Recording Your Team's Journey
I discovered a new garden on a recent trip to
the Sunshine Coast hinterland with my car club (MX5 club of Brisbane if you are
curious). The Maleny Botanic Gardens began construction in 2009 (opening to the
public in 2012) and is the passion of Frank Shipp, a South African who fell in
love with gardening aged 8. He decided to turn an old dairy farm perched on the
side of a hill into a magnificent showcase garden. It is only early days but
already he has managed to put in place a range of plants, ponds and pathways
that will only get better with time. Unlike most botanic gardens, he receives
no funding from the government for his work. Now that is real dedication!
One thing I noticed in the entrance area near
the small shop that sells plants and snacks was a wall covered in photos. This
is Franks' way of documenting the progress of the garden from rough paddock to
serene oasis. I had a closer look at the pictures and could see the amount of
landscaping that was involved. They have done a good job too because although
it is on a steep slope it is easy to walk around. Future generations will be
able to look back in wonder at what he and his team were able to achieve plus
any new people coming to work at the garden will understand how it came to be.
I think this idea of relating the history, of
telling the story of how your team came to be, is important for any workplace.
The culture of a team is made up of the shared experiences they've had so if
you try to bring in new people without them understanding what has gone into
making the team they can be left confused or not appreciate what has gone on.
This is particularly important if you run a small business as, like Frank, it
will be your heart and soul that you have put into it and you need people to
understand why you are so passionate about it.
Recording your story doesn't have to be
difficult. It could be summed up in a one page document or, like the gardens,
described in a series of pictures with captions. The process of putting
together this record could be turned into a team activity that will bring
people closer together as they recall the events that they believe are
significant to the story. The end result will help you to create attachment in
your team and to give you a great way to help new team members settle in
faster.
If you want to see an example, I have created a
page on my website called "My story" which has a short video as well
as a written version. It's designed to help people understand why I am
passionate about developing frontline leaders. To learn more visit www.letsgrow.com.au/my-story.
Karen Schmidt from Let's Grow! is the Workplace
Gardener. She helps frontline managers grow into frontline leaders using her
workplace gardening philosophy. During the process people become energised,
excited and empowered to find ways to germinate the skills that lie dormant in
their team. To learn all about her Budding Leaders Program, Coaching services
and Resources Toolkit visithttp://www.letsgrow.com.au
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Schmidt
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