Effective Team Building Strategies that can be Implemented by any Organization

The Importance of Team Building

Team Building is significant for organizations to actualize optimal performance and enhanced levels of results. Indeed, without team cohesion and the sense of unity of purpose, no organization can hope to survive the neck tight competition as otherwise, the teams would be working at cross purposes with that of the organizational objectives.

For instance, as the saying goes, a House Divided Falls by Itself, team cohesion and team unit are very important for organizations to exist as entities and to survive the corporate jungle.

There are many ways in which unity of teams and team cohesion can be achieved, and these team building strategies include brainstorming between the team members and the managers as well as experiential learning and the vision and mission of the key members of the team.

The last aspect is very important as the Manager must lead from the front and ensure that his or her personal commitment to team building inspires the rest of the team members to bond as a unit.

In addition, team building can also be achieved through regular team meetings and brainstorming where everyone is treated as an equal and their ideas can be accepted and debated upon as well.

How Organizations Promote Team Building

Many multinational organizations spend considerable amounts of money on team building strategies such as indoor training and outdoor experiential training where the team members are encouraged to bond with each other professionally as well as personally.

Indeed, personal bonding is often the key to the success of the team building efforts as once personal friendships are formed between the team members, they can then step in for each other and ensure that all of them collectively work for the benefit of the team.

Apart from this, a key component of team building is the need to avoid team members working at cross purposes with each other and with the overall team objectives.

This can only be done through the efforts of the managers to first ensure that team members become acquainted with each other and with the objectives of the team. Next, by not playing favorites, the managers can ensure that there is no bitterness between the team members.

Third, through the formation of personal relationships and working lunches as well as celebrating birthdays of the team members and taking the team members out to treats and outdoor activities, team building can be ensured.

The Softer Part of Team Building and How Organizations Spend Money on them

Indeed, most large or for that matter, even midsized and small organizations spend much time and money on the fun and frolic component which is an essential part of team building. In our experience, we have been to several lunches and dinners sponsored by the organization as well as visited exotic outdoor resorts and other locales as part of team building.

While the present economic downturn has slashed some budgets for such activities, the fact remains that organizations do have substantial budgets even now for team building activities.

In addition, experiential training where team members are put through outdoor team activities that promote trust and cooperation between the team members in addition to games and sports that are geared towards Military style Boot camps where the objective is to make everyone work together towards a common goal is also done in many organizations.

What is Experiential Learning and the Power of Informal Networks

The term experiential learning refers to the practice of bonding through shared experiences between the team members. By ensuring that team members participate in common activities and experience each other’s strengths and weaknesses, organizations work towards team building where each team member is encouraged to work with others and towards the common goals of the team and the organization.

Having said that, while organizations do need to have formal training and experiential activities, the informal networks and the friendships between the employees and with their managers often determines how close-knit the team is.

Thus, the coffee and tea breaks, as well as the bonding over lunch and snacks, often ensure that team members work cohesively and as a unit. In our experience, a key aspect of team building happens when team members gather during breaks including the activity of smoking, which while needs to be avoided, helps the team members to bond with each other.

Mind you, we are not advocating that team members have to be smokers to bond with each other. Instead, what we want to highlight is the power of informal networks and the grapevine in furthering team building.

For instance, the latest news about the events in the organizations, as well as the informal conversations about the managers and each other, often helps in ensuring that team members bond with each other.

Apart from this, bonding through inviting each other home and helping each other during personal emergencies is a key aspect of team building in organizations and other entities.

Conclusion

Lastly, without team bonding, the very basis of the formation of the teams and the units that make up the organizations cannot continue. Thus, it is in the interests of organizations to promote team building as much as possible and ensure that their employees relate to each other both professionally and personally.

While the discussion so far has been on the soft skills aspect of team building, it is also the case that project objectives that include more joint efforts often promote team bonding. To conclude, as families fall apart if there is no bonding between the members, teams and indeed, entire organizations fall apart if its constituents do not bond with each other.