Building Better Teams: How Organizational Training Drives Success
- linnearader
- Jun 9
- 6 min read
Your people are your biggest asset. No business can operate without people. The more successful your people the more successful your business will be.
Your People Are Your Greatest Asset
Your people are your biggest asset. No business can operate without people. The more successful your people the more successful your business will be. Build up your people, build up your business, it all goes hand in hand. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of ways to make your employees more successful. Today we will focus on how we can build our employees up with organizational training.
In my opinion, your organizational training should build your team up in multiple ways.
The bigger picture of the organization
Expectations of each member of the team
Leadership and professional development
Seeing the Bigger Picture
In most organizations we each know our part of the puzzle and often not only don’t know other parts of the puzzle we have no idea how all the puzzle pieces fit together. This isn’t because someone sits there and figures out what puzzle piece goes to who and what others cannot know about. It’s typically all about efficiency and getting things done.
So often we get stuck in our silos of information and don’t have a clue what everyone else does. Then, sometimes we go beyond that and feel our part of the puzzle is more important than others. We don’t know what others do, we don’t understand how it works with our job, but we know we work hard, and we must be working harder than everyone else. It’s almost human nature.
Another aspect of human nature that comes here is in the absence of fact or information; we make it up. Humans have this need to understand the how and why of everything. So, when we don’t have facts, we make assumptions, we fill in the blanks and figure it out.
If we start to clue our team into the bigger picture of the organization, we start to fill in the blanks, break down the silos, and grow the understanding of how and why we all work the ways we do.
Clarifying Expectations
Typically, when expectations are not met, it's the result of those expectations not being clear.
Within a team, defining our expectations of each other is important to our success as well as the organization as a whole’s success. In my experience, most people go to work every day to do a good job. Most people work to get the job done and do it as well as they can. Typically, when expectations are not met, it’s the result of those expectations not being clear.
Ask yourself:
What do you expect of your team?
What does your team expect from you?
Are those expectations clear—to everyone involved?
A Real-Life Example
You dispatch your team to cut down three trees. The team goes to the job site, performs the work, and returns at the end of the day. Job complete.
But when you gave the task, your intent was that these trees be removed, the brush cleaned up, stumps ground out, and the yards left spotless—treated as if it were their own yard.
Later, after an upsetting call from your customer and a review of the site, it becomes clear the expectations were not met. When you talk to your team, however, they say they did exactly what they were told—cut down three trees. They used the time and equipment they had and thought they had done a great job.
No one was on the same page. That disconnect caused frustration all around.
Big picture, expectations within teams often include things like honesty, open communication, hard work, and feedback. In practice, this looks like holding each other accountable, having clear and complete conversations, ensuring everyone understands all sides of the situation, asking questions, following up, and working hard.
Investing in Leadership and Professional Development
Leadership isn't a job title—it's a mindset. Each person can be a leader, and leaders are needed at every level within an organization.
Providing leadership and professional development opportunities is one of the clearest ways an organization can show its commitment to its people’s long-term success. Especially in smaller organizations where upward mobility is limited, offering other avenues for growth is essential for retention.
Developing Leaders at All Levels
Leadership development means teaching team members how to lead effectively. Leadership isn’t a job title—it’s a mindset. Each person can be a leader, and leaders are needed at every level within an organization. Training in leadership skills leads to positive change across the board.
This kind of development often includes topics like:
Communication
Problem solving
Conflict resolution
Empathy
Collaboration
Mentorship
Time management
These “soft skills” are what empower your team members to lead their peers and contribute to building a stronger organization.
Broader Professional Growth
Professional development extends beyond leadership. It includes all learning and development related to a person’s current role or potential future roles.
Why It All Matters
We talked earlier about how people are your greatest asset and how their success translates directly into organizational success. When it comes time to fill a vacancy, this becomes even more important.
Would you rather hire someone new—or promote from within? If you’ve invested in your employees and helped them grow, you’ve created an opportunity to promote from within.
Now think about the learning curve required just to get someone up to speed with your organization. Where things are, what the main purpose is, how things work. Then layer on the training for the specific job. Promoting from within can save you time, energy, and money.
Even more importantly, it gives your people the chance to advance. In organizations where promotions are rare, internal advancement opportunities turn jobs into careers—and that boosts employee retention across the board.
How to Get Started
Training doesn’t have to be complicated. Teaching the bigger picture and clarifying expectations can begin with simple conversations and grow from there.
Leadership and professional development can happen in many ways. Once you’ve identified development goals for your team or individuals, you can explore options. There are one-on-one and group trainings, in-person or online. The options are nearly endless. The real challenge is finding the right fit for your team.
My Experience: The Big Picture Leadership Program
When a supervisor role became available, our internal candidates lacked the leadership and management experience to succeed—despite being great employees. We hired externally, but the new hire didn’t survive the learning curve. So we took a different approach.
We created the Big Picture Leadership Program.
What It Is (and Isn’t)
Big Picture – Growing the knowledge of participants to understand how the organization works and the different roles within it.
Leadership Program – Be clear, it says leadership, not supervisor. This program was not and is not set up to train the singular next supervisor, it’s designed to train leaders throughout the organization to allow individuals the opportunity to lead at any level within the organization.
First things first, expectations were developed. What would participants expect to gain from the program and what would the participants expect of those involved in putting on the program? With an extremely basic outline presented, 13 people signed up and took a leap of faith.
Once participants signed up, an exit plan was developed. What if a participant decided this wasn’t a program they wanted to continue with? What if the organization decided an employee shouldn’t continue in the program? The expectations of participants were developed, shared, and understood.
What They Learned
We began with self-awareness: communication styles, learning preferences, and personality traits. Then we expanded into understanding teammates and improving team dynamics. Topics included:
Emotional intelligence
Difficult conversations
Decision-making
Why we do what we do
The program still thrives today. All 13 original participants remain involved. Three have moved into supervisory roles—two over a year ago and one very recently. And they’re still learning and growing.
Build Your People, Build Your Business
When you invest in them—when you commit to their growth, give them clarity, and help them see the bigger picture—you are laying the foundation for a stronger, more resilient, and more successful organization.
Your people truly are your greatest asset. When you invest in them—when you commit to their growth, give them clarity, and help them see the bigger picture—you are laying the foundation for a stronger, more resilient, and more successful organization. Training isn’t just about checking a box or offering a course here and there. It’s about creating a culture of development, communication, and opportunity.
The story of the Big Picture Leadership Program is just one example of how intentional efforts can transform not just individuals, but entire organizations. It shows what can happen when we stop accepting the status quo and start building from within.
If we want better leaders, stronger teams, and a more unified organization, we must build them—intentionally, consistently, and with purpose.
Your Next Steps
Take a step back and evaluate your organization.
Do your people understand the big picture?
Are expectations clear across every level of your team?
Are you actively developing leadership and professional skills in your workforce?
If the answer to any of these is “no” or even “I’m not sure,” now is the time to start. Initiate the conversations. Clarify the expectations. Launch the training. Create your own version of a Big Picture Leadership Program.
Because when you build your people, you build your business—and the results speak for themselves.
As always, carry social kindness with you everywhere you go. The world needs you and your positive mindset!
Connect With Me
If you want to consult on training or coaching for your team, please reach out.
269-621-5282
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