[Closed] Ideas for team building at work

C&H?

I can afford one or the other, not both. 🙂

I don’t get the team building at all I go to work to get paid, I don’t want thanks etc I just want the money for doing a great job. I guess that’s why I own my own business and have always worked for a price. We’re all different though but reading they’re overworked and stressed isn’t going to be solved with team building.

That's what I think as well, and my team are also getting close to stressed and overworked. Personally I like lunchtimes as a time to relax, so the idea of using that time for some organised jollies sounds about as appealing as malaria.

overworked, stressed, diverse and essentially disengaged team.

Talking from experience, "forcing" people into team building exercises can have the opposite effect to what you are looking to achieve. Trying to relieve some of the stress and workload would be a better use of resources. Some people just don't like each other and put up with each other because they have to. If they are stressed because they are overworked then address what can be done about it

Can you get the slt to give an afternoon of paid work time for this? A good chance for them to show they value the well-being of the work force- pandemic notwithstanding this concern should be heading to the top of every employers priority list.

I work on gas turbines as a QC/Inspector. We are mostly a bunch of introverted types and the last thing any of us would want would be team building guff. Sorry.

There is nothing I despise more than being forced to do social activities with work people.

The problem with team-building exercise is that the team don't want to do it and find it pointless and winds most up if they have to do it.

Go to pub.... open invite.... buy a few rounds.... start a kitty.... get battered.

Works every time.

Lunchtime teambuilding?

Lunch time is my time, if you want teambuilding it had better be during working hours 😀

The most effective thing I've done was to get the team into a room for a day and work through a load of stuff being "facilitated" by someone who helped bring out the issues. Not as much fun as an escape room or whatever but at that time I had over half the team as recent starters (less than 6 months) and staff turnover was a problem. Since then the team stuck together for nearly 3 years before someone moved overseas, not bad for a group of 12. We had a couple more sessions with the same facilitator along the way.

The difference isn't that we're all matey or anything, it's that we have a common ground for working together effectively, we can talk about issues without people getting defensive etc.

We've planned that @oldmanmtb2 🙂

I get that most people hate team building, I'm looking for something a bit more personal and innovative than the usual guff.

@Lapierrelady, I've tried, it's a no go, I am going to give a half day holiday (when I can) to each of them (we're a team of five, where this time ast year we were a team of 16).

There is nothing I despise more than being forced to do social activities with work people.

Exactly. Give me anything unconditional and I'm up for it, but the huge catch in trying to build team morale at work is... the number 1 motivation is to pick up a pay check. My previous boss used to throw money at this sort of thing and then kick off with everyone because he was a moody bugger, making the work environment a pretty miserable place to be. Glad to be working at a place now that expects me to do my job. After that, no other conditions.

Agree with thepurist. You said yourself they were stressed. Best thing would be to really demonstrate care and commitment to genuinly helping them resolve their problems at work. I mean don't just have a rushed, hashed facilitated session, token ideas on a flip and never or half heartedly follow things up after the event. Think of ways you can take time and care to really understand the real issues. Might need teasing out beyond what they say first (beyond the reflex response). Dig deeper, go and see it, get them to share it, witness the burden yourself. They will often have the solutions to their own problems too. Next trick is take the resolution seriously as hell. No trickery, tick boxing, facades, keep it real! And make sure you check the problem has been resolved. Another tip, keep the whole thing alive beyond the facilitated session. You don't need these in reality if you keep talking as a team on a regular basis. Make it daily, make it a normal part of the day at work, make it visible - you don't always need an event. Bit of a ramble, I guess these people have lived with their problems for so long, that they can easily loose energy and faith around any attempts to resolve. You need to show genuine care.

Morale is on its arse at our place. Nothing to do with team building though. It's more about being overworked and under valued. It didn't used to be like that.

Mate of mine was talking about a system called SCARF or something similar where they work. They actually invest time and effort into making sure employees find their jobs satisfying.

Just taken a look at the SCARF model. Got me thinking a bit (which is not in the plan for Fri night). Compare how you look forward to weekends on Friday and how that contrasts to the Monday feeling. There's some obvious differences like your partner's bareable but your collegues aren't, etc. But I wonder if there's something else. At the weekend you have choice, control, predictability, start to finish experience, pride in a job well done, variety. I'm sure there's more. Why can't we design work to give us the same? (sorry starting to feel like a Linkedin thread)

@andrewhbws

We do that, well, the business does, it's genuinely the most engaged business I know for that - driven partly by our accreditation, but also because it has a huge commitment to employee engagement.

