Teams are at the heart of most organisations, whatever their size. Teams can be departmental, board, cross-functional (eg a project team), delivery and so on. Teams can and should embrace suppliers, partners, distributors… There is also the concept of a Team of Teams; say a company executive team. Suffice to say, teams matter. There have been lots of surveys about teams and in rough terms:
- 75% of employees consider teamwork to be critical
- 40% of employees think their teams are failing
- 65% of team members are not sure why they are there.
To me these numbers say rather a lot about how teams are or are not working. They are, of course, averages. There are amazing teams doing fabulous work; there are those that seem to achieve nothing. I'm sure we can all think of examples.
One fundamental point is that great teams don't just happen; they have to be created, sustained and nurtured for the life of the team. For example, what happens when someone leaves a team or joins one? Critical knowledge may be lost in the former case, lack of information and background may impact in the latter case.
A small group of coaches has been looking into this area for some time and we see four core areas that can mean the difference between success and failure:
- Focus
- Action
- Connection
- Effect
To help with these areas, we have put together a series of podcasts, posts, webinars and seminars to help organisations with their teams. There are at least 10 topics we are addressing, the first of which is 'Why are we here?'
How will this all work? Links to the podcasts will be posted on this site, together with an outline of the content. Events will be listed on Business West. Members of Business West will have access to posts, podcasts and webinars on a no cost basis.
Why are we dong this? The pandemic, hybrid working and the economic situation have impacted and continue to impact teams of all types. We want to help because this area is important, we have the skills to help and as a way of giving back.
You can find the Intro podcast here: https://lateralcoaching.co.uk/podcast/teams-podcast-series-episode-0-int...
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