Team Development: Where are you right now?
I enjoy setting goals—it’s something we tend to do this time of year. And as we do this, it’s also a perfect time to pause and acknowledge where we as a team are right now. To move forward — quickly— towards our objectives, we should be grounded and confident in where we are and what we need to get there. Here’s some thoughts for how teams can embrace their gifts of the present.
Acknowledge the journey / learning curve. In my previous life I supported an Agile transformation and we used to joke that every time someone used the word “journey” you’d have to drop money in the “journey” jar to fund team drinks. The word is a bit jargony. Clichés aside, the concept has power for a team. Sometimes leaders or teams can focus too much on what isn’t there (yet) or what should have been achieved, and they get stuck or frustrated. Think about where you are right now. Try reframing it as a part of the context of the steps in a longer process. The example might be, an executive complains that the team doesn’t use data or KPIs to inform their priorities or decisions. As a team or leader, you can acknowledge that the team is at an earlier stage in their adoption of KPIs. Then explain how the team currently uses KPIs—informally, or annually for example. And then you can share the notion that you want to get better with KPIs, and are early in effectively using them.
Audit Your Context. A team often is working within a larger organization or for a client which immensely impacts them. I sometimes refer to it as the ecosystem. Trying pausing with the team to reflect and brainstorm what the picture of the larger system looks like.
Is it hard to get resources needed?
How do approvals or decisions get made?
Do you find you can move quickly to focus on most important outcomes? Why or why not?
What about the environment slows you down?
This reflection is a good place to start thinking about areas you might be able to address with your department or organization to improve. Being clear on the reality of your context can also help your team focus on what’s easy to control (presumably within your team) and what’s more complicated (involving other teams or systems outside of your team).
Assess Capabilities Needed and Current Skills. What skills and capabilities do you need as a team to effectively deliver your work? Hold a discussion where you review what’s needed, and where you might have strengths and gaps. Going through an exercise as a team can be really effective. Consider taking a class to help assess your roles in Team Roles & Skills Mapping (Learn More). Or try honing in with a focused conversation in these areas:
Roles and Skills Mapping Guide: Digging into Team Roles & Skills is critical to the team's strong foundation by proving an opportunity for alignment upfront on roles, responsibilities, & skills.
Roles and Skills Game for Team Building: Does your team suffer from having unclear roles and responsibilities? Team members might end up doing a lot of work, but is it the *right* work or are they wasting time? This game is a quick and fun way for your team to dig into these questions.
Roles and Skills Competency Matrix: This exercise taps into what your teammates want to learn and how that does or doesn’t fit with the goals of the team.
We often focus on where we want to go— and that vision is a great thing to align on for sure. But being very intentional about the choices we make now, especially the small ones can have a large impact on the long-range success of a team.
