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The case for team building efforts is stronger when the times are tougher By Adrian Hayes
t is one of the strange anomalies and, frankly, naiveté of businesses today: in the sporting world, where the stakes, competition and money have increased beyond all recognition in the past 20 years, teamwork and team building is treated with the utmost criticality in producing a high-performing unit. In the expedition world, too, true teamwork is the key factor in achieving a major goal –and, indeed, often staying alive– and I give my teams weekly “team building” training and awareness in the months leading up to an expedition and whilst on it. Yet, in our corporate world, where the stakes, competition and money have risen equally as dramatically, team development languishes in the dark ages.
In the first instance, 90% of our companies will do either no formal team building training or resort to a once a year fun based “team building day” in the naïve belief that this will create a high performing corporate team. And secondly, when times are hard, any team development training will usually be scaled down or even cut. All of this is naïve, dangerous and, frankly, bunk. A “team building day” such as a treasure hunt, building a raft to cross a swimming pool or embarking on a high ropes course will bring fun, enjoyment and camaraderie. All good things to have in a corporate calendar- and if you can’t have some fun alongside the relentless pressure of sales targets, profit targets and growth, then a company isn’t putting its employees first.
But that day won’t discover or resolve communication blockages in a team, silo mentality, misunderstandings, the support each team member needs, individual and team values, its strengths and weaknesses, feedback and acknowledgement and many, many more factors that go into creating a high performing team. And it is easy to have a relatively well gelled team when times are good, sales are flowing in and profits are trebling every year– the periods when companies will feel they can spend money on personal, leadership and team development. Yet in recessions,
challenging times and periods of uncertainty, this is the time when this development is needed more than ever. For the simple fact is that, no matter what bonuses an individual employee is on, the quality and effectiveness of a team working seamlessly together is one of the key factors that will result in a company overcoming major challenges– or achieving success. For there are very few employees in any organization in the world who work in a vacuum. So much of what we do is utterly dependent on a shared vision, objectives and goals; true listening, understanding and support; and commitment, camaraderie and cohesion of a team we are part of. Real team coaching and team development, as opposed to “team building days” provides this. A structured program of awareness, training and development over the course of a few months or a year, whose benefits will far outweigh lost time emptying our inboxes. In some cases, a leader has the skills to provide this awareness, training and change. However, there are so many models, mantras, lessons, examples, exercises, experiential work, tools and techniques in the world of the real personal, leadership and team development that it often requires the support of experts. That is why top sporting teams enlist the skills of an entire group of coaches, psychologists and
A team building activity conducted by Adrian Hayes
Adrian Hayes is a British record-breaking adventurer, keynote speaker, leadership, team and executive coach, campaigner and author. www.adrianhayes.com
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Entrepreneur january 2017