Document your team services

Last, but not least, and especially for technical teams such as developers, fully documenting the team's service offering and operating model is a great tool to promote your team and engage with stakeholders.

One of the first, if not the very first, thing I now do as a manager is to create a team deck. This is a simple presentation that illustrates what the team does and how it works. It's like a sales brochure, which includes the specifications sheet. It's vital that the deck is kept simple and appropriate for the intended audience, having taken into account their maturity and expectations. But it should also embody and represent the team's own view of itself. So, creating the deck must be a collaborative process, involving the entire team. After all, it is their identity as much as it is yours, and the team as a whole must agree and be proud of it. It is the "team deck," not the "manager's deck."

Like it or not, there will be stakeholders and even colleagues within your department who are unaware of what your team does. So, after the team deck has been created, you have to publish and promote it. This is where your selling skills will be tested. Selling, especially selling an idea, is never easy, especially for a techie developer. So, practice, practice, practice, and refine your presentation until you are confident. Remember the 7-38-55% Rule, and that confidence breeds confidence. Lastly, keep the deck up to date and current by updating it regularly together with the team.

If you are a Project Manager, you can and should document details of your project team, their roles and responsibilities, and ways of working. This could be included in the Project Initiation Document (PID) or similar early-stage project artifacts, which will lay out the required resources to complete the project. Such a clear and upfront declaration also helps you to secure those highly valuable resources!

This has a similar effect of both establishing the team as a well-functioning unit, and outwardly promoting it as a group to be respected and listened to.