Building
Cohesion in Teams & Team Building
What
is a team building (teambuilding)?
'Team building' is any action or event which enhances the cohesion,
effectiveness or motivation of the group. A 'team' is a group of people sharing
a common goal.
Importance
of effective team building and
team cohesion
Most of us are members of several teams, and a team often exists
within a larger team. Organisational effectiveness is dependent
upon excellent team cohesion: which includes inter as well as
intra teamworking.
One of three core functions of every leader
is to build effective teams. Team cohesion develops
through inter-personal interaction, learning and
communication. Everything, from the language
we use to a drink in the pub, the seasonal party
and the effectiveness of meetings, are all
influences on teamworking and cohesion at work.
A strategic team building plan may include ideas encompassing
training, conferences and meetings, away days, celebrations,
team and leadership development and incentives as well as 'team
building' or 'team bonding events'. There are three major influencers
of our morale
and motivation: individual motivation, the leader
or authority figure and the behaviour, values
and norms in our group or team.
Corporate team bonding: 'Happy together? It works' article on the BBC
Website - By BBC News Online's Jonathan Duffy
Organising
team building / team bonding events
Starting points for team building / team bonding
•Listen
and agree with all key stakeholders clear objectives, pre-event, event
and follow-up.
•Define requirements (e.g. timescales, venue distance).
•Define the outcomes (e.g. three lasting effects on
all participants).
• Always keep in mind health & safety and insurance.
•Consider inter as well as intra teamwork; be wary of
sports and military analogies.
• Rule out obviously inappropriate activities, it is better
to start with ‘don’t like’ and ‘don’t want’.
•Make sure any facilitation is honest; avoid manipulation
and hidden agendas.
Two broad directions for team building
•Implicit Team Bonding Events: celebrations, fun,
social, relaxed, get to know you.
•Explicit Team Building and Learning Events:
formal learning sessions, facilitated experiences,
informal dinners together.
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Effective
team building (teambuilding)
Considering Costs
Budgets, costs and benefits should be evaluated
in the context of and in relation to total costs of
a person and costs of recruitment, training,
salaries and other employment costs, and in line
with clear objectives.
The costs of building effective teams are minimal
in comparison.
When considering an event, the opportunity
costs of taking people away from work, lost value
from the team’s work when away and the cost
of a potentially ineffective event should be
carefully weighed. |
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Team
building events (teambuilding events)
Effective
team building is vital to team cohesion and in turn individual and
business success. Building inter-team co-operation and a sense
of interdependence
is critical
to building an aligned organisation focused on common goals.
Getting together,
away from work, to improve team building (teambuilding) is best achieved
through fun rather than adversity. The alchemy of teamworking can
be boosted through creative challenges within relevant programmes.
Whether the objective
is team bonding -requiring informal fun- or explicit team building
(teambuilding) you can explore hundreds of potential solutions available
from MotivAction on our direct
site.
We have the experience and design solutions to
help you build team cohesion and inter-team work, to create one team.
What
are the
major issues?
•Time together
•Getting to know each other
•Building confidence in each other
•Developing skills
•Agreeing purpose
•Embedding core values
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•Celebrating success
•Improving teamwork
•Embedding change
•Preparing for change
•Bonding
•Fun |
Ideas for improved team cohesion:
•Conference breaks
•Inspirational and intimate venues
•Make a film, create a Chain Reaction
•Technology and internet games
•Synergy and E-Maze
•Use the arts in business
•From drumming to horse whispering |
•Global Enterprises business game
•Charity challenges
•Indoors, outdoors, UK or abroad
•Design, facilitation and follow-up
•Team and one-team challenges
•Explicit speakers and training
•No embarrassment, faking or fads |
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