Team development days that change how the team works afterwards
Perhaps your team gets on well but holds back in meetings. Or it is a new team that needs to build trust quickly. Our team development days help people speak openly, challenge each other usefully and support each other. Away days and offsites for teams of 8 to 80, run in person anywhere in the UK.
- People on a team development day
- 8 to 80
- Growth in two years for BAT's product development team
- 250%+
You want a team day that changes how people work together afterwards.
Our team development work, delivered by our coaches and facilitators, is designed for that outcome: a team that communicates more honestly, challenges more usefully and supports each other more instinctively, because of what they experienced and understood together.
Strangely enough, the learning comes from what people notice about themselves and each other, more than from the activity itself.
The teams we're usually asked to work with
- Newly formed teams that need to bond and perform quickly
- Teams that are polite with each other but hold back from saying what they think
- Groups working in silos, each protecting their own area of work
- Teams that have been through change and lost their energy
- Merged or restructured teams where trust hasn't caught up
- Good teams that a manager wants to make great
Who this is for
This work is built for:
- Team leads organising an offsite or away day
- Existing teams of roughly 8 to 80 people, from one department or several
- Leadership teams who want the day to change something
- Teams willing to talk about how they work together
It is not the right choice for:
- Anyone looking for pure entertainment
- Teams whose real blocker is one unresolved personnel issue (we'll tell you, and suggest coaching first)
- Organisations looking for a tick-box exercise
How it works
Understand the team you have
Before we design anything, we talk to you, and often to the team, about what's going on. The day is built around the patterns we find in your team.
Give the team a shared language for personality styles
Everything DiSC, a personality profiling tool, shows people their own style and each other's. People start to understand why one colleague needs detail and another decides fast, and that makes a real difference to how they work together. We are big advocates of Catalyst, the online Everything DiSC platform. Everyone in the team can see their own DiSC style and their colleagues' styles, with practical tips for working well with each person, so DiSC stays part of everyday work long after the day.
Experience something real together
The day is practical, interactive and sometimes stretching. It can range from open team conversations that we guide to our empowerment experiences, confidence-building challenges such as the fire walk for teams that want it, which participants still talk about years later. Taking part is always optional, and every activity is there to support the learning.
Following it up
The team leaves with agreed ways of working that everyone owns, and specific commitments about communication, challenge and support, so the changes carry on once everyone is back at work.
Inner Leader have been a fantastic partner and catalyst to drive trust and high performance throughout my team. We were a brand-new team of 30 plus members, many of us had never worked together or even met before. What a transformation! We are now a motivated and high-performing team where we all know and support each other and have a culture of openness and trust.Dr Sydney Tavern, Head of New Categories Consumable Technology, BAT
Helping a brand-new global BAT team build trust and collaboration in months
A new team of thirty-four people from seventeen countries, working on a high-priority product category, who had never worked together. Two years later the category had grown by more than 250% without increasing headcount.
Outcomes you can expect
- Faster trust in newly formed or restructured teams
- More honest communication, and more useful challenge
- Colleagues who step outside their own area of work to help each other
- A team that talks about 'how we work' without it being awkward
- Energy and connection that outlasts the day itself
How it runs
| Format | In person at your venue or an offsite location anywhere in the UK |
|---|---|
| Group size | 8 to 80 people |
| Duration | From one day to a programme of sessions across several months |
Questions
What is team development training?
Team development training is guided work with an existing team to improve how its members communicate, challenge and support each other. Inner Leader, a leadership and team development consultancy based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, designs each team day or offsite around what is going on in your team.
How is team development different from ordinary team building?
Ordinary team building is usually an activity for its own sake, such as go-karting or an escape room. Our days are designed around the changes in behaviour you want to see, and the activities exist to create real moments of trust, honesty and challenge that the team then learns from.
How long is a team away day, and where do you run it?
Most teams start with one day, and some go on to a programme of sessions across several months. We run them in person at your venue or an offsite location anywhere in the UK.
Do you use DiSC on team away days?
Often, yes. Inner Leader has used Everything DiSC since 2020 as an Authorised Partner, and DiSC profiling shows people their own style and each other's, which gives the team a shared language for the rest of the day. Our Everything DiSC page has the full detail.
What are the empowerment experiences?
Optional experiences such as fire walking, glass walking and board breaking, which give people a direct, unforgettable way to face the beliefs that hold them back. Our instructors are certified and fully insured, and Tim and Sarah, who lead Inner Leader, trained in the teachings of Tolly Burkan, the man who first brought fire walking to mainstream awareness. Nobody is ever pressured to take part, and supporting others is itself part of the experience. The learning comes from what people notice about themselves and each other, more than from the activity itself. Our Firewalking & Empowerment Experiences page has the full story.
Will senior stakeholders take it seriously?
Yes. BAT's product development team's two days with us became the foundation of a culture that delivered 250%+ growth in two years. The days are full of energy, and every activity is there to support the learning.
Can you run it for large groups?
Yes, within limits. Team development days work best up to about 80. Evening fire walks suit groups of 10 to 100 people and work well as a finale for a conference or company event.
Further reading
How team building training shapes high-performance teams
What team building training covers, how a team development programme is run and assessed and why psychological safety decides if a team holds its performance.
Why psychological safety is important in building high-performing teams
Why psychological safety in teams matters, where it came from, what the research shows, four ways to build it and the obstacles that stop it taking hold.
3 practical tools to build trust in teams
Three trust building tools for teams, including remote ones: a written working agreement, a visible commitment log and a shared language for style.
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Let's talk.
Planning an offsite or away day? Tell us about your team and we'll design around what's going on.
We’ll reply within one business day.