Before Your Next Team Building.... READ THIS. PART 1

Where team building is concerned, most organizations read from the same script and it goes something like this. There is friction in the office. Silos emerging, and traces of toxicity are beginning to show up. Gossip is rampant and trust levels are low. Efficiency in delivery is either getting affected or will soon begin to get affected.

What does HR do? The same thing they have always done which is to plan a team building session. They have done the same thing every year and every year they still end up with the same issues but nothing will stop that team building from happening.

So, they begin to plan and they go off to some far away place and play games. The games vary depending on the creativity of the person conducting the team building exercise. Note that this person conducting the exercise is not someone who understands the business in any way. Mostly he is athletic and has a proper understanding of outdoor games so people do indeed have a great time. Lots of sweat, noise, fun and laughter and at the end of the day, everyone agrees that they had a great time.

Then comes crunch time. They all get back to the office and the memories of the away event linger for a few days. Then, a very simple occurrence in the office takes the organization back to its former settings. The silos regroup and the problems that precipitated the need for team building have shown up again. What does HR do, wait for the next team building. This cycle continues over and over again and yet different results are expected.