You may be wondering why I would suggest this, especially as I run a People Development business. Surely, I’m turning away revenue opportunities?
Actually, I firmly believe that one-off team days are a waste of time and money. How do I know? Because over the years I’ve delivered quite a few. In fact, I continue to deliver team days to many of my clients. I’ve learned a lot in the process and I’d like to share some of these insights with you here:
- When a manager requests an outside facilitator to design and run a team day there’s usually something that’s not working well for that team. Sometimes the manager has a specific thing to work on. More often than not there are some “elephants” in the room and these need to be dealt with
- If things are going well in a team there should be regular get togethers both inside and outside the working environment. There’s no need for a facilitator to be present. Go to lunch. Go bowling. Go karting. Have fun!
- A good facilitator can make a team day fun with lots of self-discovery and learning. People leave on a high and then within 2 days it’s back to the same old! And therein lies the real problem!
Running an annual team day is like a sports team having one practice session per year and then expecting to perform well every week in each match they play. If you’ve ever played on a winning sports team, in a successful band or theatre production then you’ll know that building teams that perform well together takes a lot of practice and hard work.
Who’s responsible?
The people who are largely responsible for the failure of team days are the leaders who commission them. Why? Because they often fail to follow through on the action points agreed during the breakout sessions. The participants lose faith, belief and trust in the process and one step forward results in the team moving two steps backward!
What’s the alternative?
Think in terms of continuous development. Teams evolve over time. They become the sum-total of their members skills, behaviours and attitudes. And then some – hopefully 1+1=3! Teams in an organisation are often interdependent and people can find themselves today on more than one team as projects become the key leverage in how things get done.
However, teams are systems composed of people. Therefore, they’re organic and dynamic and this is where the focus needs to be. A system depends on the interaction of its parts. When a part of the system changes it can impact the entire system.
Team days should be part of an ongoing structured programme. Such a programme can include some or all of the following:
Diagnosis
Work preference assessments to determine both individual and team strengths and potential de-railers. We use the Harrison Assessments Team Paradox graph to enable teams to understand each other better, see their strengths and decide on how to deal with their potential team de-railers.
Design
Based on the results of the diagnosis a team development program can be designed that fits the culture of the organisation and the Key Performance Indicators for that particular team.
Delivery
A team development program can consist of any or all of the following:
- Individual coaching sessions to explore the results or the assessment diagnostic and to give each team member an Individual Development Plan (IDP)
- Team sessions that focus on creating such things as a Collaboration Charter. Where the results of the team assessment can be discussed and team dynamics arising from that explored.
- Where people leave with individual action items that contribute to improving team performance
- Where there are several individual follow up sessions to support each person in implementing their Individual Development Plan
- Where there are mentoring and buddy arrangements in place so that colleagues can develop the skills to support each other
- Where the next team day is based around what has happened in between, the results being achieved or the problems yet to be resolved.
- When new members join the team some or all of the above are repeated.
This is what really successful teams do. They are continuously improving. Practising. Learning. Supporting each other with common goals in mind and in sight!
To learn more about how to do this contact me today.
