Teambuilding 101
July 1, 2009 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
I recently had a webinar about my new book Help Desk Manager’s Crash course, and many of the participants wanted to know more about teambuilding. I thought it’d be nice to share my primer here, and then dive a little deeper into activities that work, and finally into how to teambuild with peers and up the organization.
Go first – As manager, you have to go first, show that you’re vulnerable, that you’re human, and that your team can trust you. If you aren’t willing to go first, why would anyone else want to contribute?
Share something folks don’t already know – Sure, it’s great to share the adversity story your team has heard 100 times…but not if you really want to build a team. Share something new, something surprising, that folks don’t know.
Let folks not participate – Some folks won’t participate in your team building activities. So WHAT! Make it safe for those who want to participate, and perhaps you can leave your non-players back to watch the phones or to do work while the rest of the team has fun.
Don’t play YOUR favorite game – Everyone wants to win, and everyone knows what the boss’ favorite game is. If you play your favorite game, you risk the trust of the whole team because folks either won’t play with you because they don’t want to risk beating you, won’t play as hard (and then will complain behind your back) or they’ll see that it’s your favorite game and try to ruin it for you. Not good outcomes. Instead…
Find out what your team enjoys (and play that instead) – Ask your team what THEY want to play–and then play their games. Let them set the rules, let them organize things, back them up so it’s safe to fail–and give them all the kudos if it’s a huge success.
Make it fun – Fun stuff is more apt to build teamwork than more work stuff. Make it fun, and folks will play. Just remember that everyone’s definition of fun is a little different.
Keep it simple – Simple stuff is more likely to get done than complicated stuff. Make it as simple as possible for folks to participate, and they will be more likely to do so.
Pizza is NOT teambuilding – Just because you bring in a pizza does NOT make it a team building exercise. Unless you’re making a pizza, or you’re eating pizza at Dave & Busters, pizza doesn’t equal teambuilding.
What are YOUR best teambuilding suggestions?
soccer practice photo credit to woodleywonderworks
- If it’s not an day-long intensive, keep the activities short.
- Level the playing field a bit if you’ve got some vocal team members who could be perceived as pushy: challenge the team to complete a NON verbal task.
Good post, Phil. And one that many team leaders will benefit by. I like your point about making (then eating) pizza!
For anyone looking to read a classic book on this topic, try Team Building by William Dyer.
Terry
I like the thoughts of leaving non-players behind. We had a couple at our last event and I was amazed at the comments that continue to be made. I think I will leave them behind our next event. I wonder if non-players may turn into players after being left behind a few times?
They will be in charge of setting up events and even creating smaller teams within the team to mix and match the various skills that can be brought to the table by different personalities.The bonding experiences that are felt by the team have proven to create a more successful and relaxed work environment.
Hi Phil,
This is a great practical post on teambuilding. If a teambuilding event can achieve those, the value is there and people will respond well. Just an add-on for people working with virtual teams or teams whose members seldom see each other – it’s important that the teambuilding event allows people to know each other on a meaningful personal level.
YMMV though as cultural contexts and personal preference need to be factored into this and may not always work well. Still, I’ve found that most of the time, when the individuals got to know each other deeper, lots of good things happened: improved chemistry, more efficient and effective communications, better response times, more “chatter” …
Cheers,
I have to admit that I’m cynical about these kind of “fun” activities. The problem I see is that such activities don’t relate well to office-work, and therefore, don’t really help build teamwork in an office environment.
Yeah recreational teams have a leader, and require teamwork. I suppose there is that vague connection. But just because your team-leader at the office is pretty good at his job, doesn’t mean that he’s going to be a good leader at a scavenger hunt, or paintball, or a white water rafting trip (and vice versa). And the supporting roles will be even more ambiguously defined than back in the office. What do you really think that your team will be able to take away from such an activity, that they can apply at their job?
And once they DO get back in the office, what’s changed? No matter how well everyone worked together during ‘team-building’ ,everything is the same. The job responsibilities, titles, structures, roadblocks, management, processes… all the same.
Try instead having a frank discussion with your team about what roadblocks they have in their jobs, and their ideas for improvement. Have the discussions both as a team, and privately. This will help you determine how to change the workplace so people are happier, more efficient, and work better together.