Class A Lesson 10: Develop the team through pursuit of Purpose.

20 Lessons From Implementing Class A Manufacturing

Lesson 10: Develop the team through pursuit of Purpose.

Often we send people away to an expensive development course to learn how to operate in a team. Or we send a team to a course together. Either way, the students meet many new people and participate in a simulation or a carefully planned activity, receiving subsequent coaching and feedback.

Then they go back to work, and what happens?

The players are different; the situations are different; the prior simulations weren’t real enough; fill in the next best excuse here__________________. Training for training’s sake is a waste.

But there’s a better way: Develop the team through the pursuit of Purpose.

Form teams as needed to pursue specific elements of your business’s Purpose (maybe you call it Mission). Note: if you can’t tie a team clearly to the business’s Purpose, then you shouldn’t form it at all. Carefully charter the team, being clear about deliverables, scope, timeline, resources, etc and the team’s connection to business Purpose.

Watch that team. Have members report in person on issues, performance, solutions and decision-making processes. Challenge their progress and their thought processes. Continually ask the team what is obstructing their achievement of Purpose. Then ask them how they can solve that problem.

They will learn how to solve real problems, in a real work situation, with people they’ll see every day and interact with in the future. They’ll forge bonds and relationships that pay off in the speedy success of future projects. They will see their output and its effect on the business. They’ll have to face success or failure together, and that outcome will be visible to their coworkers.

So in the end, you get a tangible result that matters to your business while developing your people. And this strategy doesn’t have to be reserved for cross-functional teams; you can do it with your own staff.