"Team members have become more confident in approaching each other"
Michiel Bresser, coordinator Bureau for Education and Research Affairs (BOOZ)
Ever since Michiel Bresser started at the BOOZ department in 2018, talks with his team members had revealed a need to be more involved in talent development. At the same time, at the organizational level, there was a desire to create a more productive group dynamic. Both factors combined led to Michiel and BOOZ starting a team development process in mid-2020 in which they collaborated with colleagues from the Finance department.
How did your team members feel about this initiative?
"Of course, there were those who had some difficulty with the whole thing, but I didn't experience any real resistance. The majority were open to it. In my experience, most people like it when attention is paid to development, especially when they are given the space to work with it. Not much had happened in that area in previous years. Now it was stimulated, not just by me but by the entire organization."
How did you get started with this?
"The original idea was to put together three mixed teams that would work on a certain theme under the guidance of a trainer. However, as the themes did not really match the daily work, the output was very limited at first. That is why in consultation with the trainer I decided to put together the teams according to the three units that make up my department and provide them with issues that they deal with on a daily basis and would like to address."
Have you included the principles of recognition and rewards in your approach?
"Yes, but not all that emphatically. I myself have been very consciously showing and expressing my recognition and appreciation, to individuals as well as groups. A very concrete way of doing that is occasionally surprising employees with a package of delicacies. I will even personally deliver such packages to people's homes, which is greatly appreciated. All in all, I am pretty sure that the current team members feel recognized and appreciated, at least by me."
Have you considered addressing individual development as well?
"Of course I want people to develop at an individual level and I also want to encourage that. That being said, I do limit my role to reaching out, supporting and facilitating. The initiative must lie with the employee himself."
What has the team development process brought you?
"The team atmosphere has become much more relaxed and mutual trust has grown noticeably. For example, during the Discovery Insights team day in November 2021, we saw that people really dared to open up. That was not the case at the beginning of the process. This development also fits well with the Shaping2030 vision of the UT, which states, among other things, that we want to make a switch from control to trust. People now also have more understanding for each other, they know better what they are good at and how they can use each other's talents. Team members have become more confident in approaching each other. For me as a manager, the main yield is the bond we have created. I know more about how team members view life and what drives them, what they are good at and what ambitions they have. The basis for dialogue has become much stronger."
If you had to do it all again, what would you change?
"The sessions can sometimes seem a bit vague to the participants, myself included. I would try to make the sessions more concrete and focus more on the reality of daily work. At the end of each session, I would like to be given concrete points to work on. Another thing I would change is the timing. We now started in the busiest time of year, before the summer. During the summer, half of the colleagues are gone and in August and September, we had the introduction and other peak loads to deal with. The first sessions lasted two hours, the last one not even 40 minutes, simply due to lack of time. If we had started at the end of the year I think the results would have been even better."
Any advice for fellow supervisors who consider getting started with this?
"I would say: just go for it because it can only have a positive effect – if not for the team or the individual, then at least for yourself. Start a process that really suits your specific team and choose the most suitable time of year. And above all, make it enjoyable, because this works best when it's fun."
Final question: team development, useful or necessary?
"Team development is extremely useful because you see things happen and arise that you never would have expected in advance. At the same time, it is also necessary if you want your team to remain a team."