Team building activities are a great way to improve communication, collaboration, and trust among your employees. But how can you make sure that they are effective, engaging, and fun? Here are some tips to help you improve your team building activities and boost your leadership development.
Before you plan any team building activity, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Do you want to improve a specific skill, such as problem-solving, creativity, or conflict resolution? Do you want to strengthen the relationships and culture of your team? Do you want to celebrate a milestone or reward a performance? Knowing your goals will help you choose the right type of activity, the appropriate level of challenge, and the relevant feedback and debriefing.
If you are not sure what type of program you should be looking for (i.e team bonding or team building) concider whether or not attendance should be mandatory. If the activity is being put together by the social committee and is meant to be just for fun, chances are attendance will not be mandatory and you should be looking for a less expensive team bonding activity. If the program is being put together to increase team cohesion and address some learning objectives then you are looking for a team building program wherein attendance should be mandatory.
I feel that global perspective is critical here because if your personal goals are not aligned with your larger team/organizational goals then you may experience more resistance than necessary. I have found that knowing your goals ... but more importantly, knowing how your goals fit into the bigger picture and that your goals are in alignment with the goals of your larger team/organization ... is a great approach at finding the right opportunity for creating a vision/activity/strategy that everyone can get behind.
Another important factor to consider is the profile and preferences of your team members. What are their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses? What are their interests, hobbies, and values? What are their learning styles, motivations, and feedback preferences? Knowing your team will help you tailor the activity to their needs, expectations, and comfort levels. You can also use surveys, assessments, or interviews to gather more information and insights about your team.
When you have a clear goal and a good understanding of your team, you can start looking for the right activity. There are many types of team building activities, such as icebreakers, games, simulations, projects, or outings. You can find online resources, books, or consultants to help you find or design the best activity for your team. Consider the relevance of the activity to your goal and your team's context and challenges; its engagement factor; the variety of ways it allows participants to contribute; its level of challenge; its duration; and its suitability for the space and environment where you conduct it, whether that be online, onsite, or offsite.
According to the book 'Sources of Power' Klein argues that experts made decisions differently than decision making 101 taught in schools. 1. They immediately recognize the 'signature' of the situation 2. They rapidly simulate their preferred solution and iron out any wrinkles 3. They bring in knowledge via metaphor 4. They tell the story. Tell the tale, teach the crowd. Design simulation exercises.
As a leader, your role is to ensure that the team building activity runs smoothly and effectively. You should prepare the materials, equipment, and instructions beforehand and send a brief or agenda to your team members. At the start of the activity, explain the rules, objectives, and expectations in detail. During the activity, monitor the progress and performance of your team members and provide guidance or feedback as needed. At the end of the activity, debrief with your team members and ask them to share their feelings, thoughts, and learnings. Highlight their strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement. Finally, link the activity to your team's goals, values, and culture.
As Jocko Willink says in his Master Class, a sign of success is when the leader says nothing. Same is true for a facilitator. Set up the simulation and then observe without saying anything. Give the team's behavioural freedom to craft the simulation.
The last step to improve your team building activities is to follow up with your team members after the activity. You can ask them for feedback and suggestions on how to improve the activity or what other activities they would like to try. You can also recognize and reward their efforts and achievements from the activity. You can also monitor and measure the impact of the activity on your team's performance, behavior, and satisfaction. You can also plan and schedule the next team building activity based on your team's needs and goals.
Have team members do StrengthsFinder then set up the team's by talents. See if the simulation brings out the team's coordinated strengths. Powerful when it works. Simulation that works well, 'Picture Wild Success' (around a specific topic). It's like you woke up from a dream, 3-5 years have gone by and everything is working perfectly. What's happening, who's there, what are the sights, sounds and smells. Don't describe it as if you're watching a movie with you in it, describe it as if you're there.
In my experience, location selection for team building activities plays a crucial role in achieving the overall objectives of team building. Depending with your goals, team size, budgets and other logistical requirements, team building can be done away from your office location or within the company location or even within the office area. If the activities will be elaborate and will require space say for games, doing this outdoors will be more impactful. And of course it kills the monotony of office constraints. Selecting a suitable location will also determine buy-in from team members.