The Most Effective Team Building Program
The most effective team building program is one that hardly anyone uses or even knows about. It’s an approach that goes much deeper and helps you bring your people together in more meaningful ways.
Over many years of consulting for a wide variety of companies and organizations, I kept hearing that their previous team building experiences were not that great—sometimes to the point of being insulting, uncomfortable, or a waste of time. The standard, ordinary approach to team building is to make people do some kind of activity that has nothing to do with their jobs and doesn’t address the root causes of dysfunction and then expecting them to magically know how to collaborate well. This antiquated approach consistently fails because of:
- An absence of a methodology.
- Not addressing the underlying issues that cause people to think and behave the way they do.
- A lack of a long-term strategy.
- Too much of a focus on activities that have no lasting results.
- No connection between the activities and the workplace.
- A lack of a plan that keeps things going.
- Not enough commitment from leadership.
Most workplaces suffer because of things like these, but there is an alternative, a far more effective team building strategy that includes vital elements like:
- Creating a step-by-step methodology that teaches people how to participate in and build cohesive teams.
- Setting aside the time necessary to practice team building.
- Requiring everyone to participate in the activities, especially leadership.
- Making team building an integral part of the work week.
- Creating a plan to succeed long-term.
Imagine what your workplace would look like if you did these types of things. You’d have a thriving team building program that would generate amazing benefits, including:
- Increased productivity and profits.
- People getting along.
- More engagement.
- Improved communication.
- Better leadership.
- Increased trust.
- More clarity.
- Greater ability to achieve goals and solve problems.
- Improved morale and motivation.
- A happier work environment.
There’s no secret to team building, it just requires a strong commitment and putting in place a methodology that everyone learns and practices over time. Once you do that, you’ll enjoy teams that get a lot done with much fewer problems and interruptions.
I had a client tell me that they had never been able to offer a team building program to their employees that didn’t frustrate them or seem like a waste of time. When they tried my deeper methodology, they were able to teach their people how to interact positively and work well together. The results were that they were more productive and profitable. The most important benefit they experienced was that their workplace didn’t feel hostile and forbidding any longer, everyone was happier and enjoyed being at work.
You can begin implementing and applying a more effective team building strategy in your workplace at any time. All it takes is making a commitment to seeing it through. You’ll be happy when you do. Cheers, Guy.