a good time, but I received some profoundly positive feedback on the day and for days afterward on how helpful it was.
So, in developing your team – or teams you work with – what have you found works well – I’d love to know? If you want to check out some resources I use, they are at here.
If you ever want to discuss your team or are looking for support to develop your team, let’s talk. You can set up a free appointment with me here.