We were all forced to do a madatory H&S course once... two days throwing ourselves down the Grantully rapids in dry suits. Best team building ever.

so assuming you don't need white water safety... sign everyone up to a ladder course?

the business just throws donuts, ice creams and site BBQs at everyone ... to try and improve morale.

We can’t take time out of the business

money for any ideas would come out of my own pocket

I’ve tried [an afternoon of paid work time for this] it’s a no go,

time for site based ideas would need to be during lunch time

we’re a team of five, where this time ast year we were a team of 16)

the quality department who are an overworked, stressed, diverse and essentially disengaged

Sorry, what was the question again?

quite lucky in that the site is home to the global SLT on Fridays

I'm sure the team feel doubly blessed by this. 👿

covid has given me some relief as we used to be forced to have social team building lunches in our break. i'm glad i'm not the only one who dislikes these things. i was starting to think i was a right curmudgeon.

Thegenralist

Sorry, what was the question again?

I’m looking for something a bit more personal and innovative than the usual guff.

I’m sure the team feel doubly blessed by this. 👿

Actually, yes.

The team feel blessed by having the SLT there on a Friday?
Go figure. Oh well, takes all sorts.

I think it's admirable that you personally are trying to sort something out. But IMHO the facts you have stated about the organisation will make it very tricky for you to succeed in giving them an awesome bonding session in that worked Ng environment.

Howeverz if you do manage to make any headway against the various downsides you have mentioned then that may well have a positive impact.

Good luck.

We get quartely briefs where the company shuts down and gets everyone in one place, do the brief, get fed, get drunk, challenge the MD to cartwheels that kinda thing. we've done the yorkshire waterpark, escape rooms etc.
over lock down we have been doing it via teams. always ona thursday so we can recover on friday. over lockdown the MD started up a beer and chat session every friday from 3, no obligation to check in.

One of the issues of sorting out an afternoon in works time (If the SLT went with this) is that some, many or all the team will then be a further afternoon behind with their work and are quite likely to say WTF was that all about...it's made things worse.

The team feel blessed by having the SLT there on a Friday?

They don't always lock themselves away, they're happy to speak to everyone, hand the donuts out and generally be engaged with the site.

Maybe a bonding session was a bit too 'corporate'.

How big is the team? Our best Team Builds have been to hire a couple of Day Boats and head along a canal. Nothing beats building a team like lock negotiation. Everyone loved it. Both times I've done this. Take a day and a picnic, they will never forget it.

recently taken over the quality department who are an overworked, stressed, diverse and essentially disengaged team.

Team building exercise hhmmm ... interesting but that's not going to work.

If they are overworked why not reduced the overworked whatever that may be?
Stressed? Why not find out exactly why they are stressed? Cause by poor leadership? If you have no choice with having the same leader then whatever team building exercise you will have is going to fail. Fire the leader instead. Usually the leader is the trigger point for all problems.
Diverse and disengaged team? Can you redesign your work routine? Can it be more team based? Get the team to consider their ideal working conditions.

Where I work we used to have a "leader" hired not by merit but for the "tick box" purposes and our employee turnover was so high and everyone was so stress. When that "leader" left everyone was so happy and life return to normal again. We went through nearly 5 years of stress ...

Burn shit down.

After a 'small' (read 8 fire engines rocked up) fire that might have been my fault my team gelled like you wouldn't believe. Laughing in the face of adversity and all that.

It might give you a few short term issues and a few sleepless nights that you are going to get fired but think big picture!

I'm a miserable bastard but compared to some of you lot I'm full of toxic positivity

About 7 years ago I went to Disney Paris on a team away day. We  bonded as we all hated it!

Some people just don’t like each other and put up with each other because they have to.

How about something like full contact medieval combat ?. https://www.riddleofsteel.co.uk/
Seems ideal. Beat the bejesus out of those on the team you dont like 😀

Team of 5? Escape room.

There's a lot wrong with this conversation but thegeneralist summed up most of I would have said. Team building during your lunch break is not going to have a positive effect on moral.

To make people happier the company needs to give something extra not take it away. And in the grand scheme of things, sixty quid for you to to do an escape room one evening or 90 minutes' leeway one afternoon to watch a bad movie whilst discussing it on Teams isn't going to bankrupt them.

Lunch time is my time

... and a legal obligation.

recently taken over the quality department who are an overworked, stressed, diverse and essentially disengaged team. 

Reduce the amount of overwork and stress.
That's why they are disengaged.

Anything else will mark you out as part of that unnecessary tier of management that will be first against the wall when the revolution comes.

