Team building activities

[yellow]

I think the point of "team building" is to help foster relationships OUTSIDE the strictly work environment. Granted you are still doing X with people that you work with, but some people tend to let their hair down a bit (so to speak), and new relationships (for good or ill) can be formed.

 

[Applespider]

is it just a momentary morale booster and a chance to get away from work?

More of this and what yellow said directly above than trying to change team dynamics etc which I agree you will never achieve in a single day! I'd say this is one of the strongest, best-integrated teams that I've worked with.

This is partly reward/morale (hence more social than 'bridgebuilding' activities and partly to get to see a different side of the people in the team while working with those who we might not deal with on a daily basis.

In smaller teams, I've known lots about my colleagues and we've eaten lunch together and chatted about life outside. In this team (of 26) there just aren't that many opportunities to do that - we quite often get groups of 6-8 together for meetings/lunches and the whole team meet together monthly (and on birthdays etc) but it's a diverse group which could be sub-divided in a variety of ways - and in which various subsets will often talk but it's hard to get the big picture.

 

[Chundles]

Pub Crawl. Hire a bus and a driver and do a big, massive drunken pub crawl. Remember, what happens on the crawl, stays on the crawl.

 

[Jason_Bryan]

As someone who designs 'Team Building' exercises for a living I have to be biassed and say they work. In honesty it all depends on the leadership shown in the workplace. There is a difference between a staff jolly and a team building event. It seems to me that you are looking for a staff jolly, which by it's very nature builds rapport and creates a shared experience, and is there fore helpful in team development.

 

[yellow]

Beyond that, creating "trust" in your team members goes a long way towards everyone doing a better job.

 

[ksz]

Different teams have different dynamics. In my experience good teamwork is built from within by focusing on core values, working on challenging projects, managing internal conflicts, empowering people with greater responsibility and authority, as well as reprimanding people for violation of company values. As a result, we have a group of trustworthy and disciplined people. We work well as a team. We have our occasional imperfections, but we know there is no utopia, and problems will arise.

My experience with team building exercises has been largely negative. These exercises do not do any real harm, but I have found them to be both pretended and forced. Just as you cannot force two people to like each other, you cannot place a team into a forced or affected social environment and expect them to become more cohesive. Trust and camaraderie must be built inside the organization. It must be real.

 

[rdowns]

I disagree. Team building exercises are good in that people can form relationships and see people outside of the work place. You often think differently of someone when you see them outside of the office. They have worked well in my company.

And I consider things like paint ball, sports, going out to dinner/drinks or someone having a BBQ to be team building.

 

[Tanglewood]

Pub Crawl. Hire a bus and a driver and do a big, massive drunken pub crawl. Remember, what happens on the crawl, stays on the crawl.

Do the London Monopoly Board Pub Crawl. You have to hit a pub from every street on the board!

 

[Loge]

I disagree. Team building exercises are good in that people can form relationships and see people outside of the work place. You often think differently of someone when you see them outside of the office. They have worked well in my company.

And I consider things like paint ball, sports, going out to dinner/drinks or someone having a BBQ to be team building.

Going out to dinner/drinks is fine, I don't thing too many people would have a problem with that. Having to do contrived exercises though is another matter. The problem with things like paintball etc, is that there are bound to be some who would absolutely hate it, and there really is no reason to try and force it on people when it has nothing to do with their job.

 

[blackfox]

Still looking for ideas, Applespider?

Although admittedly somewhat juvenile, perhaps some form of Truth-or-dare?

I also like JSR's murder-mystery suggestion.

 

[ksz]

...Having to do contrived exercises though is another matter...

Yes, this is exactly the point! After most of the team building exercises, our people have complained that they felt like lab rats in an experiment designed to illicit a particular behavior. However, after single-day excursions to celebrate significant milestones and other achievements, we have had nothing but good results. No one felt that celebrating an achievement was a contrived exercise. Instead, they felt a sense of pride because the accomplishment was real and the celebration was honest and deserved. This has done more to build team spirit than any contrived team-building exercise that tends to make people feel cheap.

 

[OutThere]

Yes, this is exactly the point! After most of the team building exercises, our people have complained that they felt like lab rats in an experiment designed to illicit a particular behavior. However, after single-day excursions to celebrate significant milestones and other achievements, we have had nothing but good results. No one felt that celebrating an achievement was a contrived exercise. Instead, they felt a sense of pride because the accomplishment was real and the celebration was honest and deserved. This has done more to build team spirit than any contrived team-building exercise.

I've found a lot of those sort of contrived team building exercises to be really good in the past...though only with a new group of people.

With people I've never met before who often don't want to interact, if you're forced into doing something that requires teamwork, it breaks the ice. My favorite thing to do like that takes like 15 minutes...the 12 foot wall.

A new group of people stands in front of a 12 foot, smooth wall. They all have to get over it. That's it.

Obviously in Applespider's case, this isn't what they're looking for, however, as they're already a good team.

I just came up with a random idea...could be wretched but maybe cool. Pick random points on a map of London (totally random). Have someone drop each team member off at one of these random points. Then, without using a cell phone, and without having any sort of 'plan' beforehand, you have to get a hold of each other and meet up as quickly as you can, however you can. Once you all get together, take a picture of all of you + a clock.

I'm not going to reread that idea. If it's really dumb, blame the fact that I worked 10 hours today and it's 1 am.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I just came up with a random idea...could be wretched but maybe cool. Pick random points on a map of London (totally random). Have someone drop each team member off at one of these random points. Then, without using a cell phone, and without having any sort of 'plan' beforehand, you have to get a hold of each other and meet up as quickly as you can, however you can. Once you all get together, take a picture of all of you + a clock.

This made me laugh while having my morning coffee.

Have you ever been to London? This idea could also work in so many locations... the Sahara, Antarctica, the Brazilian rainforest. I think there are some lost souls still playing this game in London years after they started.

It might have some merit if some form of clues were permitted, like an orientation exercise.

 

[Applespider]

I just came up with a random idea...could be wretched but maybe cool. Pick random points on a map of London (totally random). Have someone drop each team member off at one of these random points. Then, without using a cell phone, and without having any sort of 'plan' beforehand, you have to get a hold of each other and meet up as quickly as you can, however you can. Once you all get together, take a picture of all of you + a clock.

I suspect we wouldn't find each other until the next day at the office Unless we all decided to test the theory that everyone meets at PIccadilly Circus and all headed there. You'd probably have to limit to to dumping people in a certain area of London... I can just iamgine one person at Canary Wharf, one at Heathrow, one in St John's Wood and one in Brixton trying to figure out where on earth to go next.

At the moment, it's looking like dancing (which most are in favour of with only a few 'eurghs') I'm one of the 'eurghs'