Making Staff Development Days Worth Your Team’s Time

Staff development days can be inspiring, practical, or, let’s be honest, sometimes a bit pointless. Whether you’re helping plan one or just showing up with your team, how you engage can make a big difference. This blog gives you practical tips to get real value from development days, help your team stay motivated, and make sure the learning sticks beyond the afternoon snacks.

What Staff Development Days Are Really For

Yes, they’re a break from routine, but they’re also a key part of team and business growth. At their best, development days:

• Build shared knowledge across teams
• Reset goals and priorities
• Strengthen collaboration and communication
• Help individuals develop new skills and confidence

But not every session hits the mark. And if you’re a new manager, you might be wondering how to make these days useful for your team, not just another box ticked.

Common Pitfalls That Drain Value

Let’s call out the elephant in the room. Some staff development days fall flat because of:

• Too much theory, not enough relevance
• One-way presentations with no engagement
• No follow up or application back at work
• Unclear purpose (“Why are we here again?”)

The result? A team that feels like they’ve lost a day of work instead of gaining something useful.

How to Make It Count for Your Team

As a leader, you can help shift the tone. You don’t need to plan the event, but how you support it makes a difference.

Before the day:

• Set expectations: “This is a chance for us to grow as a team.”
• Ask what your team wants to get from it
• Connect it to your current challenges: “Let’s see how this applies to the way we’re working right now.”

During the day:

• Be present, physically and mentally
• Ask questions, model curiosity, and encourage your team to share their views
• Don’t dominate discussions, but don’t disappear into the background either

After the day:

• Reflect as a team: “What was useful? What can we try?”
• Choose one or two actions to apply
• Check in a week or two later to see what’s stuck and what hasn’t

What If It’s Boring or Off Track?

Not every session will be relevant. That’s okay. You can still steer value from it.

• Look for transferable ideas: “That doesn’t apply to our team directly, but what does it make you think about?”
• Have your team take notes and identify one takeaway they can use
• Encourage healthy scepticism without becoming dismissive. It’s okay to say, “This isn’t a fit for us right now,” and move on

Development Isn’t a Day, It’s a Culture

A single session won’t transform a team. But it can spark a mindset shift if you build on it.

Use development days to start conversations:

• “What skills do we want to grow this year?”
• “What kind of support would help us work better?”
• “What’s getting in our way right now?”

Development becomes a habit when learning isn’t seen as a special event, but a regular part of how you operate.

Support Your Team to Show Up Well

Some team members might feel nervous or disengaged before a development day, especially if they’ve had poor experiences in the past.

Here’s how to help:

• Frame it as an opportunity, not a test
• Acknowledge that not every session will be perfect, but learning to take something away is a skill in itself
• Encourage people to connect with others during breaks. Often, the best learning happens in conversations, not PowerPoint slides

A Note If You're the One Planning It

If you're involved in organising a development day, here are a few quick tips to make it work:

• Keep it practical. Every session should answer: “How does this help me do my job better?”
• Mix formats. Break up presentations with group work, reflection, or team challenges
• Include the team’s voice. Get input on what topics they’d like to explore
• Leave space for informal connection. People learn a lot just by spending time together

And finally, always plan a follow up. Even a short email recap and two action items can help move things from “that was nice” to “this actually helped.”

Staff development days aren’t about checking a box. They’re about investing in the people who make your business work.

As a manager, your attitude matters. Show up with curiosity. Make space for reflection. Help your team apply what they’ve learned, even in small ways.

That’s how learning becomes leadership. And that’s where real development begins.