Developing the team
Featured in the People Development Methods training manual
By Beverley Williams
Category: People Management and Motivation
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
The development of the team needs particular attention from the team leader or line manager. Very few tasks can be achieved alone and the development of the skills and qualities of the successful team player lead to higher performance as well as greater personal satisfaction. An understanding of the elements that characterise each stage is essential for the line manager who consciously seeks to tackle problems that may exist and to move the team forward to the point where they work together in an open, flexible and supportive manner, directing their energy towards achieving team goals. This training activity examines the stages of team development and encourages participants to place themselves at the appropriate point on the journey and decide on actions that can be taken to move themselves forward.
After introducing the topic of developing the team, you describe the stages of team development and their characteristics. The participants then think about the stage their own team is at, giving examples to illustrate this. You run a group exercise where participants come up with qualities and behaviours exhibited by effective teams. The participants then use the work they have done so far to think about practical actions they could take to move their team forward. The participants move on to consider themselves as part of a new team that is, the current training group, and identifies the factors necessary for this team to complete a task successfully while focusing on team development. They then work on a team exercise to build the highest possible structure of straws, working within strict time limits. During a plenary session you discuss whether their good intentions were translated to action during the exercise. You close the training activity by taking key learning points from each person before distributing a key learning points handout.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to introduce participants to the five stages of team development, working through some hands-on team exercises followed by feedback, and a discussion of the learning points of the training activity.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 10 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:35:00 |
| No of Pages: | 19 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers with participants — probably team leaders or line managers — who would benefit from focusing on the development of the team.
Download the training activity, Developing the team as featured in the Fenman training manual; People Development Methods