A Team Building Program That Doesn’t Rely on Useless Exercises
A lot of people think team building exercises are useless, and they’re sometimes right, but not for the reasons they think. Let’s look at a few examples of why people might have a negative outlook on team building.
They’ve Only Experienced Superficial Team Building
Most team building is dismayingly superficial and does nothing to change the thoughts and behaviors that keep people from working together well. The standard team building approach is to force people to do some kind of exercise, game, or activity that supposedly will solve all their interpersonal problems. In my experience, obstacle courses, scavenger hunts, escape rooms, and games may be a somewhat pleasant diversion for some people but they have very little, if any, effect on teamwork.
They’ve Always Done Things a Certain Way
There are a lot of leaders, managers, and supervisors who feel that team building is a grave threat to their familiar routines. People are scared of change and what it might do to their power and authority. They think that, if new information is introduced into their workplaces, it might make them obsolete or make their jobs more difficult. When people are afraid of change, they’ll belittle team building because they perceive it as a liability instead of an asset.
They’re Using Team Building as Cover
Sadly, I’ve seen many cases where team building was used by people in positions of power to cover for their own shortcomings. They use team building as a way to shift the blame onto their employees rather than admit and work on their own leadership weaknesses and foibles. It’s much easier to pretend it’s your employees that need help rather than acknowledging you might benefit from some assistance—so they hire a team building provider to pretend it’s the employees who have a problem.
They’re Reactive Rather Than Proactive
People often wait until things are completely out of control in their workplaces and then expect that a single team building exercise, activity, or event will change everything. Unfortunately, this last-minute approach isn’t effective and doesn’t address chronic problems caused by a lack of foresight. An eleventh-hour team building exercise isn’t the same as having a plan in place to promote excellent teamwork.
They Think Short-Term Rather Than Long-Term
Team building doesn’t work if it’s a one-day event but most people want incredible results without any real effort. The trap a lot of companies and organizations fall into is thinking that a short-term intervention will have lasting effects when, in actuality, the only thing that will bring about enduring change is to focus on the long-term.
The crux of the matter is that team building can be highly effective, if you do the opposite of what you’ve done in the past. Think in terms of implementing a deeper, long-term, ongoing program that teaches people valuable skills to help them come together. Move away from superficial, reactive methods that don’t work in the long run and focus instead on building a permanent, healthy team building culture.
In order to make team building useful instead of useless, keep the following ideas in mind:
- Set aside the time to implement an ongoing program that is part of your work week.
- Develop a program that genuinely shifts thoughts and behaviors.
- Require everyone to participate, starting with leadership.
- Teach everyone how to build and participate positively in teams.
- Move away from competition to collaboration.
- Make team building an integral part of your company culture.
- Create policies that support team building.
Team building should never be used as cover for incompetence or be minimized by people who are afraid of change, it should be a tool for making people’s lives easier and improving workplace functioning. Historically, team building has been viewed as a fun day out of the office but you can change that by making it an essential part of your company or organization.
The key to creating a thriving, beneficial team building program in your workplace is to give it the care and attention it deserves. After all, you’re talking about the health and productivity of everyone in your enterprise. When you place importance on team building, you do what’s necessary to make it succeed rather than treating it as an afterthought.
You can practice amazing team building in your workplace whenever you choose. All you have to do is take action to make it a reality. You’ll be glad you did. Cheers, Guy.