Team building amongst colleagues is a valuable method of improving co-operation, productivity, and positivity in the workplace. It’s an opportunity to get people out of the office, and their comfort zones, to encourage them to interact and develop better relationships with their colleagues. But is there really more to team building then a break from work?
Causes For Concern?
Sometimes, yes, we all need a break from work. From the pressures and confines of the office, from the constant scrutiny of supervisors, managers, and directors, or just from the people you sit next to every day. It’s natural we are all human, we all cope with stress and expectations in different ways. But if you’re the person in charge, and you see that there are very real divisions if not outright conflicts going on in the office, what do you do?
You might feel like you should step in, but won’t out of fear of escalating the situation, a very real problem and not one to be taken lightly. You might feel that some behind the scenes subterfuge, shakeups in the chain of command, relocating warring colleagues from each other, or thinly veiled directives for everyone to stop causing problems and get on with their jobs or else is the best way to handle a tricky situation.
Different situations call for different measures but, sometimes, it’s better to take these problems out of the office. Put them and the people with them, in a different territory where they can be wrong-footed, challenged, put-on-the-spot and made to step-up and tackle issues in a more productive and hopefully, more positive manner. Perhaps I’m overselling it to you at this point and what you actually have is an office or workspace full of disgruntled, unmotivated, and anti-social colleagues who really just need a chance to lighten up.
Enter: The Team Building Trip
Team building getaways are an ideal way of beating all of these problems if not just short of being a guaranteed solution. Raft building in Tenerife. No one would ever think they would be there doing it, let alone doing it with the people they spend 40 hours a week with, yet here they are. Having the time of their lives, on an expenses-paid trip with work, learning to laugh and get on with each other. A fire-pit at night, people are actually talking to each other, engaging in levels of discourse previously unheard or even thought of, helping to embolden employees to communicate with each other in a way they never had previously.
Picture this. The first day back at work, post-trip, and people are smiling. There is laughter, genuine laughter being heard in the office for the first time in months, unforced, as people chat with each other with genuine interest and enthusiasm. Colleagues who were once animous are now amicable. The relationship between management and staff is more relaxed and informal, more open, communicative, better for both parties. The team-building process is complete and you now have a happier and better-connected staff then you did previously.
But Can We Really Achieve That Much From Team Building?
If I have said it once I’ll reiterate it now; there are no guarantees when it comes to these trips. You cannot always pick a venture or an itinerary which satisfies anyone (which is also why in my opinion you are better off going into these things blind and leaving it to the pro’s like us), and some issues just cannot be resolved in a weekend or a week, and neither should you try to force them to be, because your focus shifts away from the enrichment of your staff as a whole, and you will end up scrutinising (possibly unfairly as well) a few select individuals.
But if you’re smart, you pick the right time of year, end up in the right environment and atmosphere (which should come courtesy of yours truly at Conference-Desk) then there is no reason why you will not end up going on the team-building adventure of your workplace lifetime. In fact, the only problem you should ever have after a successful motivation vacation is that everyone won’t stop asking you when the next one is!
To enquire about booking your next team-building trip click here.
