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Teambuilding troubleshooting Love it or loathe it, the chances are most PAs – at some point – will be tasked with rallying the troops for a bonding experience. But teambuilding is rarely met with a united opinion that it’s a fun opportunity, says Cora Lydon. More often than not, you’ll come up against some barriers to your plans… EVENTS
“THE MAIN OBJECTIVE when putting together a 1 Volunteer – charities will be delighted to assist in planning teambuilding day is pretty much just that… building a team. It’s about participating in activities or communication that engages and inspires people – it encourages them to meet, bond, understand and trust,” explains Karen Johnston, commercial director for Wyboston Lakes. “One of the pivotal roles of teambuilding events is to reinvigorate delegates and get them to connect – or reconnect – with their colleagues outside of work,” agrees Simon Jones, national sales manager at Butlin’s Conference & Events. “This is especially important for businesses where team members don’t always work geographically close to one another, but still need to maintain strong working relationships.” Done well, teambuilding can have a massive impact on those involved and lead to increased feelings of fulfilment and satisfaction. Karen explains: “It can often promote better performance and team dynamics and, ultimately, change a team environment for the better. Many companies use teambuilding as a means to promote better communication, better productivity, greater creativity, problem solving and ultimately better financial results.” Of course, it’s rarely all plain sailing when you’re the PA trying to pull it all together. However, rest assured: barriers to successful team building can be overcome – and it’s easier than you may think.
TEAM BUILDING ON A BUDGET Stuck for ideas? DIY options mean limited budgets can achieve big things: 1 Divide your group into two and provide each sub-group with materials to construct a bridge: pipes, tape, tarp, cardboard, newspapers, rods etc. Now physically divide the teams within the room so they can’t see what the others are doing and task each with building half a bridge – but let them know it must mirror the other team’s creation to create one complete bridge. This will force teams to talk both amongst themselves, and to the other team. 34
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a day where the team work alongside each other to give something back to their community. 1 A challenge for the company could also be used for team building. Identify an area that needs improvement or some fresh ideas and divide your group into teams, tasked with finding a solution to the problem. At the end each team should present. For best results, mix up departments. 1 Think too about how to get great results – could you order matching t-shirts or running bibs to foster team spirit? And why not end the day on a high by splashing your budget on a celebratory dinner, an informal awards ceremony or a fun evening out to leave a good impression.
TEAM BUILDING WHEN YOU’RE ALL BUSY Enforced fun and team building can feel like a chore, especially when inboxes are groaning, so don’t be surprised if there are a few moans when invites land. “From the outset, make sure you understand what it is you’re looking to accomplish, the demographic make-up of the group and the objectives of the group’s time in order to provide experiences that engage all delegates and achieve goals in the set time frame,” suggests Simon. “Then make sure you communicate the objectives clearly to everyone involved, to ensure they are all buying in to the idea and will set aside time accordingly. It’s also really important to make sure you’re measuring the ROI of your team-building activities. “There are lots of different ways you can do this, including bringing external facilitators in. But my favourite – and an increasingly popular way – is to use technology, such as a GPS treasure hunt. You can programme content for the clues to reflect the business or meeting objectives and really see how much the delegates have understood and retained.”
TEAMBUILDING FOR REMOTE WORKERS What if you’re trying to bring together a group of remote workers who don’t yet know each other or have an understanding of how others work?
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