No More Trust Falls

I remember the grumblings well.?

A teambuilding event popped up on our calendars and it wasn't long before I heard comments about how we just didn't have time, in this economic environment, to postpone our real work in order to do something silly together.

And I have to admit, I wondered if those grumblings were warranted.

After all, even though most of us got warm fuzzies from our last teambuilding event where we were able to volunteer together, I remember how quickly the glow faded when we returned to our regular work.? It didn't really seem like much changed in terms of how we collaborated.

Why are many teambuilding events so ineffective??

Why talk about this now?

Three reasons:

1. Collaboration is needed for the high performance our economy demands. Recently, in the quest to drive more efficient performance, I've seen more and more leaders concerned about how to get their teams to collaborate more effectively. They long for the days when people bumped into each other at the water cooler. Faced with a workforce that has experienced operating remotely, with greater freedom to prioritize connecting with their families over connecting with their colleagues, they are desperate to rebuild bonds between colleagues. They may try to force reconnection by taking their team out bowling or to a ropes course, hoping that by showing people how fun it can be to work together, people will be more motivated to do so when they're back on the job. But in the weeks after the event, they realize that the friendly banter during the event doesn't do anything for their team's ability to collaborate back in the workplace.
2. It's time to start planning holiday/end-of-year team gatherings. Yes, I know it was just Labor Day, but the PSL's are already out at Starbucks, right? And Q4 calendars are filling up quickly so even though it's still over 100 degrees outside, it's good to start thinking about it now.
3. I've come to believe that teambuilding without intention can do more harm than good. Time and $ are at a premium right now.? And if a poorly designed teambuiding has no lasting impact, all we're asking employees to do is to exchange their two most precious resources for the off chance that someone might make a connection that makes their life easier.

So what can we do?

Don't invest in team building until you and your team are clear on three things:

Purpose:

It may seem simple, but do you and each member of your team know WHY it's important to collaborate (beyond a vague feeling that "it's the right thing to do") and WHEN collaboration is most important?

Recently I was working with a leader who was struggling with an employee who was abrasive and belittling with her teammates, but also stressed out because she was working late nights trying to get all of the work done herself. Her view of a team was a group of competitors, not collaborators.

And given the past 3 years, with the prevalence of remote work, more employees than you'd think may have this view of a team. Unless their leader was intentional about fostering connection in the remote environment, people got used to doing their piece of the task pie without collaborating with anyone else, especially if they are rewarded for individual contributions and not collaboration.

Unless your team has an clear understanding of the benefits (to them and the organization) of team members collaborating, any teambuilding event will seem like a colossal waste of time and hurt their engagement and productivity.

Plan:

Once you have the purpose of collaboration defined and agreed upon, use observations and feedback to determine which muscles, you as a team need to exercise for connection and smoother team collaboration.

Almost all teams can benefit from experiences that exercise their empathy muscles. Without empathy there is no collaboration. And without collaboration there is no teamwork.

And although we're hard-wired to be empathetic to each other (David Eagleman's research even shows that the pain centers of our brain actually light up when we see someone in pain), it has limits. His research also showed that this natural response is much stronger when we consider someone to be part of our in-group.

How can you structure your experience so that it increases your team's empathy for each other and those you need to collaborate with to get work done?

What other skills can you work on that will enhance your team's collaboration and thus, performance and productivity?

• Do you need to learn new techniques for giving and receiving feedback?
• How about skills for having difficult conversations?
• Maybe it's just running effective meetings?
• Listening better?
• Influencing through communication?

Perform

What do you need to transfer the new skills gained to the workplace? What obstacles might you face? What will help you to get past those obstacles?

Would a new practice incorporated into your weekly meeting help?

How about a new team norm like using a word or object to signal that you were getting off track with the new skill?

This is perhaps the most important conversation of the teambuilding experience. This is where you get the ROI.

Teambuilding is worth it. Research shows that teams with greater cohesion are more productive. And intentionally developed connection and collaboration skills will help you to create a culture that emphasizes high performance that is also sustainable and helps your team to thrive.

But, if you want to actually get your money's worth out of your investment in teambuilding and not just organize an event that you hope will lead to more connection, remember, Purpose, Plan, Perform and these questions:

And if you'd like a partner that will make this easy for you with intentional experiences that teach collaboration skills while teams are engaged in projects that give back to the community, reach out and let's talk.

Our experiences are full-service, and provide everything you need before, during, and after the event to promote the productivity-boosting collaboration you're seeking.

And for the holidays, we get extra festive with fun, inclusive, holiday games added to the experience.

But whatever you do to enhance your team's connection and collaboration, please remember purpose, plan, perform to design with intention because teambuilding without intention can do more harm than good.