Team Development Overview

When coaching team development, it is important to define what an ideal team and an ideal teammate look like. This can be done individually or as a team. Different people may have different perspectives on what makes a great team or teammate, and that's okay. The goal is to consolidate these interpretations so that everyone can work together effectively. Defining these ideals helps to create a common understanding and can be a game changer for leaders. When coaching team development, we're going to take a two-prong approach. I'm going to go back to our patented defining coach. Now, when you define around team development, there are two definitions we would encourage you to strongly develop. You can do this on your own or you can include your team members. The first one is, what does the ideal team look like? What is the ideal team? Again, the formula is, an ideal team is, fill in the blank, by doing what, and then add attributes and actions. The second definition is, the ideal teammate is somebody who, fill in the blank, by doing what, and then list the attributes and actions. More times than not, when we teach this methodology, leaders will come back and say, it's been a game changer. See, here's the funny thing. We all come from different teams. We all come from different perspectives and applications and understanding of, what is a great team? What is a great teammate? Now, recently, I was talking to a group and one leader said, I always loved it when my teammates called me out. Guess what? He was the guy in the group who did what? Called people out. Somebody else said, no, I actually look at a great teammate as somebody who really supports you when things get tough and they don't yell at you. I looked at both parties and I said, neither of you are wrong. Yet, what we have an opportunity to do, is to consolidate those interpretations so we can congruently work together. And they both had that aha moment. Now, both weren't wrong, yet they were leading from their perspective, from their belief system. So the guy says, well, I liked it when a teammate called me out. It reminded me of what I needed to do. He was actually applying that to his teammates in the workplace, which is a pretty natural thing to do. So first define, what is your ideal team? Second, what is your ideal teammate?