Why Team Building Events Fail
We won’t lie, Team Building events can fail your company, come up short, and negatively impact your business. But without addressing WHY that happens, WHY Team Building events fail then you can’t make the change to address those shortcomings.
To understand why Team Building fails, firstly we need to understand the purpose of Team Building events.
Without going into too much detail, Team Building events should: Improve Morale, Develop Stronger Communication Skills, Strengthen Workplace Comradery, Improve Problem Solving Skills, Create Deeper Trust, Improve Customer Service, Advance Leadership Skills, Decrease Staff Turnover, Decrease Staff Sick Leave and just Advance your business further.
This is what Team Building Events can do for you and your team.
So with that laid out, why and how do these events come up short? And it comes down to 2 reasons
1. Pride and Ego
To get the best results out of Team Building or from ANY development program, be it Fitness, Health, Leadership, Teamwork and any other area of potential growth, one needs to be open and honest with what the motivation is, along with areas of weakness.
And to do this, you need to put your pride along with your ego aside.
The reason Team Building events often come up short is they don’t meet the client’s end expectations. You see going into a Team Building or any development program without openly discussing your goals and objectives the supplier can never meet your expectations. When you get a PT you tell them your goal: Lose Weight, Get Abs, and Rehabilitate an Injury. This way they can customise a plan SUITED to your goals.
Now YOU could be the reason your team isn’t performing, or you may be worried you could be. So you don’t openly address this with your supplier. But by doing so you are only hindering your own success.
To see results and gain any benefit from your Team Building Programs you need to openly discuss goals, objectives and desired outcomes. Having “fun” is an okay answer so long as it is followed with “..and develop the following skills….”. Team Events SHOULD be fun, but they should also address areas of development.
Bonding vs. Building
The second reason why Team Building events come up short, it’s due to the common misunderstanding of Team BONDING and Team BUILDING.
To understand the difference, it’s really in the name: Bonding & Building.
Events that are only social, purely fun, with zero content are Bonding events. Think of Bowling, Bubble Soccer, and Axe Throwing. Now to some this may sound like great team-building events, but they are actually only bonding events. They don’t provide any real skill which directly impacts the company. Despite all the fun, you get out of it, you are more than likely in small little cliques, not working in groups and focusing on your own performance above anyone else.
Events that have key skills (such as those listed at the beginning of the Article) built into the event are BUILDING events. A program where you need to build something out of Lego or Survivor develops skills that directly benefit the success of the business. They are also ideally fun and exciting but give real content to your team development.
It’s important to pick wisely, choose an event that aids in your skill development, or at the very least understand the difference and manage your expectations accordingly.
So How Do You Get Results?
We all want a positive ROI from our team events. If you want to learn which program styles and skill focus areas take our Obligation Free Team Assessment
To ensure your next Team Building event is a great success keeping the following in mind:
Are you wanting a Team BUILDING event or Team BONDING event
Openly discuss your: Goals, Objectives and Desired Outcome with the supplier
Work with a supplier who customises their events to target your above outlined Objectives
Focus on VALUE not Flashy. Spending Thousands to SHOW how much you “care” doesn’t pay off in the long run.