Teambuilding opinions please

The team that did the event for ekul has got it right. If you want development you need a clear brief and preparation from the participants and targeted follow up afterwards. Thats what we do and anything else is motivational play acting. Most things aren’t team building they are events to break up the working pattern or justify someones job title.

We’ve done a few charity/volunteering days for “teambuilding”. Redecorating a scout hut, various tasks at a wildlife place and working on a local common – digging up/cutting down invasive vegetation, building paths, that kind of thing. You should have some kind of local organisation that can put you in touch with charities that need manpower for a day.

Oh, just remembered – we built a garden at a primary school. Raised beds, paths etc.

All ends with BBQ/picnic/pub.

In all honesty, we treat our ‘team building’ days as a bit of a jolly for the staff. It’s a simple way for the Company to say “Thanks for the hard work this year so far, have a day/night on us”.

If any actual ‘team building’ comes out of it, then its a bonus in my eyes 🙂

Done one as Ekul, and I was also sceptical but was turned around.
Never actually got to work on the project that the team building event was for mind you…

These kind of team building excursions are a total waste of money and time.

Can’t say I really agree. If you have teams which don’t communicate a lot as part of their roles, these types of events can really help bond people and give a wider sense of who is doing what in the company. They are very good for moral as well. Everyone whose been on them generally has a pretty good time.

As for motivational speakers, I can recommend Ben Hunt-Davis. Was a very good speaker and quite relevant to business.

Ben Hunt-Davis by brf[/url], on Flickr

I facilitate team / confidence building events for a charity that works with underprivileged yoofz (16-24 year olds). I’ve also been subjected to endless teambuilding events over the years. They can be very effective.

In my experience, they work best when the team is taken into a mutually alien environment. Therefore if they work in an office, then you’ll be best off getting them outside and doing some hand-on stuff. You’ll often find the individuals who are strong characters in their normal environment will become a different person once they’re taken outside of their comfort zone.

Best team building I ever did involved a long weekend in an austere-ish hostel, basic rooms, communal showers, lots basic food in the back end of the Lake District, several miles from the local town.

After a 6am start and several jolly hours in a LDV mini-bus we arrived to sandwiches before a group exercise in crossing a river with a tarpaulin and some plastic pipes after a few near death experiences and hissy fits we were allowed to shower and get ready for dinner, food was great not so sure about the quiz with way to much booze, but it was entertaining.

Early start with a choice of walking, caving or a days mountain biking, the BSOs weren’t that great but the route was awesome. The walkers/cavers swapped activities in the afternoon by all accounts fun was had by all.

The evening involved a presentation for most….. then a quiz and lots of booze, after breakfast we went abseiling before returning in the same LDV mini-bus. The return journey wasn’t jolly and my mini-bus had different people in it to those I drove up!

Several people didn’t speak to each other for weeks, a few were off injuries sustained, we didn’t have another team building for 3 years.

Years later I am still very good friends with several victims even though we no longer all work for the same employer.

So the point of my story, ask yourself do you really need a team building event?

This is the best training day comedy, ignore the pictures it was on the radio.

This must be the super efficient private sector you are all talking about? Here in the public sector we just keep being told we are shit and to do it better.

Here in the public sector we just keep being told we are shit and to do it better.

I’d expect nothing less 😉

Here in the public sector we just keep being told we are shit and to do it better.

Think teacher training days 😉

Picnic on a narrow boat. Locks are a good team-building exercise. Surprisingly cost-effective when you factor out the day cost of a “consultant”. It helps of one of you has done it before, but it is not essential.

Take the budget and put it behind a bar somewhere. This tends to work best in my experience!

Karaoke night, pubs, nightclub that’s team building. Either you are in or out.

The rest are just glorify HR excuses to justify their own existence. Take note, the HR person(s) will then try to take photos of the events to justify everyone’s “happiness” in the team building exercise, in order to proof that everyone is bonding and by report the result to their bosses.

HR, please stick to payroll and admin. Know your place! 👿

😆

Aren’t team building exercises thing that large corporations have stolen from start ups in the hope of replicating their success without addressing the real problems the organisation is suffering from?

A bit like cargo culting?

If you want to know how to build a successful team then try reading A Year Without Pants by Scott Berkun. It’s about his account of working as a team leader at WordPress for a year. Now they have an interesting workplace.

footflaps – Member

We’ve had loads:

Lots of pointless exercises involving paper, scissors and string:

My lord! How much is the company being charged for?

I want to be the company providing the team building exercise … I want to charge money … 😆

curiousyellow – Member

Aren’t team building exercises thing that large corporations have stolen from start ups in the hope of replicating their success without addressing the real problems the organisation is suffering from?

SSssshhhhhh … don’t say that out loudly otherwise nobody can charge money for team building exercise and team building companies will go kaput. (*whispering* … I may want to come up with ridiculous team building exercise to charge money, making me rich beyond belief 😆 )

The Apprentice had a task along these lines last series, worth watching… 😉

mudshark – Member

The Apprentice had a task along these lines last series, worth watching…

The Apprentice ones are shite because there is too little time to plan for outcome.

