The Counterintuitive Secret to Stronger Teams

“I’d forgotten about the power of the pause.” That was me in a recent conversation with my Executive Coach.

Like many of you, I’ve been flat out juggling competing priorities and projects, my office looked like a cyclone hit it, but I kept putting off stopping long enough to create order. Then late last week as I looked around, I realized that something had shifted. I had organized my To Do piles into three key categories; I had completed and checked of my back list AND the next speech I’m delivering was done, printed and ready a full week ahead of schedule.

I had – and have - a clarity and focus to my workflow I didn’t even realize I had been missing amid the constant distractions. Pausing to engage external sounding board support quickly got me back on track and aligned with my own vast professional capacity.

In the race against deadlines and deliverables, I've noticed a similar trend with managers postponing team development activities because they "just don't have the time right now” or they “don’t want to add anything else to their employee’s plate.” Or – this is a new one I keep hearing– “we’ll just get through”.  Sound familiar?

Here's the paradox I've observed in my 20+ years coaching within organizations: The managers who believe they don't have time for team development end up losing far more time to inefficiencies their teams could easily avoid.

Think about it. When teams skip development work, they waste countless hours due to:

• Communication misalignments where messages are misinterpreted
• Fragmented focus as team members pull in different directions
• Continuous distractions from unaddressed interpersonal dynamics

Think of it as neglecting car maintenance. Skip enough oil changes to "save time," and eventually, you'll be stranded on the roadside losing days, not minutes.

The most successful leaders understand that strategic pauses accelerate progress.

One executive I recently worked with shared: "I was skeptical about sacrificing a day for team development when our deadlines were crushing us. But that single day saved us weeks of miscommunication and rework. "

The mathematics is compelling. Invest 8 hours in team alignment now, save 2-3 hours per team member weekly for months to come. For a team of seven, that's potentially 14-21 hours gained every week!

Are you postponing team development because you "don't have time"? What is this decision actually costing you and your team?

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is pause. Check out my updated website www.careerstoryproject.com to see how I can help or if you’re ready to talk team, book me below.

To Your Career Success,

Karen Kelloway, BPR PCC
Your Career Story Editor