By Doug Van Dyke, Leadership Simplified, www.leadershipsimplified.com

Staffing levels go up. Staffing levels go down. Seems like most staffing levels these days are shrinking a wee bit. While many of you are striving to right that trend, most of you are clearly faced with doing more with, well, less. As such, it is as important as ever to develop team members so that more of their potential can be employed at work. The challenge is to juggle the myriad of tasks and responsibilities with which you are charged, along with elevating the skill levels of team members. A handsome challenge indeed. In a moment I will share several keys to successful development of team members, but first I want to share a best practice. 

A colleague of mine meets with his upper management team on a quarterly basis. The first question he asks during the meeting is this: “If you are promoted or leave the company tomorrow, who will take your place and why?” He has a great team and usually receives salient responses. Occasionally however, he receives a skittish answer. His response is typically, “by next quarter I expect a solid plan, or unpleasant changes will occur.”

The above mentioned approach is not ruthless. Quite the contrary. What this best practice does is place a priority on growing the skills of our people. Better skilled people lead to better, more profitable results – it’s a fact. So let’s take a peek at four areas we can embrace in order to ensure that our team members grow, and our profits follow suit. 

0. Mindset – yes, yes, here I am using this concept of “mindset” again. But remember what Yogi Berra said: “Baseball is ninety percent mental, the other half is physical.” As a side note, Yogi’s son once said: “You can’t compare me to my father. Our similarities are quite different.” Back on task. The mindset that I encourage you to embrace is to recognize that developing team members is constant. Growing people is not a one-time or annual event. Informal development should occur each day, while formal development should occur at regular intervals.
   Bottom Line: the process of developing team members begins with envisioning outstanding outcomes, and then creating a plan that brings desired deliverables to life! 
0. Catch People Doing Something Right – several management gurus have popularized this phrase, and I love it. In so many workplaces, leaders only notice the things that are wrong. Constructive feedback is the low hanging fruit of development. In addition, if only (or mainly) constructive feedback is given, the workplace can become slanted to the negative. A leadership mantra of “catch people doing something right,” however, creates possibilities and an opportunity to make positive strides. 
   Bottom Line: team members need reinforcement regarding what they are doing correctly – even if they are executing an expected part of their job. Remember also to be very specific about what is correct, AND be sure to describe the positive impact that the team member’s behavior has on other team members.
      
0. Ownership – counter-intuitively, it is the leader’s responsibility to drive team member development activities. While team members certainly have a huge stake in positive outcomes, the learning process should be driven and monitored by the leader. This ensures quality and on-target results. 
   Bottom Line: when leaders develop team members, they develop themselves in the process. 
0. Partnership – without team member buy-in, development activities are meaningless. So how do we as leaders build buy-in to our development aspirations? The answer is to consider requesting two actions. The first is an informal feedback construct called Plus / Deltas. I have covered this in detail in past newsletters. In a nutshell, it creates a construct for team members to share important feedback with you, and for you to share meaningful feedback with team members. The second item is to request a one-page summary after a formal coaching/development session with a team member. Their summary will not only inform you about their key takeaways, but it will also test their level of engagement. 
   Bottom Line: informal and formal feedback can expand collaborative relationships. In addition, the feedback will help to solidify what team members have learned, and serve as a barometer for your  effectiveness.    

Developing your team members has incredible benefits. It builds a healthy culture. It creates positive connections. It increases retention rates for your top performers. And, importantly, it will increase your top and bottom line. There you have it. Now go forth and coach, develop, and quote Yogi!

Doug Van Dyke is a leadership and communication consultant, executive coach, and business planner. His book, Leadership Simplified, as well as audios and video are available at the Productivity Store of www.leadershipsimplified.com. To learn more about consulting services, coaching, and training, or to have Doug speak at your next event, contact him today at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or at 941-776-1121. 

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