Team building, team building, team bonding, improving team spirit: the beloved child has many names, and it is not always so beloved, because this side of leadership is not always easy.
Teaming up is sometimes fake - and many people have bad experiences with it
I have been a manager for a long time and for the last few years I have been helping teams to develop their activities. I often come across a certain allergy to all kinds of team building. This often stems from well-intentioned but unnecessarily angular exercises.
Developing trust and team chemistry requires testing the boundaries of personal and professional life - but breaking them is not a good idea
It's hard to team up if we're always talking strictly about work - coding, client projects or sales, for example. For the team, it's like meeting someone new at a party. If we only talk about the nice formalities of the object of the celebration, such as the wedding couple, or alternatively about general matters of interest, such as the weather, neither of us usually gets very much out of it. However, it's not wise for me to start reporting my relationship problems to a new acquaintance on my first job either. The situation calls for a little probing and a sense of humour. We can both listen to see if we can discuss something deeper. Go with the flow. Maybe we have some interests or are interested in deeper conversations, for example by telling a story about ourselves.
Similarly, team discussions should not be forced into deep or personal questions. The team must be given opportunities to deepen the discussion. I will come back to these a little later.
Often, getting started feels challenging - do you need to do this now?
For a leader, teaming up can be a challenge. This is often because it is difficult to anticipate the team's reaction to something out of the ordinary and there is a risk that an exercise or change in approach may be received poorly. This applies to all change and development activities, not just team building.
To make the 1+1 team more than 2, i.e. to reap the benefits of cooperation, teamwork is necessary. Enabling the team to work and contribute to its success is one of the most important tasks of a leader and team building is an essential part of this.
[/et_pb_text][difl_advanced_blurb title="Tips for getting started" _builder_version="4.21.0″ _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"]- Get allies from the team. Talk to different people in private. Often many people want to know others better and are interested in better team chemistry. It's just hard to take the initiative alone. You can plan things together, or at least when you raise the issue with everyone, you know that someone is interested.
- Example is often the best motivator. First, share something about yourself - something other than the mundane. It depends on the team what this means, some are sure to stick to safe topics of conversation, while others may share big failures or embarrassing things from their history. Share something a little surprising or special.
- Do simple things. Generally, good team building or team chemistry doesn't require magic tricks, but rather, for example, a team dinner where you ask a question that leads to getting to know each other. For example, sharing a story or experience that is important to you, so you get to know each other, or what is important to each of you outside of work, or a similar question - and of course setting an example yourself.
- Use open questions. The conversation moves forward when others are interested and open questions can be used to deepen the discussion. They are questions to which you cannot answer yes or no. Answers to open questions tend to be broader and more interesting than closed ones and often lead to further questions.
- Take it one step at a time. Each team finds its own chemistry and gets to know each other little by little. You should look for references and experiences from other teams, guides and the like, but don't force or rush them in too quickly. A team develops at its own pace and should not be pushed too quickly.
- Use methods and tools only judiciously. Sometimes it can be a good time, for example in a team meeting, to do an exercise to allow for deeper discussion.
- Keep it simple, don't make a fuss about the method. If the options are 1) to tell you that I am now going to use this method where everyone writes down what is important to them on a post it sheet and then we do this or 2) to just ask a question and during the discussion put a few words on the post it sheet, then the former will make it complicated and easily distanced, while the latter is likely to be straightforward and more approachable.
Uncomplicated exercises from the SmoothTeam guide
For more on this topic, see our guide, where we offer you ten practical exercises free of charge. The exercises are designed to work for ordinary teams and by ordinary team leaders. You don't need to be a team building guru or a team builder. At best, team building is straightforward and certainly not a hassle. That's what we're aiming for and we'd love to hear your feedback!
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