5 Ways To Get Amazing Team-Building Results

Is scheduled team time pointless or beneficial? Here's how to get the most out of team-building experiences, and what not to do when planning these events!

While I know lots of people who LOVE a good team-building event, recently on LinkedIn I’ve seen an uptick in anti team-building chatter.

“Forced fun, is never fun"
"The only team building anyone needs, is shared focus on the work"
"Just let me do my job! Then let me go the f--k home”
"Why do they call it team building? They should call it a waste of precious time." 
"Here's an idea, how about instead of spending money on team building, you just give your team members that money as a bonus"

So yeah… let’s dig in!

What is the point of team building? How do you make the most of bringing your team together, and what are watch-outs for these kinds of events?

What is the point of team building?

In simplest terms, the point of team building is to improve overall communication, collaboration, and cohesion. When done well, investing in team building does pay off. When team members can communicate ideas and concerns effectively, collaborate on solutions to challenges, and feel motivated not just by their internal drivers but in how well they relate to each other… it’s good for the bottom line!

Have you ever been on a team, where trying to connect with eachother feels hard? Where people seem like they don’t care about responding to emails, texts or calls?

That dynamic isn’t great for business, but it is a great reason to invest in high-quality team building.

You know that thing where people seem frustrated and exhausted because there’s a lot of task overlap or role confusion… that’s another great reason to get the team together to sort a few things out.

Experienced a recent re-org, and your new team has a brand new mix of people, and need to get on the same page quickly? You guessed it: it’s a great time for team building!

Even if the work seems to be going smoothly, getting the team together to understand each others strengths and less obvious skills can help turn colleagues into resources for each other, contributing to an even deeper sense of belonging and a drive to do brilliant work for the organization.

Whether the experience is based in something fun like improv, or something challenging like a ropes course, Ultimately what successful team building does, is bring colleagues together in a way that either helps them build a shared sense of what (vision, direction, goals for the work), of how (clarity and trust), or why (purpose and values).

If you need to build all three of these areas with a team at once, this can be a great reason to hold a multi-day offsite.

Planning some team time? Here are 5 ways to make sure your team-building events are packed with value

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

As a long time improv professional and facilitator I can confidently tell you that while many activities can be used for team building, not all experiences are equal in value. In other words, just because you’ve played laser tag together, does not mean you’ve participated in a team-building event. In fact, when done wrong, your event can actually prove LinkedIn naysayers right or, even worse, drive a wedge in the team!

Amazing team-building results require planning, motivated participation and benefit from external thought partnership.

Here are 5 tips for getting the most out of your investment in team building.

1. Have clearly defined objectives and know what success looks like. What are you hoping will change in the way the team behaves with each other as a result of the time spent? How do you think your chosen experience or event will contribute to that outcome? Make sure to share your clear desired outcomes with the team prior to and at the beginning of the session, so they understand why this is happening, what the expectations are and how they will benefit from investing their energy, focus and time in the experience. Including outcomes that are important to the whole team will help everyone engage in the experience.

2. Don’t be afraid of fun. When people are smiling, laughing and enjoying what they are doing they tend to be more deeply engaged. Strategically employing fun (and sometimes down right silly) experiences can unlock a playful spirit and creative thinking. When there is a good balance between play and thoughtfulness people will find themselves more interested and more likely to remember the outcomes of the day.

3. Ask your team to help draw the connection between your chosen activity and their work objectives. Instead of telling your team how experiences relate to work, ask them what they’re noticing. Encourage them to do the mental work, discuss what they’re learning and how it connects to what they do.

4. Discuss what happens when the experience ends and you return back to work. What would you and the team like to do differently based on this time spent? What would the team like to do differently? What are long term hopes and dreams? What are immediate next steps?

5. Lean on the expertise of a facilitator. Experienced facilitators are skillful at holding multiple factors at once. This includes the 4 previous tips on this list. When I facilitate team-building sessions for my clients, I’m balancing your desired outcomes, time constraints, energy in the room, emerging knowledge and more, all of which frees you up to be a participant and fully focused on the connection and reflection needed to get the results you want. Maybe it goes without saying, but I’m saying it anyway: when you bring in someone who does this work professionally, you’ll have a more successful event, and an easier time connecting the dots from a team-building experience to your overall objectives.

Avoid team-building pitfalls that build resentment and frustration

If team time is so valuable, why are people complaining on LinkedIn?

Well, as I mentioned not all team building is created equal. And when done wrong the results can be damaging to your organization.

Here are a few things to watch out for:

1. Don’t use team building as a reward. This time of year brings year end celebrations, and new year kick-off events. While some companies will be dressed to the nines drinking wine and handing out bonus checks, there are always a handful of companies that will opt for “team building” to reward a hard year. While many activities used to build team skills are super fun, at the end of the day… it is still work! Reward your team with genuine appreciation, and (when appropriate and feasible) with financial benefits.

2. Avoid scheduling team events during people’s off hours. Even the most dedicated, joy-filled, cohesive team will need their personal time to rest, recuperate, spend time with friends and family and attend to other interests. Cutting into that important time sends the message that you do not care about them. This will erode engagement in your event and overall morale.

3. Do not ignore, brush off or otherwise dismiss the key outcomes from team building. Speaking of morale hits… if you fail to implement changes at work that were identified during your team building session, you’ll send the message that you think what you did was a waste of time, and the rest of the team will proceed accordingly.

4. Don’t go it alone. If you’re asking your team to invest their time and energy, then you should also invest in expert support.

5. Don’t try to do your facilitators job for them. Do the work upfront to hire someone you can trust. Then trust them to do what you hired them to do!

Wrapping things up…

I’m a huge believer in the value of team building when its done right. When you invest in skill building experiences that help your team bring out the best in each other it can not just make work to go more smoothly, but can help everyone to feel like they are exactly where they belong doing great work with people they enjoy working with!

If you or your colleagues are in need of professional support in this area, lets talk! I’d be thrilled to help you and your team achieve your goals in the coming year. Set up a time to explore what’s possible by clicking below.

For discussion:

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what makes team building suck, or rock!

1. What’s the best team-building event you’ve ever attended?

2. What’s your team-building horror story (we’ve all got one!)

3. What would you add as a pro-tip for planning these kinds of events?