 Teambuilding, when done well can not only boost morale, but it can teach effective communication and leadership skills, and even provide a path to truly increasing team performance.
Unfortunately, most programs fall short of these benefits. But in today's economic climate, you must get more value from team activities that just "having a good time." Here are our top five simple ways to make team building have a greater impact...1. Choose the right activity. If you are trying to get people to work together and bond as a team, don't select a "scavenger hunt" that splits everyone up. You need to decide what your objectives are, and ask the team building provider/professional what they recommend to achieve them. Also, don't let your colleague(s) talk you into doing something that doesn't make sense for your group-just because they like it.
2. Make sure that trained facilitators are managing and presenting your event. The right facilitator(s) will make or break the program. It is not just a game; it is "team practice" that will allow people to increase their ability to work together effectively.
3. Your management must support the activity. If it is not important to them, it will not be important to the participants. Management should "set the stage" for the activity and explain why it is an important part of the meeting. Additionally, if you are doing some fairly serious team building and the group has come up with ideas for improvement, it is management's duty to follow up and make sure these are implemented. 4. Debriefing. This part of the activity is vital to showing participants how the exercise is relevant to their work. They may or may not think of these links on their own, so why leave it to chance?
5. Follow-up and reiterate lessons learned. Many team building activities are quite revealing about how people behave in a team context-and how they can change to be more effective. However, no one changes in a day. A team building event will not miraculously transform anyone- let alone a team. If you keep stressing the ideas and concepts from the event and using the content of the team building event as a benchmark, you can realize progress toward behavioral changes that are needed to make a team work.
Finally, remember "AIM": Applicable, Innovative and Meaningful--that is what you want from a great team building event.
|
|
"Post-It" Ice Breaker & Meeting Starter
Instead of having each person introduce themselves, give each person a small pad of "Post-Its" and a pen. Pin a blank sheet of paper to every person's back. Instruct everyone to write an adjective about each person and "post-it" on them. Adjectives should be positive or at least neutral in nature. When everyone has posted a note on each person's back, people look at all the notes they have received. They must introduce themselves by using the adjectives attributed to them. Fun and revealing too!
|
