Why People Hate Team Building Events (and How to Make Them Lovable)
A bit of organized fun, like bowling, go-karting, paintball, or an escape room, seems like it would make a great team-building event. Yet the contrived nature of these activities often backfires and leads to superficial or temporary relationships.
On paper, the logic of team building events makes sense: Gather employees in an unusual setting – one which ideally fosters, or maybe even requires, teamwork – in order to force them out of their shells, build and strengthen relationships, and improve cohesion.
From collaboration-focused exercises such as “trust falls” and other team-based activities to offsite events like bowling, go-karting, paintball, and escape rooms, to simply dining and/or drinking together – a bit of organized fun seems like a great way to get a team to bond and to bolster business operations.
That’s why an entire industry has been shaped around the team-building concept.
In practice, however, it’s rarely so straightforward. Let’s face it: The words “team building” generally strike dread in most employees.
Indeed, only 11% of workers believe that team-building away days boost their confidence at work, while a mere 14% agree that such activities enhance communication with managers and other staff. Those of you who have great relationships with your colleagues and enjoy socializing outside the office are in the minority – fewer than one in five people feel that out-of-office bonding actually improves their working relationships.
Why, then, do most offices still organize these events at least once or twice a year?
Clearly, there’s a need to increase cooperation and morale in the workplace. Yet, it seems that few alternatives to traditional team-building events have been created.
Team Building: Right Idea, Poor Execution
Admittedly, the idea behind such experiences – to develop trust and communication among employees by placing them in an uncertain and slightly stressful environment – is well-intentioned. The contrived nature of these activities, though, often yields shallow and relatively short-term trust and relationships.
Why are they so ineffective? Sure, shared emotions can help feed team spirit. But when these colleagues return to work, the daily pressures of a result-focused business environment typically outweighs any hollow connections made during a team-building exercise – especially if it’s unconnected to office operations.
Various employee surveys have actually found that most workers feel that the connection between a team-building event and a company’s greater business goals is usually unclear outside of the fact that it is meant to improve the way an office runs. Such an ethereal notion doesn’t actually give employees any ownership over the bonds that they are meant to be forming, and nor does it actually promote any lasting impact.
In fact, executives and HR reps who advocate and insist on team-building often seem to be doing so simply for the sake of “team building best practices,” which can have a detrimental impact on company culture.
Worse yet, team-building events can be used as proof that efforts are being made to work on teamwork. In reality, these events and activities don’t necessarily contribute to producing better results or fixing any serious, inherent communication and collaboration issues.
Consequently, not only can staff view these team-building endeavors with derision, but morale can even suffer, particularly when actual deep-seeded, complex team dynamics need some form of alteration or fix.
Leadership Should Be a Key Focus
In large part, real team-building is a leadership issue. Good management day in and day out is among the best tools to stimulate a teamwork-focused culture and to encourage open lines of communication among colleagues.
Instead, forcing employees to take part in team-building activities places the onus on them to improve the workplace environment. It also implies, condescendingly, that an operational problem can be overcome by an afternoon outside the office.
If a team suffers from a lack of synergy, something is in the way. The only effective way to break down that wall is to face it head on, not through “forced fun.” Effective HR departments and good managers must facilitate teamwork and communication every day, not just during team-building exercises and workshops.
HR should work with managers to ensure that their staff work on projects. This allows employees to build an in-depth understanding of their colleagues’ roles and expertise. Ultimately, this type of work environment promotes input from everyone. Giving workers ownership of their challenges makes all parties feel heard and involved.
Team-Building Requires the Right Kinds of Activities
All that said, there are team-building activities that can be very positive. Rather than solving random, artificial problems that are unrelated to the workplace, the focus should be on bringing staff together. The goal is to address real challenges faced in the daily course of business. This could involve defining short or long-term team strategies.
Effective team building can be achieved through experiential learning. For example, using real-work situations and tasks as activities can improve trust, communication, and synergy among the team. Moreover, these teamwork exercises should contribute to a tangible outcome. That way, the team cannot complain that the event is just taking up valuable work time.
More importantly, these activities teach team members how to communicate effectively. They also learn how to cooperate, make decisions, and reach results. This is the cornerstone of true team building.
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