Team Development
In business, the unit of change is neither the individual, nor the organisation as a whole, but the group.
What is a Team?
A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals and shared approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.
High-performing teams:
- Meet or exceed standards and expectations set by themselves and others
- Work together to enhance their capability to work together in the future
- Contribute to the learning and personal development of individual team members
(Wageman et al, 2008)
Why is Team Development Important?
We work in a world that is increasingly complex and interconnected, and while we still like to read about “hero CEOs”, we know that one person alone cannot effect positive, sustainable change. Today’s business challenges require that people work together, share expertise and ideas, make connections across functions, borders and industries, and collaborate for the greater good.
Who Benefits from Team Development?
Leadership teams, management teams, project teams, key account teams, functional and cross-functional teams, and virtual teams all have challenges to address. Performance can be enhanced and results accelerated if attention is given to the unique needs of each team. All teams have a mission to fulfil, results to deliver on, relationships to build, stakeholders to connect with, and learning to be leveraged.
How I work with Teams
Some of my approaches to developing team effectiveness include:
- Systemic Team Coaching – comprehensive coaching of the team as a unit to enhance attention to the external context (stakeholders, customers, employees, partners, community) and attention to the internal relationships and dynamics of the team’s members, as well as learning, in order to improve collective leadership performance.
- Team Coaching – working with an intact team at both content and process levels to enhance performance and accelerate results.
- Team Building – helping a new – or existing – team better understand and relate, while working to help clarify the team’s mission, goals, expectations and working processes.
- Team Facilitation – working with a team to achieve a specific purpose through helping structure a meeting’s purpose and flow, supporting full engagement and contribution of all participants, and highlighting functional and dysfunctional team behaviours.
- Action Learning – working with a cross-functional/geography/business team, often comprised of high potentials – to develop potential solutions to a complex business challenge while also developing team and leadership effectiveness.
- Group Coaching – working with a group of individuals who want coaching on specific areas, as well as enhancement of their own coaching skills. Group coaching is a facilitated learning process wherein participants bring their own leadership and learning challenges and receive coaching from a range of people – those participants making up the group.