You are a team leader, looking to have the best team that works together, delivers quality results, believes in themselves as a team, understands / respects / supports each other, are able to get on with their daily activities, is respected by senior management and other teams.
Where do you start to create such a team?

Firstly, believe in yourself. You are the leader. If you do not believe in yourself them team may not believe in you.
Work with the team to:

• Create a Behaviours Agreement. This will cover meeting, email, out-of-hours etiquette
• Develop a team Charter of how they will work to deliver quality results
• Agree some simple KPIs to measure the team’s results
• Create a Skills Matrix showing who can do what and the level of experience. Keep it simple. Use it to show how competencies and careers can be developed
• Celebrate successes
• Share learned experiences from what has gone well and what has not gone so well

As the leader of the team, it is important to have a career development path for your team to develop their competencies and skills. While it is important to develop the team to function as a unit, it is also important to develop them as individuals. Most people like to keep learning, progress within the company, be rewarded. Have regular 1-2-1’s with the team to discuss their work and their personal development.

Communicate regularly with the team. Silence creates a level of uncertainty and Chinese whispers. Keep the team in the loop with what is going on in the company, what work is in the pipeline. Represent your team in senior management meetings. Promote what they are doing. Ask for help that they may need.

All of this takes time. It is important you manage your time well, and look after your own development. Your downtime is key to keep your energy levels up, enable to explore you out-of-work activities. All work and no play has a negative impact on your health and well being which in turn will impact your performance at work.

If you are struggling at work, use an external coach to help you identify and focus on what is important in and out of work. They will dedicate their time to you and respect your confidence.

Ask yourself

• What is missing from the team?
• What are people saying about the team?
• How can we perform better?
• Where do I need help?

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