How Teams Develop

Creating a team environment that encourages development of others is one of the most important things you can do as a leader. Development professionals will talk about this concept in terms of how much it benefits an individual’s career, but what they don’t tell you is that developing other people is a key factor in helping someone else succeed in their own leadership role.

This article will discuss some ways to create a culture where individuals are encouraged to develop their skills and grow professionally. You will also learn some easy ways to keep yourself motivated to achieve your goals while working with others.

Team development for leaders isn’t just something we should strive for — it’s an essential part of our work ethic. As leaders ourselves someday, we must learn how to motivate and inspire those around us to help us fulfill our mission.

It may sound cliché, but investing time into creating a positive workplace atmosphere for employees is worth its weight in gold. Not only does it make for happier workers, it boosts productivity, engagement, trust, and overall performance. These qualities directly impact a company’s success.

There are many different types of group activities you can organize at work to promote teamwork. Some examples include having lunch or drinks together after hours, hosting conferences or events, offering free snacks or daily rewards such as a gift card to a coffee shop, and celebrating milestones with a meal or a party.

They pay attention to the little things

As mentioned before, developing as a team member is not only about giving praise when someone does something well, it’s also your job to recognize and acknowledge good behaviors that other people exhibit.

It may sound simple, but too many people don’t take this basic concept seriously. You see, some people think that if you do what they say then everyone will respect them and treat them better.

This isn’t true in any way, of course!

If you want others to trust you and believe you are worth working with, you have to show them that you are trustworthy yourself first.

By treating people around you with respect and courtesy, you send a message to those who watch that you are not only willing to put in time to help them, but that you also try to keep up standards for yourself.

This makes them feel more comfortable being open and honest with you.

Team members should look out for each other and promote an environment where conversations can happen without fear of embarrassment or concealment.

When people work together there’s always going to be one person who doesn’t get along, so why make it harder than necessary for the rest of you to accomplish your goals?

Avoid gossip unless it’s appropriate, and remember that even slight criticisms could hurt someone deeply.

They are always trying to be better

As human beings, we constantly strive to achieve our goals and succeed in life. This can sometimes make it hard to recognize what tasks or behaviors needed changing.

It is very easy to get distracted by the actions of others around you and imitate their behavior. In doing so, you may not realize that your own performance is suffering until it is too late.

At this stage, someone may have already noticed a change in your work quality and/or efficiency, and informed you about it. If they haven’t, then soon will be!

Here are some things that could indicate that your job isn’t going as well as it should right now:

You are often being asked to do more than your current skillset allows you to accomplish within a set time frame

You feel like you are never meeting your deadlines even though you put in lots of effort

You spend most of your time either working on something that has been shelved for weeks or attempting to push through an unfinished task that you begin to dread every minute of

If any of these sound familiar, it is time to evaluate how much power you give other people in your workplace.

By letting them take over certain responsibilities, you may need to re-evaluate your position here. Or perhaps it is time to look for another team where you can learn new tricks and grow.

They are always looking for new challenges

As team members, we spend a lot of time working with our peers in other departments or levels within an organization. If you’re not giving them enough credit for their hard work, then they probably don’t feel like they’re being appreciated.

As a manager, you can be one of those people who doesn’t give your colleagues enough praise and recognition. You may even avoid talking to each other because you’re too busy trying to get everything done yourself.

If this is you, it's worth considering whether that approach is sustainable long-term. Investing some time into developing your team will pay off!

Team development focuses on how well everyone works together and if there are any underlying issues that need addressing. It also looks at creating trust and confidence in each other so that individuals feel comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas without fear of criticism or rejection.

By having these conversations, you'll uncover things such as internal barriers that are holding someone back from achieving their potential or weaknesses that could jeopardize the safety of others.

They are always trying to be creative

As human beings, we spend most of our time thinking about how to make ourselves feel better or get some sort of reward for hard work. We think about how much we would like something and then go out of our way to obtain it.

That’s what makes us soooo busy!

And while that is a good thing, I want you to try looking at your job in a different light.

Think about it – why do you have this position? You got this job because someone else wanted to pay you to be here.

They hired you because you had certain skills that they thought would help them achieve their goal of having people come to their company to use its products and services.

You got these skills through experiences (training) and practicing them (life).

They rely on each other for support

As mentioned before, team members depend on one another for help and guidance. This is especially true in the workplace, where colleagues are constantly interacting with each other.

Since teamwork is such an integral part of business, learning how to develop your team is very important.

Here are some things you can do to strengthen your team’s bond and trustworthiness:

Ask questions – ask about their day, what they're working on, or if there's anything they'd like assistance with.

– ask about their day, what they're working on, or if there's anything they'd like assistance with. Listen - make sure others feel heard and that they know you are there when they need you.

- make sure others feel heard and that they know you are there when they need you. Be supportive – offer praise and encouragement whenever possible, even if it's just for showing up to work.

– offer praise and encouragement whenever possible, even if it's just for showing up to work. Keep commitments – be punctual for meetings, appointments, and assignments, as well as keeping them longer than expected.

These tips will start to build your team's trust while also improving communication and collaboration.

They have a good work-life balance

A team develops when people spend time outside of work talking about, supporting, and developing each other. This can be at a formal meeting or informal gathering such as lunch or a coffee break.

Team development professionals are not necessarily in this situation all the time, but they should be if they want to develop their own leadership skills.

As leaders, we need to invest in our colleagues and encourage them to do likewise. We also need to acknowledge and reward hard work and achievements.

By doing these things, we create an environment where everyone feels motivated and invested in the future success of the organisation.

They are aware of their weaknesses

As mentioned earlier, team members who develop themselves will not necessarily be know it as themselfs, but they’ll at least acknowledge their weaknesses. This is very important to note because when you have people that feel like they are better than other people, then there is no growth potential for them.

As a leader, you must create an open environment where your staff can grow. If someone feels that they do not need to learn new things due to you being the ‘experienced one,’ then they will not try hard to improve themselves.

This does not mean that they should not strive to achieve their goals, but just how high their goal is may need to be reevaluated.

If a member of your team has shown signs of developing, show them more respect by acknowledging this talent they possess.

Ask about what strategies they used in order to reach that state, and maybe even ask if anyone ever gave them tips on how to improve upon those tactics?

By doing these two things, you’re showing that you are willing to help others succeed and that is always a winning formula.

They focus on their strengths

As mentioned before, developing your team is not about telling people what to do but identifying who they are already doing it and supporting them in building on that skill set. People have different specialties so investing time into understanding these individuals’ skills and supporting them to grow can only result in improvement.

The second part of this process is encouraging those individuals to develop their own personal strengths. This isn’t always an easy task as we often feel that our strength is something that other people don’t recognize or appreciate enough, therefore limiting how successful we think we will be in growing our career.

However, if you really want to see growth in someone then you need to identify what their weaknesses are and work on improving them – maybe even more than once!

By being aware of your team members’ strengths and developing yours, you’ll create an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their knowledge and experience.