Approaches to team development: strategies and growth tools
Author:
In order to organize a well-coordinated teamwork, it is necessary to overcome all disagreements and learn to settle contradictions in a productive way. The need to unite the team and increase labor efficiency is part of the responsibilities of the HR department. A successful result also depends on the policy of the company, the owner and managers. Team development does not always require large investments. There are many techniques that allow you to improve the environment within the team with minimal or no investment.
Stages of team development
At the beginning of the work, employees are enthusiastic and work for the benefit of a common goal. However, this engagement fades over time, and then disagreements within the team manifest themselves. It is important for an HR specialist to understand all stages of team development and provide a comfortable atmosphere for professional growth.
Stage 1: Formation of the team
At the beginning of joint work, team members discuss the charter, distribute roles and areas of responsibility, establish the order of solving current issues and areas of competence. At the first stage of work, most employees are optimistic and enthusiastic about the upcoming tasks. Managers together with HR specialists need to:
- define the role of each employee and make sure they understand their area of responsibility;
- do not make important decisions without the team’s input;
- divide tasks for more efficient work;
- conduct internal trainings for personal and professional growth;
- create rules and familiarize all team members with them.
Step 2: Disagreements and conflicts
Sooner or later, some team members realize that some of the tasks do not fit their vision of the project. For example, their responsibilities include more or less work than originally agreed upon. Some are concerned about the lack of career development or current prospects in the company. All of these can cause staff to have doubts about their participation in the current project. The most common problems encountered in the second stage are:
- employees consider only their own experience, rejecting the possibility of teamwork;
- disputes and protracted conflicts between staff;
- team members start to compete with each other and compete for supremacy;
- the team complains that the original goals are unattainable and the workload is high.
Stage 3: Stabilization
Over time, each team member becomes accustomed to his or her role, establishes a process and begins to perform his or her tasks more efficiently. The level of conflicts decreases due to the smoothing of working relationships within the team. Only at the 3rd stage of teamwork each of the employees starts to feel the results.
The skills that the team acquires are:
- trust in the professional opinion of a colleague;
- corporate spirit and fighting for a common goal;
- respectful behavior at joint meetings;
- constructive criticism of colleagues and the ability to accept it;
- mutual understanding within the team.
Step 4: Capacity building
By overcoming initial challenges and establishing a workflow, each employee can easily perform routine tasks and eliminate common mistakes. In doing so, team members expand their areas of expertise and learn how to get the job done faster. The main achievements of the team at the 4th stage of development:
- staff behavior becomes more cohesive and non-conflictual;
- tasks are completed faster than deadlines;
- team members willingly share their knowledge and help each other.
Staff training methods
Modern methods of developing team members can be divided into three main types: personal, directive, interactive.
- Directive.
This method is based on close work with a mentor, who can be a manager, a special corporate trainer or simply a more experienced colleague. Seminars, lectures, trainings and other forms of training are conducted to raise employee awareness. - Interactive.
Online courses, videoconferences, and online workshops can be used on a remote basis to develop team competence. This flexible training format allows you to apply the experience of leading experts in your business and keep employees engaged in their daily tasks. - Personal.
Due to the motivation of management, employees can develop and learn independently, identifying weaknesses in their competence and improving them. At the same time, the process can be controlled by a representative of the company’s HR department.
Personnel development tools
Effective employee development in a company does not necessarily involve large expenditures. There are several proven free tools that can be used by managers without additional training.
Top 7 ways to develop your team:
- Corporate meetings.
It is important for employees to exchange experiences, share fresh cases and methods of solving them. The professional skills of senior colleagues will be helpful in introducing new team members to the team. - Book Club.
Colleagues take turns reading a book, writing out important points, and then discussing the main points of the work. This helps build rapport among coworkers and learn how to have a constructive discussion. - Intra-company training.
Team members identify important skills that need to be acquired or trained, according to the overall objectives of the department. For example, sales managers practice scripts, work with objections, review new trends in their business. - Presentation after training courses.
If an employee attended a training course or conference, he or she will be able to present the knowledge gained there to other members of his or her team with the help of a small meeting. In this way, the information will be consolidated and internalized by all employees. - Lunches together.
The opportunity to get together in an informal atmosphere and share important issues allows to establish a good environment in the team. Over lunch the staff relaxes and shares their thoughts on the current project and tasks. - Personal meetings.
Stickers with the names of all team members are collected in a single vase and everyone draws out one of them. It is necessary to have lunch with this person, for example, in the next 2 months. In this way the staff is randomly introduced and learns more about each other. - Face to face conversations.
It is useful for the head of a company or department to talk to his subordinates outside the office about common non-work topics. In this way, it is possible to learn about the emotional state of the employee and his or her opinion of the position.