When do you need to develop your Team Identity?

Common Business and People challenges in which Team Branding gets results.

I regularly talk about the importance of developing a Team Identity or ‘Team Brand’ for each unit, department or practice area within your organisation – each team’s developed sense of who they are and what they bring to internal and external stakeholders.

Not only does a strong Team Brand directly correlate with improved professional confidence levels leading to increased effectiveness… it gives team members the opportunity to say something specific about how they contribute to and align with overarching company brand values – it helps them belong.

All of this leads to TRUST – trust among teams as they clearly demonstrate and recognise particular strengths and resources within each other (making cross-referrals, internal networking and company-wide team building easier) – and trust from your external stakeholders (such as customers and prospective employees) as your teams present a unified message of credibility, confidence, and value.

So, when do you need to focus on developing team identities with your people?

I would say anytime, as it’s always going to be beneficial! However, there are particular opportunities to bring a Team Brand Discovery to a particular unit, or a series of Discoveries across teams, where the process can be an extremely valuable resource supporting specific People and Culture plans or Business Development, Brand Communications and PR goals.

Team Branding is particularly powerful if your current People or Business challenge falls into one of these two categories:

1. New Starts. When something new is happening in your organisation, Team Brand Discoveries can help people engage with and settle into the new, feeling like they are meaningfully part of the fabric of the organisation and the new focus. The new start could be:

• A Merger, where distinct brands and people now need to combine.
• An Acquisition, bringing new people and thinking into the family.
• A Rebrand, where the business image and messaging is going in a new direction, and your people need to feel authentically aligned with it.
• Refreshed company Purpose, Values or Strategy, where you want to bring your people in various teams along for the journey.
• A new Market, Product or Service, where a team is formed around that.
• When you have lots of new staff or are re-creating teams and you’ll have people working together for the first time (maybe even in new roles they haven’t done before!).

2. Roadblocks. When one or more teams are facing a barrier to performance or happiness at work, working on Team Identities can be one concrete way of helping overcome the problem, because it can set a much more positive tone and reframe previously negative thinking. Creating strong Team Brands can help with:

• Team motivation to improve and reach goals
• Team cohesion to work together; team pride in performance
• Team belonging, connectedness and communication
• Performance, Pro-Activeness and Leadership behaviours
• Being great Brand Ambassadors, in-person and online
• Confidence in selling, networking and talking about the business

In a future article (just as I do in webinars and presentations) I will share tips on how to work with your teams on developing their Team Brands!