Building a Winning Team: Continuous Improvement and Development

Every manager dreams of building a winning team. Every boss dreams of having a winning department. Every sergeant dreams of commanding a winning squad.

Members doing the high-quality work that needs to be done, fulfilling every function, completing every pass, every play, every task, every order, and functioning as a single unit with a single mind toward winning or excelling.

It’s that last part that’s most important: functioning as a single unit with a single mind.

A winning team isn’t just about assembling a group of talented people. It’s a dynamic unit that is constantly learning and growing. They’re learning new ways to improve themselves on an individual level, as well as new ways they can improve as a single unit. 

You can’t just build a winning team by finding only the best-of-the-best people available. If this were the case, then the sports teams with the highest payrolls would always win. The companies offering the highest salaries would be the top in their industry. And the units with the most disciplined soldiers would win every battle. 

Building a winning team comes from creating a system for continuous improvement and development, and creating a culture where learning is valued, and improvement is the standard.

Here are five factors in creating a winning team no matter your industry or field.

1. Start with a growth mindset.

To see improvement and development, you have to let people know there’s an expectation of improvement and development. Let people know you expect it of them from day one. Make it part of their onboarding, part of their training, and part of their regular duties and measurables.

Share improvement milestones, like giving rewards for completing continuing education (CEU) credits and ask people to share the things they have learned in some of their trainings and conferences. When people attend conferences, let them know in advance that they’ll be expected to share the things they learned when they return. (This also helps ensure that people won’t just skip the conference when it’s held at Disney World or in Vegas.)

Finally, leaders need to openly discuss their own areas for growth. Share the types of training and learning you are doing on your own and make sure people see you actually participating in your own improvements. After all, you don’t know everything, and you’re not perfect at everything. Showing some humility and demonstrating that you recognize that will help your associates realize that they also need those areas of improvement.

2. Invest in training and development

These aren’t just costs, they’re investments. If you can get your associates to improve even just 5% in one year, that’s 5% fewer errors, 5% reduced costs, 5% increased production, and 5% more profits.

Offer different training options, whether it’s on-the-job coaching, formal classroom instructions, or seminars and conferences. Offer training for technical skills like graphic design, account management, 3D printing, etc. as well as soft skills like leadership, problem-solving, and communication.

Make sure you focus on the skills that directly impact people’s job performance and the company’s goals. The more your associates know about doing their jobs, the better they will perform at them.

3. Empower employee ideas

Your employees know how to do their jobs better than you do, so stop buying into the notion that management knows more than anyone else. Your associates see the problems they’re struggling with, and they have the best solutions to fix them.

Ask your employees what they need to be able to provide feedback. You could post a suggestion box in the break room or next to your office; establish a dedicated email address or online form; or hold regular idea-sharing sessions between management and associates.

Make sure that your associates understand that you value their ideas and that their listening. Make sure you respond to any suggestion within 2 – 3 days. Even if the answer is “no,” respond in that timeframe so they know that you’re listening and giving thoughtful consideration to their ideas. (And be sure to explain why the answer is no so they don’t assume it’s just a knee-jerk no and that you never actually considered it.)

4. Make continuous improvement part of the culture

Continuous improvement needs to permeate the entire culture; it’s not a one-time project or once-a-year lecture. Make improvement one of your own non-negotiables and let people know that it’s expected of them, no matter what role they have in the company.

Set aside regular time for improvement projects and courses. Make sure they’re linked to your overall business goals. That is, it doesn’t help with efficiency on the line if people are taking pottery classes or gardening classes. Nothing against either of those, they just don’t help improve production. . . unless you run a pottery-making operation or garden center.

Finally, you should already be measuring everything, so use that data to track the progress of improvements. Find the areas that are slipping or suffering and figure out how to shore up the falling and get it back on track. Set goals for everyone to improve their performance metrics by 5% every month. 

5. Leadership must commit

As I said at the beginning, leaders need to demonstrate their own commitment to continuous improvement and development. So it’s critical that you’re not only walking the walk yourself, but you’re creating an environment of psychological and emotional safety.

Don’t treat a lack of knowledge or a desire for improvement as a sign of weakness. Don’t let others make people feel ashamed for not knowing something or wanting to improve themselves. It takes a special kind of arrogance (and a strict adherence to the Dunning-Kruger Effect) to assume you know everything and don’t need any improvement.

Make sure you’re providing the resources needed for continuous improvement initiatives. If you expect people to earn CEUs for their role, give them access to training resources, such as LinkedIn Learning, or the ability to miss work to attend training classes and seminars. Bring in outside experts to provide training or the latest best practices, technology, and equipment.

Make sure you measure the effects

It’s important that you measure the impact of your training and development initiatives. Look at things like employee satisfaction, skill acquisition, and performance improvement. Be sure to start with a baseline before you launch your improvement program so you know whether you have progressed or not.

Also, everyone needs to participate in the program, so be sure to include your back-office staff as well. You should also be measuring their performance, regardless of their position and level. 

By creating an organization that supports learning, you’ll not only improve everyone’s performance, you’ll create a more engaged and motivated workforce.

And in the end, this is how you’ll build a winning team: not buy outspending everyone else, but by making sure that everyone has the tools and knowledge to do the best work they possibly can.

I’ve been a manufacturing executive, as well as a sales and marketing professional, for a few decades. Now I help companies turn around their own business, including pivoting within their industry. If you would like more information, please visit my website https://damarshall.consulting  and connect with me on or https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-marshall-4290531b