Team Building for corporate teams

We've all been there. Your manager comes to you and says "We're having a team building event next Friday! We're going off site to xyz company. We're all going and we're going to have fun!". In the Army, we used to call these "Mandatory Fun Days". Here's the truth; these are sometimes fun and rarely do they tackle the actual hard work required to build successful teams. The best case scenario for these team building events, is showcasing the team is already working together efficiently. I met a retail employee not long ago who recounted their recent team building event where the group was tasked with beating drums in sequence with each other. Most of her story described how much fun they had, how much everyone laughed, and how they all left the event smiling. I can't help but wonder if the event had any impact in the team working together.

Most leaders understand that team building takes work and most of that work usually takes place in the trenches. Effect teams are created when the team members have immense trust in each other to accomplish smaller tasks supporting the bigger organizational picture. This trust develops over time as the team members learn each others strengths, weaknesses, habits, and tendencies. This looks different for every team and organization. In fast food, we learn which team members to keep off the drive-thru during rush hour, and which team member has the best balance between speed and quality on the grill. In retail, we learn who should stick to stocking shelves, verses who we want talking to customers. This isn't to say we shouldn't be working on improving those weaknesses and making team members more balanced, just that when the chips are down; we know who we want in what position.

If the previous paragraph is accurate, then why do companies insist on mandated team building events? Those actual team building events actual have a benefit associated with team building; moral building. Moral building is essential in creating effective work environments. This is why the Army has their "Mandatory Fun Days". Team members work harder when their happy. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard the phrase "Work Hard, Play Hard." So the team building events which are more team fun than building do have value.

This isn't to say that good team building can't be fun or can't be accomplished off site. Both of those things can be accomplished. Here's the catch. There must be three components. 1. Buy-in. The team members have to want to go to the event. There's ways to artificially create this desire, but they can't be there because they were told they have to. Explaining the event ahead of time and how it will be fun and rewarding to everyone is a good start but won't work for every team member. Preventing someone from taking planned time off for a mandatory team building event is a sure fire way to have a non-willing participant. 2. Create stress. The team building event must induce some sort of stress to the team. Tasks performed under pressure bring out the best and worst qualities of your team. If you're just playing a couple rounds of golf, everyone will just put their best foot forward and play nice. 3. Learn. Great team building events have some sort of learning segment included in the day. Ideally, this is a chance for every team member to reflect on the tasks performed under pressure and learn from each other. When you are able to strike the balance between fun and the three aforementioned components, you have a team building event which will produce stellar results.