Sacred Cow of the Month: Mandatory Fun

Why Forced Team Building is Like Trying to Milk a Bull

Remember that time you were peacefully working at your desk, deep in the flow of solving a complex problem, when suddenly an calendar invite appeared: "MANDATORY FUN ACTIVITY - ATTENDANCE REQUIRED"? Your heart sank faster than participation rates in a 4 PM Friday virtual happy hour.

Welcome to this month's Sacred Cow: Mandatory Fun, the corporate world's equivalent of trying to milk a bull – it seems like a good idea until you realize you're approaching the wrong end of the problem.

The Holy Scripture of Forced Bonding

In the corporate temple, few beliefs are held as sacred as the power of forced team building. Like ancient priests insisting that sacrifices must be made to ensure a good harvest, HR departments worldwide maintain that mandatory fun activities are essential for team cohesion. The logic goes something like this:

1. Put people in an awkward situation

2. Add trust falls

3. ???

4. Profit!

When The Sacred Cow Goes to the Party

Imagine if we applied the "mandatory fun" philosophy to other aspects of life. "Dear valued friend, your presence is required at my birthday celebration. Cake consumption and merriment will be measured and included in your annual friendship review." Sounds absurd, right? Yet somehow, we've convinced ourselves that forced socialization at work is different.

The True Cost of Mandatory Merriment

Let's do some napkin math. A two-hour team building event for a team of 20 people equals 40 work hours – an entire work week! Add in the preparation time, the mental energy spent dreading the event, and the recovery period needed to forget the sight of Dave from Accounting attempting interpretive dance, and we're looking at a significant investment.

The Paradox of Prescribed Joy

Here's the real irony: genuine team bonding often happens naturally in the moments between the mandatory fun. It's in the spontaneous lunch conversations, the collaborative problem-solving sessions, and the shared celebration of actual achievements. By trying to force these connections, we're like a desperate host at a dinner party who keeps insisting everyone is having fun, thereby ensuring they definitely are not.

Breaking Free from the Sacred Cow

So what's the alternative? Here's a radical proposition: trust your employees to build relationships organically. Instead of mandatory fun, create opportunities for optional enjoyment:

- Provide spaces and time for natural interaction

- Support employee-initiated social activities

- Focus on making the actual work more collaborative and engaging

- Recognize that not everyone connects in the same way

- Accept that some people prefer to keep their work relationships professional rather than personal

The Real Team Building

The strongest teams I've worked with never needed forced bonding exercises. They built their relationships through:

- Solving real problems together

- Supporting each other during challenging projects

- Celebrating genuine achievements

- Respecting each other's boundaries and preferences

A New Ritual

Perhaps it's time to slaughter this particular sacred cow and replace it with something more nourishing: authentic connection. Instead of mandating fun, we could mandate respect for how different people prefer to connect and work together.

The Bottom Line

The next time you're tempted to organize a mandatory fun activity, ask yourself: Would this be more fun if it wasn't mandatory? If the answer is yes (and it almost always is), you might want to reconsider your approach.

Remember, you can lead a cow to a party, but you can't make it play charades.

P.S. If you're reading this while hiding in a bathroom stall during a mandatory team building exercise, I hereby grant you permission to claim you got an urgent call from a client. You're welcome.

Some background info about the concept of the sacred cow at the workplace:

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/stephanmeyer_innovation-growthmindset-leadership-activity-7225391506247831554-hzdo/

About the Author: Dr. Stephan Meyer is a workplace culture enthusiast who believes that the best team building happens when nobody calls it team building. Follow for more "Sacred Cow of the Month" articles exploring outdated workplace practices that deserve a trip to the corporate abattoir.