Some team building events can seem distinctly dubious in terms of their lasting effect in the workplace. But, says Ian Sasse, an event that is well planned and well executed, with proper follow-up back at the office, can really make a difference to working relations.
Picture the phrase 'team building' and you could be forgiven for seeing images of bouncy castles, quad bikes or people manoeuvring pretend barrels of 'nuclear waste' over shark-infested rivers. Often these days are great fun but the connection back to real work can be tenuous.
Have clear and simple outcomes
Ask yourself why you are doing the event? How will you judge if it has been successful? What do you expect people to do differently as a result? Keep the objectives simple. Don't try to achieve too many different things from one day. People may only take away about three messages so ideally each message will reinforce the others to make a memorable experience.
Involve the team
Where possible, involve team members in planning. They can talk about what worked or didn't on previous occasions. There are occasions when what the team needs is not necessarily what it wants and it's important for managers to retain control by setting clear parameters. Consider involving others who affect success – customers, suppliers, partners, supporting teams.
"Even paint balling and quad biking can be made to deliver more than just a fun day out if carefully planned around objectives... but if the connection to work is lost altogether the event becomes fairly meaningless 'play'."Involve the trainer
Involve the trainers early in the process. This ensures they understand the context, the budget and what you are trying to achieve. This may involve preparatory activities or information gathering which the team can do to feed into the event day. If involved early, the trainer may be able to suggest how the end result could be achieved more effectively or for less money.
Make it memorable
How will comments and conclusions from the event turn into action back at work? This is a key part of event planning. Too often, organisers of team events leave the learning behind at the venue. Teams carry on as they always did when they get back to work. Ideally the event will be seen as just one stage in engaging the team, to enable positive behavioural change.
Make it relevant and consistent
Whether serious or fun, an event should be relevant to the real world of work. Even paint-balling and quad biking can be made to deliver more than just a fun day out if carefully planned around objectives. It is generally good to hold the event 'off-site' to avoid distractions and allow creativity, but if the connection to work is lost altogether the event becomes fairly meaningless 'play'.
The way the event operates also needs to be consistent with the behaviour and values back at work. If there is a clear mismatch between the two it is a recipe for cynicism which can seriously impair learning. The quality of an event will only be as good as the 'fit' with the culture of your organisation.
Individual needs are important
A regular trap that teams fall into is choosing an event around a skill which requires practice or experience when not everyone is experienced in that area.
A golf day for example can be alienating, humiliating, and divisive for those who don't play (with no hope of acquiring sufficient skill within a day). Although if everyone is a novice or are equally skilful it can just as easily be part of a powerful experience.
Allow enough time for the team
Too often I see event agendas packed with activities and speakers, but with little opportunity for the team to speak about the issues which concern them.
This is sometimes because managers are concerned about control or allowing a platform for negativity. Actually, these facilitated sessions, where teams can express views and be listened to, are often the most positive and productive of the day.
Pandora's box
There is always a psychological dimension to improving team dynamics, but particularly on short programmes. There are hazards associated with meddling too far inside people's heads.
Team events can be emotional and individuals can be given powerful insights into themselves and others. When this goes well it can provide intense learning which can last a career if not a lifetime.
When it goes wrong the effects can be equally powerful and there needs to be some 'decompression' time to ensure all issues have been resolved, particularly before participants drive home in a potentially distracted state.
Competitive events, and those which encourage people to try out unfamiliar roles and styles, could expose an individual publicly and even damage their credibility at work. These need to be properly facilitated and consideration given to follow up.
These are not reasons to avoid self awareness diagnostics and feedback on events but it is important to take the same care that we would over a participant's physical welfare.
Raising expectations
Team events are an opportunity to learn about others beyond their functional role and so strong bonds can develop in a short space of time.
This bonding is extremely useful if you want a team to perform well - as that group – although if the team is about to be restructured in some way, the same bonds can make life difficult.
Managers often see team events as an uncomplicated injection of motivation, but the relationships formed are real. Change the membership of the team and the dynamics change instantly.
If the plan from the outset is to move team members to other sites or change key roles, an event can be a good way to prepare the team and explore the issues. However, to set out to create a strong sense of unity which is then fractured soon after just breeds cynicism.
These scenarios happen to more teams than you might think. It usually arises out of hasty decisions or poor planning, but the effect can outweigh the motivational good of the original event itself.
Ian Sasse is managing partner of Agents of Change, offering bespoke management training tailored to the needs of the client. For more information, contact Ian on 01455 285942
