You can kick off the formation of a Team at the first event. But the building, the trusting, the working, the coming together, the ups, the downs, the failures, and the eventual, actual formation of the team, doesn’t happen till much later, when the team has taken all those small steps to becoming a team. But it doesn’t happen at the end of the first, second or third day, it only starts then.
This is a question to ask your team – What kind of team are we? Are we the kind of team that follows the rules? Do we listen to each other? Do we tell each other what to do or coach each other? Do we push the envelope? Do we lead by example? It could be all of this, none of this, some of it, or more, but the important part is to know what…
Everyone is watching to see what will happen when you succeed or you fail. Trust in the process you are implementing. Trust in the direction you are moving. If it will lead you and your team to a better place then keep moving forward.
The goal isn’t to get them to where everyone else thinks they should be or when everyone else thinks they should be there. The goal is to get them there when you think they should be there and when you think the time is right for them to be there. You can’t level up your team following someone else’s plan if you don’t believe it. Hold strong to what you are doing, it will pay…
Every leader has the big goal at the back of their mind, the unseen goal, the one that doesn’t result in releases, bug fixes, accolades, or upgrades. It’s something bigger, something on a grander scale. Make our code better. Respond quickly to customer issues. Gain better code coverage. Ensure all aspects of the suite are covered. These are the goals that push the team forward and result in great releases, bug fixes, accolades, and upgrades.