Every organisation needs to understand the importance of effective team development. Strong and healthy teams are the difference between a business faltering or flourishing. Successful team development turns a group of individuals in to a high-performing team who complement each other and collaborate together. As the saying goes, they are more than the sum of the parts.

Team development is not a straight line process. Different personalities can cause conflict and tension. There will be an outpouring of attitudes and opinions to confront and get over. And this is part of the process. Team composition may change along the way and create the feeling of taking one step forward and two steps back.

In the past, team development has been about infrequent off-site events that focus on the interpersonal relationships in the team. These are beneficial but often very little changes when the team get back to the office. Effective team development is ongoing and it is what happens between the events which ensures that the team makes progress.

My team development programmes are based around a series of team coaching sessions with one-to-one coaching for team members in between.

The first stage of my team development coaching is all about creating an environment where people can communicate freely and openly without offence. Internal difficulties are rife within teams, but surprisingly, overcoming them is achievable. I help teams appreciate the value of a difference of opinion. I also assist with coaxing different personalities in to creating a shared vision or purpose.

If left alone, teams can become fractured. There is work to be done every day, not just by the team coach, but by the various individuals that make up the group. It is this responsibility for themselves and others which helps form a new mindset.

Team development coaching is all about uniting minds, talents, ideas and skills and helping people to realise that strength is found in collaboration. Their focus is shifted from what they represent, to what they can do with their team for the greater good.

This collective approach has a ripple effect on the rest of the organisation as they see the positive effects of collaboration and shared endeavour and it starts to happen not just within teams but between teams.

And exciting things happen when this takes place. Team development can help turn the status quo of a business on its head – for the better. Ideas are exchanged, people are listened to, new insights are formed and individual talents are harnessed.

The team leader serves as the instrument which enables the team to realise its vision. It is up to them to keep the team focused on their shared purpose whilst encouraging creativity and innovative thinking. Eventually this leadership becomes shared amongst team members and the team really begins to work naturally together, breaking through all expectations in terms of performance!