08
Oct

Do Team Building Activities Work?

Organizations spend millions of dollars every year on team-building activities. Ropes courses, bowling matches and survival exercises are just a few of the activities designed to help improve team functioning. During the COVID crisis, organizations have turned to virtual team building activities including games of Pictionary, remote escape rooms and open mic events.

Whether team building activities are conducted face-to-face or online, the big question remains, “does team building work?” Well, it depends on who you ask.

The American Psychological Association reports that “team building can help employees to feel valued and valued employees are more motivated and productive.” In addition, results from the University of Central Florida and Army Research Institute study suggest that team building has “a positive moderate effect across all team outcomes.”

Meanwhile, The Mars Organization, a multinational food processing and veterinary company, found that team-building events helped members “feel closer for a brief period of time.” However, the research found that “these bonds do not hold up under the day-to-day pressures of an organization focused on delivering results.” Specifically, the research showed that vague goals related to team-building activities often failed to achieve the desired long-term outcomes.

Do’s and Dont’s of Team Building

While the data is mixed, and opinions vary widely, as it relates to the long-term success of team-building activities, there are some definite dos and dont’s:

1. Don’t embarrass people. Activities that participants feel are childish, like trust falls and sing-alongs, don’t improve team morale or functioning; they just make most people feel foolish.
2. Do customize the activity to fit the team’s needs. For instance, if the team is struggling to communicate effectively, select an activity that teaches participants better communication skills.
3. Don’t select a one-size-fits-all activity. For example, if there are personal conflicts among members of the team, you may not want to select paintball as the activity, which will likely result in promoting competition rather than collaboration.
4. Do activities regularly. One grand team-building activity at the annual meeting does not make up for poor teamwork the rest of the year. Instead, engage in smaller team-building activities throughout the year.
5. Don’t try to resolve specific individual conflicts. If two individuals on a team have conflict, a group session is not the place to resolve it. These conflicts should be resolved one-to-one, not in a group setting.

The above content is from Grant’s new book, Diagnosing Your Team: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Transforming Teams. Pre-order the book now and begin improving the health of your team.