What's the best way to develop your program team?

Along with the organization's mission, values, and donor expectations, the program should be aligned with the norms of the target population. in simple words, it should be culture-appropriate.

Developing a program team is an exciting opportunity to bring together diverse skillsets, experiences, and perspectives toward a shared vision. By setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback and coaching, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, offering relevant training and development opportunities, recognizing and rewarding good performance, and creating a positive and inclusive team culture, program teams can unlock their full potential and achieve outstanding results. With dedication, hard work, and a shared passion for excellence, a program team can overcome any challenge and make a lasting impact.

Incorporate knowledge and understanding from the stakeholders involved in the areas your programme will deliver impact to. Understand the benefits they need and the issues they face. Reflect that in your team, could be through specific roles such as Subject Matter Expert.

In the field of psychology, it's acknowledged that the collective surpasses the sum of individual contributions. A shared understanding and purpose fosters a unified direction, allowing team members to integrate their unique competencies towards a common objective. Consequently, it's essential for program teams to possess a clear understanding of their purpose and goals, as this foundation enables more purposeful and deliberate action.

A research team is also required before and during a program execution stage, to identify and/or prioritize needs, monitor the program, record feedback, and determine milestones for the progress

One of the key differentiators in a successful programme or project recruitment is the ability to engage with your stakeholders. Technical knowledge is important, but if you cannot engage and communicate it effectively with those you need to support/deliver to/influence etc, you will not get far. Incorporate this engagement element in your recruitment process through interview/role play/tasks etc.

It's so important to recruit in creative ways. Sharing a post far and wide is key to building a diverse team. When we rely too much on social media or internal referrals we often find only like-minded folks with similar life experiences. If recruiting with a limited budget sharing posts with regional colleges, alumni groups, associations and affinity organizations can help you reach a wider and deeper pool of talent.

In most programming initiatives there is a need to cherish continuous learning. Continuous learning makes it easy to adopt to the ever-changing environment in the realm of programming.

Learning that is driven top-down is far less impactful than learning that is driven by the needs of the learner. Create an environment that encourages team members to take charge of their own learning. Don't be afraid to give people assignments that require them to learn, and give them the freedom to pursue knowledge.

Student-centered learning is important for buy-in. You want to make sure your program team is prepared for the needs of being a provider, but it is also important for them to feel empowered and engaged in their learning. At the end of the day, relationship/team-building is vital to have your program team moving forward in the same direction. Once the team feels like they are a part of the same whole, they will work better together to fulfill the mission.

I agree, communication and collaboration are essential to a harmonious team working together effectively, but don’t forget the other ‘c’ word. It’s is rarely used and only makes appearances at certain times of the year. Celebrate. Often overlooked as more pressing matters and challenges take precedence at meetings and in reports. But do not underestimate the value of celebration when it comes to engaging and motivating your team. You can have a myriad of celebration initiatives, these can be clean, creative, calendar, program milestone or as simple as creating a monthly birthday shout out and morning tea. Engage and motivate by creating a sense of belonging and see the program reach its full potential.

One of the biggest successes I've found in creating a successful program team is finding candidates who match your team culture. Skills can be learned, group cohesion is much more difficult to create and maintain. This does not mean to look for cookie cutter people, diversity is extremely fundamental to building and creating a successful team. Questions to ask yourself: does this person have an open mind? Do they look at alternative perspectives with respect? Do they take ownership and accountability for their decisions, good or bad? I cannot reiterate the fact that skills can be learned. If you feel like they are a good fit, hire them, teach them and coach them. They'll be more likely to stay with you later.

The most effective approach to cultivating your program team's capabilities is by fostering a culture of continuous learning and collaboration. Encourage ongoing skill development through training, mentorship, and access to resources. Promote open communication and teamwork, emphasizing shared goals and clear roles. By providing a supportive environment that values growth and innovation, your program team can thrive and deliver outstanding results

The opening paragraph refers to "Your" Projects, "Your" Mission, "Your" Vision, "Your" Program Staff. They don't belong to you. If you want a strong Program Team, you must drop the "Y" - everything needs to be Our Projects, Our Mission, Our Vision, and Our Program Team. Involve people in the design of the vision and mission, and give them self-determination. Let them take ownership of the Projects.