Thinking of investing in some team development?

This article is for you if you're a leader of leaders are senior managers and you think they can work ever better together. I posted on LinkedIn last week that Christmas socials don't develop teams. While there were a few positive comments, more people questioned it than agreed. Surely a meal/party/a few beers lifts the spirits and brings people together?

Well, as a proud Geordie, I love a good night out as much as the next person, but even setting aside the challenges of finding an appropriate 'do' for a diverse team, a traditional social is at best a band-aid.

If you lead a team of talented individuals but know they are not yet performing at their best collectively, then we have to be honest with each other. If you aren't willing to invest properly in your team, you won't achieve the best results. In fact, research shows that top-performing leadership teams are almost twice as likely to deliver above-average financial results.

Here are some of the signs that you need to prioritise proper, focused team development over a surface social:

• Everyone knows there is conflict, but most people are afraid to tackle it.

• There is false harmony interspersed with flare-ups of conflict

• Challenges and issues are escalated to you rather than being resolved within the team.

• There is role creep, grabbing for responsibility or a lack of accountability.

• When things that obviously should get done are missed, the team doesn't call it out, and when you do, team members become defensive or blame each other.

• You have a group of talented individuals, but they don't yet feel or act like a team.

When these issues go unaddressed, performance slows and frustration builds.

What proper team development gives you

• Conflict becomes healthy and productive, not avoided or destructive.

• More issues are solved within the team, freeing you to lead rather than referee.

• Roles and responsibilities are clear and owned.

• Accountability rises, and people hold each other to commitments.

• Energy shifts from firefighting to executing strategy together.

To be crystal clear, just because team development is more purposeful, it doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable.

In fact, teams often tell me they've had more fun during a series of properly planned off-site events than they would have done doing some standard 'organised fun' cocktail making or team treasure hunts.

Has any of this touched a nerve? I'd love to talk.

Building a high-performance team is not just about fixing broken relationships. It is about creating trust and collective focus so your people can deliver more together than they ever could alone.

If you would like to explore what this could look like for your team, call me on 07932725113 or email richard@twentyoneleadership.com