You can’t simply come up with team building exercise unless you are planning for outings, which is far more relaxing and tick the corporate bureaucrat tick box form. Take few photos to justify and everyone silently agree not to rock the boat or else they would be ask for another team building session.

🙂

.. hunting, skinning, gutting and eating one of the under performing managers.

I was thinking maybe a design project for, I dunno, maybe a new company logo or something. Then tattoo it on the leg of one of the under performing managers.

Highly ineffective and no long lasting mutual benefits, that’s what these are.

If you are after a team, employ a team, employ a good coherent bunch who act on instinct and have the balls to call or talk to people.

I’ve been on many, the corporate world knows now that they are really just a waste of time and effort organising something that only the speaker and maybe one other, possibly two who invariably have just joined the company listen to. Same old hackneyed strap lines, tortuous blurb, irritating hours scratching yer bum whilst feigning attention.

Thankfully we’ve moved on from 1996.

Agreed. I’m not sure if you really can build a team like that.

Best thing to do, imo, is to do it through work. Get people happy and engaged at work, and get them working with each other solving problems and using each other’s skills. And chilling out when it’s possible. No amount of raft building and smart arsed questions will make a difference when you’re back to soul-destroying shit on your todd every day.

We often see factories on telly where the workers are a great bunch of friends and they are happy. Someone works at the same machine every day and they are asked if they enjoy their work and why. They usually say that they are happy because they are part of a team that get on well and have a laugh. Not because then went paintballing once with work.

Think teacher training days 

I am. Got one next week. In summary openning speach by head telling us we are shit, then head of dept says we are shit go off into smaller groups and plan how to do it better with no idea how we can actually do it better.

Teams will often go through 4 distinct phases-

Forming – The group is put together each with different skills, knowledge, aptitude and experience.

Storming – A lot of conflict arises due to the group members individual differences and opinions.

Norming – Individual differences become ‘normalised’ and accepted within the group.

Performing – The group starts effectively woking towards the common goal. Recognising individuals differing skills as positive and actively utilising those differences to achieve the end goal.

It doesn’t matter what the task is, its group dynamics that great leaders understand.

JacksonPollock – Member

Most “leaders” know jack apart from ring fencing their own position.

😈

A few years ago I took my team (about 10 of us) to the Land Rover Experience at Eastnor.

Fantastic day out, very professional as you would expect and surprisingly reasonable – I think we paid less than £150 per head.

One we organised years ago involved teams earning money to buy things for a night out in the forests of Snowdonia. A couple of teams were very rich and cocky. So when the equipment was put up for sale in an auction they gayly out bid everyone else. They got their tents, food, wine etc. A couple of the poorer teams remained focused and only bid on a couple of essential items. Corkscrews and matches. They proceeded to trade after the auction and went out into the night fully equipped and provisioned. They were laughing all the way. The rich teams had time to reflect on their arrogance.

grtdkad – Member

A few years ago I took my team (about 10 of us) to the Land Rover Experience at Eastnor.

Fantastic day out, very professional as you would expect and surprisingly reasonable – I think we paid less than £150 per head.

I see 10 x £150 = £1,500 … ohhh! I like. 😯

Yeah I know £1500 but the boys still talk about it years later. Playing in £50k / £60k bits if Land Rover/ Range Rover kit, in the way it should be, axle deep in clarts. It was great.

…and cheap-as when compared to a one-day excel course at our place costs >£200 a head.

My lord! How much is the company being charged for?

No idea, but the motivational speaker charges around £10k and that was just 1 hour of the whole day. http://www.nmplive.co.uk/viewTalent.aspx?id=1625

footflaps – Member

My lord! How much is the company being charged for?

No idea, but the motivational speaker charges around £10k and that was just 1 hour of the whole day.

My lord! That much! 😯 I don’t get it. I mean the list of “motivational” speakers.

We’ve done some volunteer stuff for a hospice where a good friend of mine spent his last days, gardening and general maintainence. Track building at the mountainbike park, a sort of urban orienteering course with cafe and pub stops. All optional but with 100% attendance rate. I hate forced stuff but also like the idea of my team being removed from work and putting some personal element to what they do.

10k could be very reasonable depending on the outcome of the event, being able to be part of helping a group of people to achieve their goal which may be worth 100’s of thousands or more. It probably cost more to get the people into a room for a day when you take into account salary, travel etc.

Elite team sport has a lot to offer business in terms of methods and commitment. As with all lists some are good and some are bad, Alister Campbell looks over priced unless it includes some sort of boxing/fight.

In nearly 15 years I’m yet to work somewhere that couldn’t have benefited from some outside help.

It probably cost more to get the people into a room for a day when you take into account salary, travel etc.

This. Given we have a lot of overseas sites, the transport bill will dwarf the event cost.

Take the budget and put it behind a bar somewhere. This tends to work best in my experience!

Except, of course, for employees who don’t drink. Or ones who already have a problem with drinking too much.