Teambuilding doesn’t work
Several times a year we are asked to organize a teambuilding for a (management) team. The leader proposes one or two days in the mountains or the forest to learn each other better. In that sort of teambuilding’s we don’t believe. Why?
Good teamwork is very important and crucial for the success of a company. Customers are demanding more and more. If they have a question or a problem they expect a immediate reaction. The work is getting more and more complex and for employees it is harder and harder to keep up with all the (technological) developments. That is why teamwork is crucial: a team can achieve more then all individuals separate. So that is also the reason why managers make a lot of work to make their team a real strong team. Therefor it is not unusual to go somewhere “outside” to discover the team member’s talents, ambitions and experiences. And there are consultants enough that can help you with a team assessment and a complex team task like building pyramids. But these actions are all directed inside the company. Off course the team was talking about clients and markets but all the objectives were directed inside. And there, outside, it all is happening!
And that “inside direction” kills the sense of urgency what is needed these times! A true sense of urgency is that people act on critical issues by looking to the outside: the market and the customers. People with a real sense of urgency think that action on those critical issues is needed now, not eventually, not when it fits easily into a schedule. Now means making progress every single day. Critically important means challenges that is central to success or survival, winning or losing. A sense of urgency is not an attitude that I must have a meeting today but that the meeting must accomplish something important today. Urgent behavior is not driven by a belief that all is well or all is a mess but, instead, that the world contains great opportunities and great hazards. And a strong team with the real sense of urgency wants to move and to win and now!
And when you look back to all the teambuilding’s you had yourself. How many times they want to build a team with a real sense of urgency?
Creating a splendid team begins with clear objectives, a common goal and the involvement of the team members. This means starting with the awareness of the sense of urgency. And teams will discover that this is real teamwork and that it is fun!!
And when you decide to go outside to work on that sense of urgency the teambuilding makes sense and is worth its money.