If you need any further incentive, realize that workplace friction is expensive. a happy and harmonious workgroup is much more creative and productive.
A simple activity might be a brief 15-minute exercise during a regular weekly meeting. at the far other extreme is an elaborate all-day retreat at a swanky secluded location with catered food and a professional facilitator. This is expensive and requires shutting down the company for the day.
Warning: Many people had bad experiences with early versions of team-building attempts. you may find some are skeptical and wary of being manipulated. for example, in the 1990s, corporate adventure-training programs were popular. these were often very physical and involved some pretty wild activities like paintball wars and ziplining. they flopped. Then other team exercises went completely the opposite way. Many of those were built around a very popular personality assessment questionnaire, which assigned everybody to one of 16 personality types. they mostly flopped too.
Current team exercises are much more down-to-earth. here are some general thoughts. Then we?ll look at an example activity, and then some sources of information.
For your first activity, make it simple. you want your group to enjoy it, and to see that it works. Hints:
? Advance planning is essential.
? have a clearly defined objective and state what it is.
? a good starting point would be revisiting your mission statement. (In a future column, we?ll talk about this.)
? Stress that the focus is on looking forward.
? Convey the attitude that team building is fun.
And at first, here are some situations to avoid:
? Role-play activities, where most just watch.
? Overly ?touchy-feely? topics; stick to business.
? Handouts of more than one page, or too complex.
? a very difficult problem ? what fun is that?
Very important: be sure to save some time at the end of the exercise for a wrap-up. This is where each employee makes a comment or two on their ?take-aways?- what insight they?re taking back to their job from the exercise.
If several smaller exercises prove effective, you might consider doing a bit bigger (say half-day) event.
Here?s a very simple example of a group development exercise. This can work well in a company where there is lots of change occurring. all you need are pens and paper. allow everyone three minutes to mentally choose an object in their office or workspace and then draw a sketch of it, using the hand they don?t normally use. Then each person trades papers with another, who tries to figure out what it is.
The discussion could be about how change is briefly uncomfortable, but can be adapted to. Or how a new task can be a fun challenge. Or that even with a temporary handicap, you were still able to get your basic point across.
And last, but very important, realize that you are probably not ready for a team-building exercise if:
? There was a recent negative event, like loss of a big client. This might turn in to a ?pity party? and defeat the purpose.
? Trust issues are large, especially of you. This could have blowback.
? you sense that morale is low. you may be much better off starting with a simple Friday potluck lunch, and observe how that goes.
For the next steps: Online, Google ?team building exercise? and see what looks appropriate for you. the Bellingham library has several helpful books at call number 658.402. and here are three websites which are good for ideas and starters:
? wilderdom.com/games
? retailindustry.about.com
? inc.com/guides
Go ahead, and have some fun while you?re at it.
ABOUT SCORE
To learn more about managing cash flow, and other small business matters, contact SCORE, ?Counselors to America?s Small Business.? SCORE is a nonprofit nationwide organization with more than 13,000 volunteer business counselors who provide free, confidential business counseling and low-cost training workshops to small business owners. Call the local SCORE chapter at 360-685-4259 to schedule an appointment. for details about the organization,visit SCORE.org.
Ask SCORE: Team building can help employees refocus
Related posts:
- What is the purpose and intent of a team building exercise?
- Complete Over On Team Building Activities ? ArticleCatalogue.com
- Army training or team building exercises for schools?
- Dig This for Your Next Team Building Event ? Las Vegas Insider
- Team Building? ? Yahoo! Answers
Source: http://www.business4noobs.com/ask-score-team-building-can-help-employees-refocus/
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