Team development is often described in stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing. But have you ever wondered why some teams learn, adapt, and grow faster than others?
As a team coach, I have worked with teams of all sizes, industries, and regions. I've seen firsthand that the teams that focus on continuous learning are the ones that adapt quickly and achieve their goals. These teams understand that learning isn't just an individual pursuit—it’s something the entire team must embrace.
In today’s world of constant change, teams must be building their capacity to meet increasing challenges and growing complexity. To succeed, teams need to learn faster and more effectively, so they’re always ready to meet their objectives and outcomes.
While having a structured meeting agenda is essential, appointing a ‘team facilitator’ can be incredibly powerful. This role rotates among team members, and the facilitator is tasked with overseeing the team’s process and dynamics. They help steer the team by calling time-outs for reflection, running feedback sessions, or setting intentions at the beginning of meetings.
Teams must focus not only on individual learning but also on collective learning. Taking time to reflect together and support each other’s growth is crucial for fostering a learning culture.
Here are 5 simple yet powerful practices that can help teams unlock their full learning potential:
1. Learning Moments Check-ins
Kick off meetings by having each team member share their best learning moment since the last meeting. Encourage team members to explain how their learning can benefit the group, making it easier for everyone to absorb and apply those lessons. This practice fosters an environment of knowledge-sharing and continuous improvement.
2. Team Pre-flections
Before tackling a major event, project, or meeting, it’s incredibly valuable to take a step back and reflect on what might be needed to get the best outcome. This can be done collaboratively in a shared document or during a brief discussion.
Here are a few key questions to consider beforehand:
- Who is playing which role, and why?
- What could go wrong, and how will we manage it?
- What challenges do we anticipate, and how will we overcome them?
- If our stakeholders were present, what would they advise us to focus on?
Taking time to gather input and agree on these points in advance helps ensure everyone is aligned and prepared.
3. Brief-Debriefs
When your agenda is tight and time for reflection is limited, "brief-debriefs" are a great solution. Pair up with a colleague after key meetings and spend the short time between the meeting and your next task reflecting on how things went.
Here are some helpful reflection questions:
- One thing I thought you did well was...
- One area for improvement next time...
- One thing I thought we did well in our partnership was...
- One thing we could improve on next time...
These quick, candid conversations provide immediate feedback and promote continuous learning in real-time.
4. Big Picture Reviews
It’s easy to focus solely on what's happening within the team. However, to stay outward-focused and systemic, it’s essential to consider the wider context. Based on Peter Hawkins' 5 Disciplines of Team Coaching, here are five questions that can help your team stay aligned with external expectations and long-term goals:
Ask these questions during or after meetings:
- What would our primary stakeholder say to us right now? (Stakeholder Expectations)
- How do we need to engage other stakeholders in our process? (Stakeholder Relationships)
- What do we need to do differently to meet expectations? (Team Tasks)
- How do we need to behave together to move forward? (Team Relationships)
- What do we need to learn to overcome challenges? (Team Learning)
Having these questions in mind helps teams stay focused on the bigger picture and adjust their behavior accordingly.
5. Timely and Focused Reviews
Regular reviews are key to improving performance. After Action Review (AAR) is a widely-used method that can be incredibly helpful in extracting learning from any experience. It addresses four key questions:
- What was expected to happen?
- What actually occurred?
- What went well, and why?
- What can we improve next time?
For high-stakes events, projects, or meetings, consider doing a Mid-Action Review (MAR). These are useful for assessing the process mid-project to make real-time improvements. Here are some key questions for a MAR:
- What are we noticing about our processes?
- How are our behaviors impacting the outcomes?
- What’s working well, and what isn’t?
- What changes can we make to improve results?
For longer projects, conducting Quarterly Team Reviews (QTRs) can also be incredibly valuable. This is a more extensive review that examines how the team has evolved and what it’s learned over the last three months. It often begins with team members recalling their high and low points over that period, followed by a deeper dive into what went well and what needs improvement.
In Conclusion: I encourage every team leader to reflect on these simple yet powerful practices. The teams that commit to continuous learning and reflection will always be better equipped to navigate change and overcome challenges.
Have you seen any other best practices for fostering learning in teams? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences!
Disclaimer from Renous
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and do not necessarily reflect the views of our publication. The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only, and should not be considered as professional advice. The reader should always conduct their own research and due diligence before taking any action based on the information provided in this article.
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Enabling Learning for Teams Made Easy: 5 Ways a Team Can Unlock Its Learning Potential