Excuses, Excuses, Excuses!

As many of my readers will now recognise, I am determined to ensure that team development (and I mean true team development, not corporate entertainment) is on the agenda of all organisations. It's too important not to be as healthy and high performing teams play a huge role in the well being of employees as well as ensuring the organisation as a whole performs and hits its vision, mission, aims and goals. Sadly, and far too frequently for my liking, I hear, excuse after excuse, as to why an organisation (or an individual manager) won't consider developing their teams and / or their team managers.

1. "No need of extra development as the teams will evolve and develop naturally through time." The chances of this happening are low. They can be enhanced if the team manager is skilled in team leadership but failing that the team will no doubt dissolve into chaos and conflict. If the team basics are paid attention to at the start of the team's life (or even addressed at some point) this can prevent destructive conflict and provide greater focus and good working practices. To simply 'dive into task' and hope that as the team works well together, is simple delusion.
2. "Our managers are all experienced and skilled in team leadership." This could be true but in reality is probably pure naivety on behalf of senior management. Many team managers will be open and admit that they have had little training in the way of team leadership and most likely will not have gone beyond the Tuckman Model (forming, norming, storming, performing) in terms of learning what they really need to know about teams and effective team leadership.
3. "No time for team development as all our meetings are full on with agenda topics that are business focused" Chances are that the meetings held are full on but probably because there are non-priority agenda items, and that even the priority items are not well facilitated and too much time spent on them. Even freeing up an hour in regular meetings can ensure that team development can take place provided their is a team development plan in place. (Chances are some managers reading this will ask: "What's a team development plan?")
4. "No budget available for team development activities." This could a reality and many organisations and teams may not have the budget to bring in external team development consultants like myself. I get that. There are though, very simple and cost effective ways (some are even free!) to develop teams and managers' team leadership skills. You just need to look for them!
5. "We're well covered in the area of team development". This was an interesting one. On further questioning, when I asked if all their teams had a team charter and a team development plan, I got a blank stare. This particular senior manager had always viewed team development as fun activities at the twice yearly company conference.
6. "I'd like to do some intense team development work but senior management won't 'buy' it" Many managers are keen to do more team development but the stumbling block is their inability to fully influence and engage their senior stakeholders. It's easier to go with the flow as opposed to cause 'ripples' and endanger their standing with senior management. The result of this is that they simply return to the 'hamster wheel' and keep doing what they are being asked to do, even if this may not be appropriate or even right for the team or the business. Many teams do not identify their key stakeholders and as a result do not even discuss how best they are going to engage with them.

These are just a few of the excuses (some are reasons, e.g. budget) I have heard over the years and there are others but I'll save these for a later newsletter! Please, if you are a manager, and you are on that 'hamster wheel' of task, consider getting off for a moment, and work with your team to ensure that the team as a whole develops its processes, behaviours, skills and knowledge. Don't just keep coming up with excuses. You and team will be better for it in the long run!

There are a number of very cost-effective Team Manager developmental resources now available to support you in your quest to truly be that ‘Successful Team Manager.’?You can view and access these at:

?TEAM-XL online Team Assessment – Allows the team to feedback on strengths and development areas and gets them discussing their development towards high performance. TEAM-XL | PARTNERS Team Dev (partnersteamdevelopment.com)

The PARTNERS ‘Action Plan’ for Team Managers – A DIY Guide to getting your team performing. https://www.partnersteamdevelopment.com/product-page/partners-team-manager-action-plan

The book, ‘Team Champion - Taking Teamwork Seriously” - https://www.partnersteamdevelopment.com/teamchampion

The Online PARTNERS Team Development Course – A healthy blend of video lectures and questions to get you thinking. https://www.partnersteamdevelopment.com/online