Team Development and Growth

Remember as you read my posts that I did this week's first, so as you read them they may be out of order...

For the week of April 6th, the topic was team development and growth. This topic could be a whole dissertation! There are the reasons for team development, the strategies for team development, the activities for team development, the Storming,Norming and Conforming stages of team development... wow, where to begin?

After much consideration, I decided that I would focus on one of the most essential dimensions of team development- developing trust. Without trust a team cannot move forward, function or grow.

In a team situation,  trust usually entails belief in the leader and the vision of the team. It also entails trusting each other. When trust is present, people are more willing to go through difficult situations.

Communication of the vision and communication in general, where people are able to listen and speak freely is of the utmost importance.

Here are some guidelines for building trust taken from various sources that I've used in my years of management:

• There should always be an open feedback loop
• 'Always meet your committment to the team and if you can't let them know why
• If you;'re the leader, don't demand trust, work to earn it
• Establish guidelines as a team early in the process- for example: No sidebar conversations- then hold team members accountable
• If you are the leader, don't lie about bad news - be honest
• Keep agreements
• Maintain confidentiality within the group
• The team should enable everyone to learn new skills
• All team members should be involved and their input should be sought whenever possible for decision making
• Professionalism and respect should be the foundation of all team discussions

I've been on some great teams and some not so great teams, and the truth it that the accomplishments of any team boil down to trust and communication.