What Managers Cannot (or Will Not) Do

Most managers deeply care about their teams. They work long hours, take responsibility for performance, and genuinely want people to feel supported and productive. But caring is different from being equipped to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics – especially when those dynamics involve unspoken tensions, poor collaboration, or emotional undercurrents that negatively affect the team. 

Furthermore, the modern workplace moves at such a fast pace that even well-intentioned managers often do not have the time, or training, to dive into issues like trust breakdowns, communication barriers, or harmful behavioural patterns. And even when they do recognise these problems, they may lack the confidence – or authority – to address them effectively.  

 

This is when team development workshops, as a structured intervention, can fill a unique and critical gap that most managers either do not have the resources to fill – or that they avoid altogether. 

 

The limitations of the manager role 

In truth, within the reality of many managerial roles today, managers are often: 

• Caught in execution mode: The pressure to deliver results, manage priorities, and meet metrics leaves little time for team reflection. 

• Avoiding conflict to maintain peace: Many managers do not feel skilled in navigating interpersonal conflict, so they opt to sidestep it. 

• Too close to the situation: It is hard to stay objective when you are emotionally invested in team members or part of the problem. 

• Lacking training in group facilitation: Leadership training often focuses on strategy or KPIs—not how to handle resentment, exclusion, or the erosion of trust within a team. 

Even when managers do recognise that there is an issue—such as team disengagement, tension between two staff members, or a pattern of avoided collaboration—they may not know how to address it. And so, the issue continues to bubble under until it erupts.  

 

According to a Forbes article, here are 6 signs that you, as a manager, are too close team members: 

1. You are hesitant to give directions 
2. The lines of authority have become blurred 
3. There is a lack of efficiency 
4. You selectively listen to your team 
5. You find yourself providing excuses for certain team members 
6. You are not regularly evaluating the performance of each team member 

 

Workshops do the “dirty work” 

Team development workshops can act as a pressure valve, releasing the tension that builds up in teams when problems are never properly acknowledged and dealt with. More importantly, workshops provide a structured, emotionally safe space to do something about it. A workshop facilitator has experience and is trained to do what managers often cannot or will not do.  

For example: 

• Ask the uncomfortable but necessary questions 

• Facilitate emotionally charged conversations 

• Uncover dysfunction without blame 

• Help teams confront long-standing issues 

• Shift focus from individual blame to shared responsibility 

These are tasks that take skill, neutrality, and a lack of bias – something internal leaders cannot always bring to the table. A skilled facilitator has no stake in office politics, no performance history with the team, and no preconceptions about “who’s right.” That is what gives them power. 

 

The power of objectivity 

One of the most powerful aspects of team development workshops is that the facilitator comes in without hierarchy, history, or agenda. This objectivity is what allows: 

1. Junior staff to speak openly without fear of retaliation 
2. Senior team members to reflect without needing to “manage the room” 
3. Managers themselves to see their own blind spots and take feedback constructively 

 

Too often, workplace conversations are shaped by power dynamics – whether consciously or not. Team members may avoid being honest about toxic behavior from a peer. They may be uncomfortable telling their manager that communication has broken down. They may not even realise their own behaviours are contributing to team dysfunction. A neutral facilitator can expose these dynamics gently but directly. And when people feel safe, heard, and empowered to talk openly, the honesty that emerges becomes the foundation for change. 

 

Safe venting is not just cathartic – it is constructive 

One common misconception about team development workshops is that they are “therapy sessions” or gripe-fests. In truth, the best team development workshops use venting as a doorway to insight and action. 

Here is how it typically plays out: 

1. The team expresses frustration, tension, or confusion in a structured way 
2. The facilitator reflects patterns and themes back to the group 
3. The group acknowledges what has been previously unspoken 
4. Productive dialogue begins, and solutions are co-created 

 

By giving people a “release valve,” workshops prevent disengagement, passive-aggressiveness, and quiet quitting. They allow managers to participate as a listener, not a fixer, which is often what the team truly needs. Is there difference between venting and gossiping? Absolutely. Simon Sinek differentiates between venting and gossiping in that venting is about expressing personal emotions in the midst of experiencing them, while gossip is about others, often with added opinions or filters. A team development workshop facilitator will ensure that venting does not transition into gossip. 

 

A new vantage point for managers 

Most managers experience workshops as a powerful reset in their leadership journey. Rather than being the orchestrator or referee, they become a participant – able to step back and observe the team from a different vantage point. 

This change in role allows managers to: 

• See how team members experience their leadership 

• Understand how interpersonal tensions are affecting collaboration 

• Gain insight into unspoken team norms and expectations 

• Reflect on their own strengths and limitations 

It is a rare and valuable experience. Many managers report that they finally understood their team’s frustrations, motivations, and dynamics in a way they had not during years of working together. 

 

What happens after the workshop? 

When done well, workshops do not just end in warm feelings or consensus. They lead to: 

• Clear action items for behavioural or structural change 

• Renewed team commitments and shared agreements 

• More empowered managers who feel supported, not burdened 

• Improved morale and reduced interpersonal friction 

• Stronger alignment between team purpose and daily actions 

And most importantly: they provide managers with relief from carrying emotional tension they were not equipped to solve on their own. 

 

Conclusion: Managers do not have to do it alone 

Managers are often expected to be strategic, emotionally intelligent, performance-driven, empathetic, and conflict-savvy all at once. But the truth is that no one can do everything alone. A team development workshop is not a sign of failure. It is a strategic act of leadership. When a manager takes this step, they unlock the team’s real potential and stop carrying the burden of being everything to everyone. 

 

4Seeds Consulting offers half- and full-day team development workshops – four or eight-hour dedicated workshop based on one chosen topic. We have also developed many interactive online and in-house workshops to address common challenges leaders and companies are facing. Click here to learn more. 

Over to you for sharing your comments and experiences.