Shaun Parker asked:
Let’s take a look at the two different scenarios. The first scenario is one which we hear all too often, you have a team that doesn’ really communicate, there’s been a high turnover of staff and morale needs a good boost. This is when team building comes in. Taking your team out of it’s normal environment, taking part in a seemingly non business related task will relax your people.
They will become less guarded, they will start to learn more about each other and quite importantly they will learn that within their teams it’s actually ok to ask for help or to utilise someone else’s strength for the good of the team. They start to work together and see the results for doing so.
The second scenario has a much more positive feel initially, you have a great team of people, they are working together and producing some great results, all seems good in your company. Unfortunately when people or teams are performing well, this is when they attract interest from other companies and they get offered alternative jobs with attractive packages.
Team building is an extremely useful tool for this kind of situation. By continually strengthening the bonds within your team, individuals will becoming increasingly satisfied at work, they will be more likely to think twice about leaving the team and the great atmosphere for the unknown.
So we’ve looked two different situations where team building really does help, now let’s look at the reasons not to host an event. We haven’t got time, “we can’t close the office down just for a day out” or “we haven’t got any money”. These are reasons that we hear a fair bit, they are real reasons but you have to see the bigger picture.
You don’t have to close the office down for the day, you can host an event in the evening after work, so you do have time. Ask yourself who is the most important employee you have in your team, who’s the key achiever, now ask yourself what you would do if they left?
How much business would you lose? How much would it cost to recruit and train a replacement for them? You will probably see that hosting a team building event to keep your team happy is far more cost effective than loosing them.
Team building doesn’t need to be expensive. Choosing the right event for your team is crucial and this is where you need to speak with an experienced events company. It’s possible to get some great cost effective events and if you tell the events company what budget you are working towards and what your objectives are, then they can usually adapt or create something to maximise your budget.
So is team building really the secret to success? Absolutely, a team that plays together stays together!