No one likes forced jollity, apart from that bloke who's dressed by his mum and the girl who smells of digestives with the coldsore.

Reduce the amount of overwork and stress.

This. Overworked = understaffed. Start hiring.

first against the wall when the revolution comes.

Does the OP work for Cirius Cybernetics?

British bulldog in the carpark.

or British bulldog combined with itpaystobeawinner, the winning team get to keep their jobs.

".. recently taken over the quality department who are an overworked, stressed, diverse and essentially disengaged team. ..."
Were they a high performing bunch until quite recently?

"quality department"
What does the rest of the company do, make shit?

"Ideas for team building at work"
Have you considered a career in the events organising business, or entertainments industry or Butlins?

BTW if you've recently taken charge of an overworked team, what are you doing to change that? Sometimes it's just a perception of the team members, sometimes it's unrealistic expectations from others, sometimes it's just poor task management. It's never going to be easy but if you don't change the feeling within the team from "overworked" to "busy" then any team building activity is just window dressing.

'Go to pub…. open invite…. buy a few rounds…. start a kitty…. get battered.

Works every time.'
No it really doesn't . I've got stuff I'd rather do than go to the pub, plus how are you planning to get get me home if I have say a 30, 40 mile commute? Seriously it's a good way ot generate a 'pub clique', and demonstrate to the rest how unvalued they are.
Ditto escape rooms ,and the other nonsense.

'We do that, well, the business does, it’s genuinely the most engaged business I know for that – driven partly by our accreditation, but also because it has a huge commitment to employee engagement.'

You might believe that, but given the team are overworked, bad morale and they won't do anything costing more than a tenner to fix it, I don't.

You don't need teambuilding or any nonsense training models.

(we’re a team of five, where this time last year we were a team of 16).

This is why the staff are stressed and overworked. More than two thirds of the department have lost their jobs in the last 12 months. Those remaining are presumably doing way more work than they signed up for to cover the shortfall and are in constant fear of losing their jobs as well.
Most people don't actively enjoy working. They put up with it to make money so that they can do enjoyable things when not at work. Think about it this way - would you still go in to work to do your job if you weren't being paid? Most people are disengaged and disinterested at work because ultimately they don't really care about the job. Going for work beers at 3pm on thursday makes a situation you'd rather not be in slightly more pleasant, but no amount of training or teambuilding is ever going to make anyone more interested in the job.

We did a Surfers Against Sewage beach clean yesterday. I found a small amount of cash for the team to cover travel and sarnies, otherwise unfunded. It was optional, but most people chose to come.

The big benefit here is that the (big) company I work for offers two additional leave days a year under "corporate social responsibility" to do something environmentally or socially 'good'. It has to be for a registered charity and we submit a paragraph on what we did afterwards. Point here is that this seems easier to request and get approved than "time off for fun" in a corporate environment, but done well can be quite fun and rewarding.

Sounds like your position at the moment is basically impossible, so I'd keep bothering those above with these kind of options which result in actual time away from work.

I hate “team building” sessions, especially when imposed by senior management who can’t figure the root cause of the lack of “team bonding “
However I will make a suggestion for the OP,

Assuming you all work in the same building ( office would be even better ) and assuming you can make a reasonably acceptable 🌶 chilli,
Inform your team that you will supply lunch 1 day as you have a “new” recipe you would like their opinion on.
Load it into a slow cooker and simmer away for the morning ( it could be pre cooked and warmed up ) supply a pile of crusty bread, paper plates , plastic forks etc and tell folks to help themselves .
Leave a note pad for feed back ( or ask for emails )
A few days later let the team have an E mail ( or better ) verbal thank you for the feedback,
THEN
Ask if anyone else wants to do similar.... if you are very lucky 1 or 2 may and you have the start of a semi regular informal lunchtime team building session without anyone realising that’s what you have done....
(Edit) ... I know some folks may have elfin safety concerns , but cake bakes etc are common fund raisers so this should be possible even with the fussiest elfin officers

but no amount of training or teambuilding is ever going to make anyone more interested in the job.

Not necessarily. Sometimes training is woeful and just sufficient. For a stressed and overworked team, they will want to know that you are in their side, and working to lighten their stresses. Personal sacrifice (on your part) will pay huge dividends in my experience.

People join companies and leave managers. Like teachers, you never forget a good one.

As long as what you do is optional. No-one apart from the brown nosers likes this forced fun crap.

The most effective thing I’ve done was to get the team into a room for a day and work through a load of stuff being “facilitated” by someone who helped bring out the issues.

Yeah this. Team building should be about ... ummm ... buiding a team; not some excuse for a pub crawl.