Time To Move Up

FROM TEAM BUILDING TO TEAM ALIGNMENT

When was the last time your company had a Team Building session? How many times in the last five years has your company done Team Building? Ever wonder why during Team Building, most of the participants can hit the targets of each activity—but when they get back to the workplace, after a few weeks, things begins to fall apart again?

Maybe its time we get serious and understand one thing: Team building is not the answer for everything that goes wrong!

Following are the common pitfalls of organizations that engage in Team Building activities.

1) Team Building is not a sportsfest where physical strength between teams are tested. It is obvious from many companies that they infuse the concept of Team Building during games where departments are pitted against other departments. By doing this, the gap and differences among departments become even more pronounced. Thus you end up with winners and losers instead of building camaraderie.

2) Team Building is not a summer outing of games and more games. To cut on costs, companies resort to merging the annual summer outing with Team Building. They use this single event to rally everyone to work closer and more intently. How can this be achieved when (a) Summer outings are generally voluntary and there is usually no perfect attendance? and (b) How can over 100 employees (we have witnessed even 200, 300, 500 employees) all be herded into a one-day sportsfest-cum-teambuilding! You may create a venue for mass protest not Team Building!

3) Team Building should ideally not be conducted by employees involved in the organization. How can there be credibility with a facilitator who is an employee, who may be part of the concern, and who is too immersed in (or eaten up by) the organization. You may hear participants remark “But her department is part of the problem!” or “What gives him the right to tell us we are not working as a team when he is the cause of the problem!” Again, when companies begin to cut costs, the first one to suffer is Training and Team Building.

4) Team Building is not about the venue or the food. Sadly, whenever a company plans to have Team Building, the main debate among employees and management revolves around where it will be held and what kind of food will be served. Doesn’t this downplay the value of the event? As a consultant, it bothers me when the focus of Team Building for some companies is having fun, exploring the new venue, and trying out new food. The more pressing concerns that must be addressed should be (a) What gaps are not being fulfilled by the company? (b) What attributes do not support achieving team goals, (c) What issues and concerns need to be addressed, and (d) Why does the company believe Team Building can answer all these questions?

5) Team Building is not the answer for all concerns. How often has Team Building been conducted in your organization Every year? Every two years? Every three years? Have there been significant changes in personnel attitudes? Have there been significant attitude changes in the management as well as the company's direction? If not, it may be because your company thinks that the solution for any and all concerns is Team Building!

Thousands of companies now realize that after Team Building, there is a need to go to the next higher stage: Team Alignment.

When issues are solvable, then Team Building works. However, when the gaps and concerns keep getting bigger and unmanageable, then Team Building is a failure. Team Alignment introduces critical attributes outside the usual scope of Team Building.

Before you jump into your next Team Building seminar, think twice.

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