Comments on: Team Building

By: Len McGrane

Len McGrane — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:34:52 +0000

You have absolutely identified the problem with most corporate team building programs … they fail to give people ways of working through issues. This is difficult. Our egos and our availabilty (to the company) get in the way. I guess at the hiring stage an employer needs to be sure he is recruiting people who will be willing to fit in with others and contribute to the goals and ambitions of the business.

By: Dear Association Leader » Blog Archive » Benign Neglect, Consensus, Team building

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 17:41:44 +0000

[...] Jamie has some thoughts on Team Building in the weblog We Have Always Done it That way. The idea is that retreats and tricks and games do not have significant impact – unless they are reinforced and supplemented by effective an team management that actively engages in building teamwork. Real team effectiveness is based on deeply rooted patterns of interaction that do not emerge simply because team members “get along”Â well or have fun together. Building teams is best accomplished by helping teams to actually identify and work through real work-based problems. This may include some skill building or discussion of new concepts, but it must always be done in the very real context of getting work done. Associations need to take team building more seriously by making it a part of ongoing management concerns. Build team performance into management performance reviews. Provide ongoing internal and external resources to support teams in identifying and building more successful work patterns. Allow teams the space to tackle the tougher issues like conflict and accountability, rather than encouraging them to merely get along better. [...]

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 22:39:52 +0000

As a consultant, I am required to answer, “It depends.”Â Seriously, I do think there are many ways to do it. If you have a team that needs “building,”Â then set aside the day for the retreat, but create a process where they spend time talking through real issues they are facing. When I do it, I just interview everyone ahead of time and then summarize the themes from the interviews at the beginning of the retreat in order to create an agenda. They then work through the issues either dealing with them or at least creating a follow-up action plan. It’s not rocket science, but most teams don’t take the time to talk about those issues thoroughly during the workday. You can use other processes, as long as you create an environment where people can openly confront the issues. Again, here the typical “teambuilding”Â techniques of taking people out of the office and hiring a facilitator can help. But honestly, that is not required. Teams can do this on their own. It really depends on the culture of the organization and the existing communication patterns.

By: David Ferrabee

David Ferrabee — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 14:40:14 +0000

Tell us more about this “identify and work through real work-based problems”, that appears to be the crux of the issue… and I am pretty much in agreement… but how are you proposing people do that?
/df