The term “team building” has become a buzzword in recent years, and has many connotations. In terms of corporate development, team-building exercises are important not for the immediate experience of the activities performed by the team, but also for the group skills, communication and bonding that result.
The activity itself is not so important, it is the outcome and the experience that is taken back to the workplace that is the crucial factor. But how can this be achieved and how do you choose what is the best team event for your staff?
Organisations find it difficult to decide which type of team build training is best because there is a diverse range of personalities involved. So how do you choose?
It has to be something that will bring people together, whilst enabling them to grow in themselves, in their own way. The experience needs to be one that stretches, yet enhances confidence and brings personal qualities to the forefront.
Leaders need to be able to lead, whereas others need to feel included and encouraged to take part, whilst being motivated to stretch their personal boundaries and grow for themselves.
This is a difficult task and requires a range of experiences that will embrace each personality type and develop a true understanding of how each person is motivated to succeed.
Individuals have a unique way of seeing the world which can be confusing for colleagues For example I have heard of people describing a colleague as being “like a computer, they take in the information then take a day to download and process the information in order to give a result”. This can be both frustrating and infruating for some as they expect an immediate answer, but when they understand the process and personality they become tolerant and are able to work more effectively with that individual.
Team building needs to build on this and enable each individual to begin to understand each other’s personalities. When this takes place, true team work can begin and conflict leaves by the back door. People and teams start to respect each other and work together.
A good example of this, is a famous software company, I believe it was Apple, which was started by a group of technical guys who loved technology, being creative and were all a bit off the wall. A new management team came in who all wore suits and talked nothing but business language, which was of no interest to the original creators – they wanted to carry on experimenting, being innovative and be given the space to create “New Stuff”.
Very soon the “suits” understood this and moved the “techies”, as they become known, into their own space outside of the main business centre. They were allowed free rein to be creative and came up some amazing new software and systems, whilst the business minds made the business profitable and a house-hold brand name. Although they did not work in the same office, they had respect for each other and became a team because they recognised the different personalities and allowed these to grow in environments that worked for them.
So how do you build this through team building exercises? It has to be about learning about each other, pushing the personal boundaries and respecting each other’s views, abilities and limits.
In Neoliguistic language it is to do with our mental maps. They are formed as a product of the way we filter and perceive information absorbed through our five senses from the world around us. Your map is your internal representation of external events. Your map of the world is formed by interpreting information absorbed through your five senses, and then ‘coding’ your sensory experience with language. These maps are just interpretations of the outside world, not real or accurate. It’s the filtering process that establishes the degree of choice you have in your map of the world. It is quite simply how we recognise and begin to understand how our colleagues think and react to external influences.
An excellent Team-building programme will bring all of this together, it will enable individuals to recognise what makes their colleagues “tick” whilst allowing them the freedom and confidence to express themselves in a way that they may be prohibited to do in the work-force.
Most importantly, an exceptional team-building experience will enable individuals to learn from each other, build respect, and take this back to the work-place, not just for the here and now, but for future months and in-deed years.
The organisations that have recognised how important it is for individuals to understand the differences between their personalities embrace a variety of team building activities. They understand the importance of breaking down political and personal barriers, eliminate distractions, whilst providing a fun and safe environment for it to happen.
Reivers Development are specialists in developing and building teams, through people, motivation and understanding. Our flag ship event, the Inter Company Kielder Challenge, has for years been recognised as one of the best team building events throughout the UK. It provides an organisation with the platform to launch their team building programme, whilst building true personal and team understanding that lasts for years.
What others have said.
“We have used Reivers as our development partners for business leaders from all over Europe. Together we create powerful and challenging learning environments that have hugely beneficial effects on our business.” Dave Redpath – HR Dir Domnick Hunter Plc.
For more information about how we can help you develop not just effective teams, but teams that enjoy working together and have a true understanding each other’s personal qualities, contact us.
Wow, what an indepth analysis of team building. Cool article!
I think that is really boils down to taking the time to get to know the members of your team or company.
People have a lot of untapped strengths and abilities. They might not even know that they have those skills! If you can help them explore them, give them a chance to excel, everyone wins.
Hi Laura
Many thanks for the comments, this is a fab company that do the most amazing team building activities, but the difference is that what people learn through the activities they take away with them.
Hope this came through in the article and the Blog.
Thanks again.
Laura I agree. There are so many untapped resources in companies these days! If only managers could get over the threat of someone else knowing what they do, and could really see what talents lie dormant in their own department.
