How to get Team Building right!

A lot of people sigh and moan when they hear the word ‘teambuilding’ and automatically think of building a raft in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain.  To a lot of people team building is the definition of forced participation and uncomfortable interaction.

Businesses spend a lot of money on team building however the question has to be asked are they spending it on the correct team building?  Despite its bad reputation, team building is one of the best investments a company can make.  Done correctly it will increase your team’s communication, trust, and overall collaboration.  Team building events will benefit company projects that involve teamwork.  After competing in team building activities, employees will have a better understanding of their colleague’s strengths and weaknesses.  This improvement in the team’s interpersonal relationships will have them working more efficiently in the future, which is vital to for a company success.

We have a lot of clients who have said that in previous team building exercises they have not benefited from anything and the whole group found it a waste of time.   The truth is that while many team building exercises can have value and improve a team’s performance, they often fail because they are run poorly or were advised on an activity that didn’t work for the group.  That’s why it’s not only important to choose the right activity for your team, but also keep in mind what you are looking to achieve with it.

Here are some points you should follow:

1. What is your main goal?  What do you want to achieve?  Where do you think it is going wrong?  A mistake a lot of companies make is that they feel like they need to tick a box with team building – ‘We have to do one a year.’ Even if you think your team works well, there is usually something that can be improved to increase productivity and make it an even better team to be a part of!
2. Do you want a fully facilitated event?  Are all team building events facilitated – Absolutely not, facilitation is more of an add on.  Today there are two ways to carry out a team building activity.  You can either choose an unfacilitated activity or a facilitated activity.  A lot of team building companies will offer activities that will improve team cohesion however do not delve into the nitty-gritty detail on where the problems lie and how to combat them.
3. Choose the right activity.  Not every activity will suite your group.  Do you want a competitive or collaborative activity?  Results from a competitive team building exercise largely depends on the specific group doing it and how well it is facilitated.  The key to having a competitive event is the facilitation for it and whether the activity can be tailored properly for your team, as well as whether your team is ready for it or not.  You would not opt for a competitive activity if you were having problems with teams collaborating with each other!

It can be overwhelming planning a team building activity, that is why we are here! Here at SevenEvents we can walk you through it slowly and propose the best activities for your group.  We look forward to hearing from you soon!