The Leader's Kitbag - Team Development - Don't Half Arse It

Team development is something that organizations invest a huge amount of time and money into, often with very mixed results. The intention behind it is always positive, but the consistency is often patchy and the commitment to follow through and really lean in to some of the difficult conversations that need to be had in order to make real change in is often lacking. Now, I'm comfortable saying this because I've been on both sides of the team development fence, if you will. I've led teams when I've been all in and fully committed to doing what's needed to make us great. And there have been other occasions when, to steal a phrase from the actor Matthew McConaughey, I've half asked it. I've also spent many years facilitating team development sessions, which isn't something I do anymore for reasons I'll come to shortly.

Hey, I'm Ben Morton. I'm a leadership trainer, executive coach and keynote speaker. And I'm not a team development facilitator, so if you need help with that, don't get in touch. But if you need help in any of the other areas, do get in touch, as I'd love to hear from you. So let's dive in and talk about team development.

For many years I've said that team development isn't something that we do twice a year off site at a nice hotel. Rather, it's something we should focus on and work at every single day. And more often than not, this is through the mundane, seemingly insignificant conversations and activities.

But what often happens is because I've seen it and I've been asked to help, is that something suddenly happens and a leader suddenly has that oh shit moment where they realize we need to do some team development. And what follows is often a request for a one day team off site. And having delivered a lot of these over the years, I came to realize that one day team interventions often end up making things worse, not better.

Why? Well, it's because we paint a picture of what the future could be like, what it could be like to be a member of this team, how we could work together, what we could achieve, and then we start to explore some of the challenges or tricky dynamics within the team. It's not wholly dissimilar to picking an itchy scab, right? But the issue with one day team off sites is we don't have the time or the planned follow up to really move things on.

Another great analogy here for real team development is to think about the role that a chicken and a pig play in making a full English breakfast.

The chicken must lay the eggs. So it's part of the process, but it's not 100% all in committed.

However, to have a few rashes of streaky bacon, the pig must fully commit. There's no going back for the pig. The pig cannot half ass it, to use that phrase once again from Matthew McConaughey. So, if you're thinking about team development, there are two things I encourage you to really think about.

Number one, team development is something that you must absolutely own as the leader and focus on all of the time. It's not, as I said, something that we do twice a year off site at a nice hotel.

And number two, remember the full English. Before you start working with a facilitator and planning those off sites, think carefully about whether you're a pig or a chicken.

That's it for this episode of the Leaders Kit Bag. And remember, if you're going down the pig route, if you are going to invest in team development, going on that journey, I'm not the man to help you. If, on the other hand, though you're looking to improve the collective leadership capability of your team, then I'd love to hear from you because that's something I can absolutely help you with.

That's it for today's episode of the Leaders Kickback. As always, I hope it's been useful. Look after yourself, look after those you've got the privilege and responsibility to lead. And until next time, lead on.