I have a bone to pick with team-building. In my experience, it often involved ropes, boards, puzzle pieces, the wilderness or all of the above, and I didn’t really get how it would help. It seemed like it was setup with a hope and a prayer that we would all end up liking each other more. Oh, is that the point? to like each other more? Seemed like it.
I understand the legitimate point of team-building. You build an enjoyable or challenging shared experience. It can allow team members to get to know each other, and appreciate each other differently. Then you may reap the benefits of them actually working more as a team.
A Bad Rap?
To me team-building often seems hokey because it is not designed to address the “real problem” – and participants KNOW it – or are equally oblivious. Either way, employees are wondering, “We’re doing this? Really?” and the event does not deliver the desired effect.
When considering team-building, ask yourself why you really want to do this. Many times you choose it as a response to a deeper seated problem that requires a more direct, courageous and well-designed solution.
Believe me, there are more direct and expedient ways to deal with many issues that don’t even require corrective action (as HR would say). When managers approach me asking for team-building, I always ask, “What is the specific issue you are trying to “fix?” And even then I don’t take that answer at face value.
Step Into Your Leadership
I don’t want you to hang your hat on a hope and a prayer that “team-building” will work for you. Let’s instead design a response to help you step into your leadership and deal with the issue in a way that not only takes care of it, but also helps your employees view you with more respect… and minimizes eye-rolling.
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>To me team-building often seems >hokey because it is not designed to >address the “real problem”
>When considering team-building, >ask yourself why you really want to >do this. Many times you choose it as >a response to a deeper seated >problem that requires a more direct, >courageous and well-designed >solution.
Exactly. A fluffy, strictly recreational activity is not team building. Also, a 30 min or 1 hour “what did we learn” debrief is not enough. It’s important to identify the specific issues and objectives upfront. After a THOROUGH debrief of a simulation or other team building experience, it’s imporant to really spend some quality and focused thinking, anlaysis, and strategizing time to develop SPECIFIC solutions to the issues that precipiated the need for team building in the first place.
I’m in agreement with this post and I have shared similar thoughts here:
Team Building Back to Business….Back to Basics
http://bit.ly/teambuildingbasics
Thank you so much, Anne, for providing even more clarity on what IS and IS NOT team-building.