"We don't work together as a team!" complained Janet, a group manager for a large insurance company, to Larry, her human resources consultant. "Everyone just seems to do their own thing, they don't share information, don't try to help each other, and just don't seem to care about anyone else's problems. What we need is a team building offsite!" Janet and Larry decided to put together a two-day offsite for the team at a resort about two hours away from work. Janet wanted immediate focus on the problem so Larry worked double-time to put together the event to be held later in the month. Larry put together an agenda full of trust-building exercises, ice-breakers, and brainstorming sessions on how the team could work better together.
Just about half of the people on Janet's team had turned up on the first day of the offsite, because the others were busy with another important project that was to be finished by the end of the week. The team members that had arrived participated in the team building exercises out of politeness and didn't appear to take any interest in them as they felt very soft and emotional. The event didn't have a business program that was explicitly mentioned, as Janet intended the offsite to focus on team building. Although the thought provoking sittings were good there were no concrete actions accomplished for the team to carry through. Basically, the offsite was a hopeless faux pas, and was heartily disapproved by the team.
This may sound like a huge exaggeration to some, but to others it reminds them of an offsite they planned themselves or attended. Offsites are very successful in providing the means for helping the team to focus on business problem solving, fine-tuning strategies and coming up with totally new approaches for doing things. An important side result of offsites is that the real team-building that happens while trying to solve different business problems. When an offsite is done well, it will help to create better teams that work better together, thus accomplishing more when addressing business issues. When an offsite is done poorly, the team members will view it as a waste of time which reflects poorly on your leadership abilities.
These simple guidelines will help you to be certain that your offsites are both accomplishing their duties and creating teams that will last.
Team building alone is insufficient rationale for an offsite activity to be undertaken by your employees. The projects tackled during the offsite should increase effective team interaction, but if it is the focal point of activities, participants will feel their time is undervalued. The offsite should have clearly defined business goals to be addressed. These may include targets for the future, dealing with key customers, or brainstorming new options for the business. By designing activities to address these goals, team building exercises can be incorporated without losing participant motivation. The business will also benefit from the planning and productivity of the activity.
Provide plenty of time for networking - Give ample time during the day and evening for the team to have snacks, enjoy beverages, and just talk about whatever strikes them. Team building starts with building relationships, and building relationships starts with getting to know each other. Allow for networking time to be free and unscripted and let the team enjoy some casual conversation with each other.
Don't hold the offsite during a crunch period - When you do hold your offsite, you don't want your team members to be checking email every five minutes or constantly leaving to make important calls. Do your best to hold an offsite during a "slow" time in your business. As with most businesses, there will probably never be an optimal time to hold an offsite but do your best to avoid times when team members are already burning the midnight oil.
Consider an overnight event. Some of the most productive offsite work can result when the group eats together, relaxes over a couple of drinks, and talks late into the night brainstorming about potential ideas or considering solutions to serious company problems. In these productive late night sessions, colleagues could engage in productive conversations and discuss new ideas or organizational problems. Most importantly, however, colleagues are able to build rapport, which forms a strong foundation for excellent teamwork.
Following a business meeting where an idea was born, it is crucial to develop a plan of action. If you are going to complete a project elsewhere it is imperative that you have a well thought-out plan of action. Without a plan, you will just have a list of ideas or thoughts and no way to complete the project. You need to do this as soon as possible after the original meeting and keep your team members informed of your process. Otherwise, the team will lose faith in the project and feel that their time could have been put to better use.
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