Team building - what worked for you...

Sambucus_Nigra

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

I'm thinking about developing an in-house event for my team and over the years have been to some good, bad and ugly events so thought I'd come on here for opinions.

As we have almost zero budget we need to deliver this on our own premises and with no money for props... all we can have is money for a buffet lunch.

The team has a mix of ages, one of us has very limited mobility (so anything that involves moving around is out), and some are old hands whereas some have only joined in the last 3 months. There are 18 in the team and include staff that normally work from a remote location so only get together fully as a group around once a month.

So, I'm after ideas that have worked for you (or haven't) - I have loads of 'ice-breakers' but am scratching my head a bit about some 'team building' exercises that don't involve much physical activity.

Any ideas welcome.

What are you trying to actually achieve here? It's not as easy as a few ice breakers or games, if you have issues that really need addressing then wasting a day will actually cause you more harm than good.

Building a team cannot be done in one day - it's an ethos that needs building on month after month after month - over years in fact.

Firstly, have you got a team that is all working toward the same shared goal? If not, then first you all need a shared goal. DO you revise this goal and progress regularly?

Have you got people mentoring and helping/partnering each other? What happens to new team members? Is there a full induction into the team?

Is there a sense of team spirit - have you got challenging goals or targets that as a team, you break down and address how you are all going to achieve these targets?

Is there an agreement on the 'things' that need addressing? Are people being nominated to look at one area each or in pairs and come back with suggestions?

Do you have regular team meetings? Are people often absent from these? If so, why?

Some of the things that I used to use:
Regular SWOT analysis on themselves, the team and the organisation with short action plans to take advantage of the S and O and to address the W and Ts.
Small projects that people would report back on - could be new markets, new customers, new approaches etc.
Definitely mentoring for new staff. Pairing up for the others.
Short challenges for each team member to make big impacts in working skills/achievement/opportunities/ways of working.
Workshadowing - sounds fluffy but can help people learn from each other - sometimes the person shadowing comes up with excellent ideas that all the team benefit from.

If you are the manager, you have to exude an ethos of 'all for one and one for all' and 'team above all else'; it takes alot of time and effort. If I'd said I want my team to do ice breakers they'd have balked so you have to be careful not to insult their intelligence!

cazziebo

Nothing worse than team building for the sake of "team building" - and often the result is the opposite. Some might even be good fun, but rarely achieve much.

Best team days which have resulted in team working is where a group have shut themselves away with a real business issue that needs resolution, usually helped by a no baggage external facilitator. There's a real outcome which everyone understands we have to reach (might not know what it is before we start).

So - business I was involved in had a declining market. We examined the reasons, looked at the options, looked at our SWOTs (see Sambuca's post) and our capabilities, generated some ideas and then met monthly to monitor and review progress.

Another was an issue recruiting staff (yes, really!) More work than we could handle, and just couldn't get the right resource in. (specifically welders).

Working on a real problem, being able to contribute towards the solution, working with colleagues who respect each other and being recognised for the success of any actions is more team building than replicating the Golden Gate Bridge with cello tape and tinfoil....

dacouch

The local public house

DKLS

dacouch wrote: »

The local public house

The one and only correct answer to the OPs question.

getmore4less

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

The team has changed in terms of dynamics / personnel and is also facing a change to working content and methods.

There are some tensions as people change roles and may not be doing stuff that they wanted to do. Plus the remotely located staff feel less included in the team than those that work at the centre.

So, I need to 'bond' the changing team members along with delivering a session on new roles / goals.

I'm thinking a hybrid of 'getting to know you' and getting to know what's expected of the team.

Thanks

top B***ing about you need something daily/ongoing fix the issue properly.

One day a month every one(or group) in the office with no work tailored so they communicate and get a few freebees. lunch in , down the pub whatever works.

Maybe the outlyers need to come in more often especialy when there is change. new starter make sure all those that need to work with them do a face to face within a week.

Outlyers a distance away might need overnights(with expences).

I have worked in a international team(UK, EU, US, and far east) the critcal thing that made it work was face to face doing the job for few days, NO team building needed, just expences for social when we swaped locations.

If the business is changeing why don't existing emplyees already know the goals? new employees should if the recruitment processes are robust