Established companies face a different question than startups: not “how do we build a team?”, but “how do we keep a team effective that has been working for years?” After 25 years in established structures, my answer: development starts where existing routines get questioned, not where a new program is announced.
The question
How do you develop a working team without running it over with programs?
Four obstacles that keep coming back
- Silo thinking: Departments work in isolation. Interfaces become border zones instead of workplaces.
- Leaders stuck in between: Grown into the role, never trained for it. Often the biggest unused potential.
- Development equals course catalog: Trainings are easy to buy. Behavior change needs accompanied practice in daily work.
- What works protects itself: “We’ve always done it this way” is not a stance, it’s a protective mechanism. Understand it instead of skipping it.
What developing companies do differently
- They start in the daily work, not in the program: what is concretely annoying? Where does time and energy get lost?
- They develop leaders through accompanied practice, not one-off seminars.
- They make cross-department collaboration a topic, not just a line at the end of annual planning.
- They celebrate anchoring, not announcement.
Practical conclusions
- Start small and get concrete: one real stumbling block, one real team, one real attempt.
- Make leaders carriers of development, not its target object.
- Make success visible: take small improvements seriously and communicate them.
Where does your team stand? If you would like to talk about it, reach out here.