I wonder how the bad economy plays into this? Do you think that managers are less reluctant to “train” or explore their employees strengths in a bad economy for fear they may lose their own job?
Roxanne – this is an really interesting debate. In times of recession the first things that are put on hold are marketing and people development which is something I can never understand.
If you don’t tell the world what you do nobody will know you are there and if you don’t continue to develop and look after your people you can’t deliver to customer’s expectations. It may be that managers fear for their jobs, but I would question whether those managers should indeed be in a managerial position. Good managers and leaders surround themselves with people who can do things they can’t do or don’t enjoy and ultimately have a good relationship with their teams.
I couldn’t agree more that there are so many untapped resources in companies and the big question is why? For organisations to be truly successful they need everybody on board with them. People buy people and they can make or break a business.
Thanks for your comments this is starting to form a really interesting discussion – what is everyone else’s opinion on the untapped resource lying dormant in companies?
Team building activities are an excellent way to find out more about your co-workers. I have been involved in several over the years. I always find out some interesting qualities in people that I may not have otherwise noticed.
What are some tips for facilitating a good team if you can not have a team building activity?
Hi Julia
Thanks for your comments – some tips for successful team building is to get each individual to understand each other’s personalities, this helps them to understand why each person reacts as they do and work within those boundaries.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Wendy
This is an interesting article. I personally have never been on a team building experience but people often talk of them as horrible and cringe worthy. Perhaps it is from watching too much of The Office.
What would you say are the worst activities for team building? You often see the fall backwards and hope they catch you exercise. This just seems like an accident waiting to happen to me.
Hi Mark
There are good and bad team building activities. The bad are the ones that are fun on the day but have no lasting effect. Falling backwards hoping to be caught sounds like a nightmare to me.
For us to run a successful team build is to provide an environment that is safe but pushes the boundaries and enables individuals to better understand each other. Yes they have to be fun and based on experienced learning so that they have a lasting effect.
Our flagship event is the Inter Company Kielder Challenge which is a competition so as well as developing teams there is a fun element and a real sense of achievement when you get your place at the end of it.
Thanks for your response.
Wendy
Wendy,
A very fascinating article and an important part of any corporate culture. My experience has been that sometimes the CEO or President thinks it’s a good idea for the “troops” to go through a team-building program. Basically, he wants the program to “fix” the troops so they won’t be such a headache to him. While the team-building program produces short-term results, the lack of top management support causes the enthusiasm to eventually go away.
I should also mention that I have seen CEOs really get behind team-building and then it usually ends up being more long lasting. But I have often wondered how companies like yours determines whether they have an “on-board” CEO or a “lip service” CEO. Any thoughts or comments?
Thanks for good in-depth read on the subject.
Thanks for your comments Phil. I agree when the top management are not behind the team build it may not have lasting effects as it is all too easy to go back to the workplace and slip into old habits. The CEO is in effect placing the development on a third party and just hoping that they fix the problem. These CEO’s should be attending the team builds along with their teams to better understand what makes them “tick” and become more of a team player.
A team build has to be structured so that it is for the team and enables them to better understand each other and therefore work in a more constructive way. When the CEO is not on board and simply wants a quick fix to take a head ache away, there are many things that can be accomplished through an effective team build. Its about engaging with the individuals attending the event and helping them to better understand each other’s personalities, which in turn helps them to better communicate.
We address this through task based learning. Teams will be assisgned tasks, which are centred around having to work as a team (they cannot complete the tasks if they don’t) and are based upon experience learning techniques. We provide pre and post briefing sessions so that the experience is enhanced through an understand of why it worked or didn’t. This approach embeds the experience for lasting effect, but also allows individuals to find their own level in the team as well as building communication skills.
Our main event is the Inter Company Kielder Challenge where teams of six spend a full weekend in Kielder Forrest, working together to work out puzzles, which are both physical and mental and require leaders to evolve and all team members to work together.
All our team building is fun and designed to bring people together in a more cohesive manner.
Are you involved in delivering people development, or do you use team builds for your own organisation. I’d be interested to know more.
Thanks again.
I have participated in the “trust me we will catch you as you fall backwards” exercise. Not very impressive. I did not and do not see any impact beyond a story to tell.
Team building should not be started on some quick one day retreat. Most of it will never carry over. People need to get to know people first. Then begin the team building exercises.
Rob