Why Team building?
There is a distinction to be made between 'why team bonding' activities and 'why team building' activities. Teambuilding Solutions specialise in building teams using a variety of behavioural analysis tools and activities that stretch the individuals in ways that have real world relevance. This is not about having a 'jolly' although the delivery of the day will provide the participants with fun and learning. Companies have quite rightly cut down, (or indeed out), all non-essential spend, however, real team building delivers real results that will alter your culture and add to your bottom line. Team building Definition: Team building is an ongoing process that helps a work group evolve into a cohesive unit. The team members not only share expectations for accomplishing group tasks, but trust and support one another and respect one another's individual differences.
The term 'Team Building' has been appropriated by an inordinate amount of different organisations attempting to cash in on a growing sector. However, are all activities that claim to be 'team building' actually doing that? The short answer is no!
There is a distinction between activities or workshops that are designed to help develop your team and activities that create a 'team bonding' experience.
The best way to think about this, I believe, is as a continuum with 'team bonding' at one end and 'team building' at the other. When deciding what you want from the session/day, decide whereabouts on the continuum you want the session to lie. If it's for a bit of fun, then activities closer to team bonding can be selected - some great examples include:
Country Sports - where activities include Archery, Clay Shooting, Duck Herding and Falconry.
School Sports Day - where activities include Egg and Spoon Races, Three Legged Race and, of course, the Sack Race!
Motorised Madness - a session with a variety of motor vehicles including Rage Buggies, Quad Bikes and Power Turns.
However, if you require a session where team development is required, select activities or workshops from the team building side of your line. Some examples of these include:
Behaviour Analysis Workshops - such as Belbin Team Roles, MBTI Type Indicator or SDI (Motivational Theory).
Facilitated Krypton Maze - a series of short challenges to test a teams team working ability.
Facilitated All For One - a selection of projects based on testing teamwork and communication.
All of the activities have their place and their benefits. It's important from the clients perspective to have the desired outcome in mind when deciding which of the great activities out there to choose. If you are in any doubt, you can call us to discuss the differences on 01425 629327 or complete our contact form for someone to get in touch with you.
