Team Building: Not Just a Frivolous Expense
We are in the middle of arguably the deepest recession in modern history. When times are tough it becomes a necessity to cut costs and save money. Often the first thing to go are the fun, social, team building activities. After all, such things are not essential, are they?
While I can understand the thinking behind such a step; the work place doesn’t have to be a fun place, it needs to be a productive place. It needs to win contracts, deliver projects, make products, pay the bills. I would suggest that dropping the investment in your greatest resource; your people, is counter productive and short sighted. Yes, you will save money in the short term. But at what cost?
Important resources
Your team are your most valuable resource. A happy team is a motivated and productive team. When times are tough you want them to be behind you. You want your team to be willing to go the extra mile for the cause. For the cost of a curry and beer you might possible be able to find the extra productivity you need to keep everything afloat when times are hard.
It’s the small things that mean that somebody will want to work for you. If you have a high turnover of staff it costs more money and time. Recruitment, training, orientation are all expensive activities. These activities are things that you want to avoid.
Happy campers
The best way to save money and be more cost effective is to spend a little time and money on morale. A happy team is a cheaper team.
What things encourage you as a member of a team? What makes you happy to go the extra mile? What keeps morale high and you motivated?
Project Manager at Headscape Ltd; Director of iTakeout Ltd; Disciple of Jesus Christ; Generally quite busy. | 
The same kind of thinking that comes emotionally-intelligent leaders, people are rooted in and driven by emotions, and you can nudge people towards the more positive end of the spectrum and enable them to be more productive.
(as long as they are not in an environment where mediocrity is not easily acceptable)
NB: Missed the ‘e’ off ‘morale’ in second to last paragraph, otherwise nice tidbit article.
Thanks Phil,
Maybe there is something to be said for “work hard, play hard”. Balance is key.
NB: That’s what comes from a last minute edit at 8.30 am.
Good spot!
Interesting post Rob and a subject that is dear to my heart
I definitely agree with you that many companies are cutting team building. However, I’ve been experiencing a reality that is different from what you’ve described.
>Often the first thing to go are the fun, social, team building activities.
Yes companies are scaling back but I am astonished at how many requests there are for purely recreational activities masquerading as team building. Yes the request is for “team building” but it doesn’t take long to realize that what is really being asked for is a day of fun away from the office.
Now I am not a party pooper by ANY means and I have nothing against fun. In fact, I often say “If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing”. What I don’t get is why during the deepest recession since the 1930s there is still so much demand for recreation. By comparison, there seems to be relatively little demand for facilitated business team building to help teams come together and generate solutions to the very real and pressing challenges contfronting organizations.
I’m not sure why this is happening. Some calling a social excursion “team building” on the company financial statements is a way to avoid scrutiny and criticism from shareholders and the media. Others say that It’s as if companies think a placebo like a day of fun and games is going to make up for the very real pressures that many employees feel daily. It won’t.
One would think that it would be far more worthwhile for companies to spend time and money getting to root causes, harnessing the creative energy of their people and generating solutions. It’s possible to do this in a way that is fun, upbeat, and engaging.
As long as there continues to be a focus on the frivilous, we will continue to see team building cut. If the long hoped for recovery is delayed much longer, team building will soon be something we used to do.
Rob, I would welcome your comments on these post from my team building blog:
Why companies are cutting team building?
http://corporateteambuilding.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/why-companies-are-cutting-team-building
Team building during a recession: should companies cut it?
http://corporateteambuilding.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/should-companies-cut-team-building-during-a-recession
Anne, I think maybe the question to ask is what defines a Team Building exercise. We need to be careful not to put Team Building in a box.
I also think that it is important to include the social aspect in such activities. Not only are they fun; which is helpful for building team moral, but there is a sense where taking people from their normal, more structured, environment is actually quite releasing. Enabling people think and interact in much freer way.
Some of our best ideas have been generated sitting in a bar of an evening.
You get to know people by spending time with them and experiencing things with them. So I think that you need to allow for this aspect of team building just as much, if not more so, than a more structured approached.
At Headscape we have done a number of things. These include attending conferences, going for meals, holding whole company meetings, climbing mountains, holding technical play days, giving people time to work on personal projects. I believe that each type has it’s place and what we try and achieve is a more holistic approach to team building.
People need to enjoy the process, whatever it is that you decide to do. If they don’t then not only will you not get the best out of the individuals, but it may actually be counter productive in terms of building your team.
How would you define team building?
Please don’t get me wrong. don’t disagree with you. I think there is value in social and recreational activities. In fact, they are important to team health. Work would be a dreary place if all social and recreational activities were eliminated. I also think that team building can be enhanced when the recreational element is included. One of my favourite sayings is “If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doing.”
Having said that, to pass off any social or recreational activity as “team building” is IMHO dishonest and misleading. Sometimes it is as if companies think they are running rec centres or country clubs instead of businesses. When the pendulum swings and companies are spending more on recreation than consulting and team building to boost performance, somethings wrong.
Going bowling or sitting at a bar is not equivalent to going through a simulation with a team, debriefing it to uncover key learnings and applying them to specific business issues. Not even close. We do the entire profession a disservice when we paint it all with the same brush. “Team building” becomes misunderstood and viewed as discretionary fluff that can always be cut whenever there is the slightest dip in the economy.
How do I define team building?
I think I’ve articulated it really clearly here and identified the core elements of team building. I don’t think I can improve on it:
Team Building: Back to Business…Back to Basics
http://bit.ly/teambuildingbasics
I’d love to get your thoughts and reactions. Great discussion by the way.