As we prepare for another year, many of you I’d expect are doing some reflection on yourself, your personal goals, and what you hope for in 2019. Teams have goals, skills and competencies, just as individuals do. As you reflect on individual performance and opportunities for growth, consider also reflecting on how your team could become stronger. How might you invest in your team’s capabilities in order to work more effectively, accomplish great things, and create an environment where people flourish?

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 Key Takeaways:

• Teams have goals, skills and competencies just as individuals do. It’s worth investing in strengthening how your team works and setting team development goals.
• Introduce the concept of a team growth goal at an upcoming meeting. Explain why it’s important for teams to invest in their collective capabilities.
• Decide on an area of growth and generate buy-in.
• If you already have a topic in mind, present it to the team and be sure to explain (1) what the problem is, (2) how you, the team, the company will benefit, and (3) how each of them will benefit.
• If you haven’t selected a topic, ask the team to brainstorm areas for growth. Come up with decision-making criteria and agree upon the area you’d like to focus on developing.
• Set growth goals that explicitly state how you will measure success. Break down the goal into reasonable milestones to help you assess progress along the way.
• Create a learning and accountability plan. Decide how you will collectively gain the knowledge and/or skills to grow e.g. attend a webinar, read a book, develop ground-rules, etc.
• Set a meeting schedule to regularly check in on learnings and progress.
• Collectively commit to the goals and plan. Make it part of your overall performance system. Ensure each person understands that this is just as important as other team goals and needs to be taken seriously.
• Implement the plan by learning, debriefing, problem solving, experimenting, and supporting one another.
• Assess progress regularly and reflect on what’s working and what still needs to be figured out. Refine, update and iterate the plan as needed.
• Celebrate any and all progress, no matter how big or small.
• Don’t let distractions or a busy calendar get in the way of following through on your growth plan. If your team slows down or stops investing, regroup, recommit and re-prioritize.

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