Team Building is Not for Fun

By Solomon Masala | Team Building

May 24
Discipline Team Building

Real teambuilding is not really for fun.  It may end up being fun or having fun as part of the process, yet its core objective should not be fun.  If that’s the case, you’re wasting your money.

Team bonding is for fun, camaraderie building is for fun…that is the design, that is the intention.

Even though team building is better if there is fun, that is not its goal. Some say teambuilding is for building morale, and strengthening a professional team. Let’s dig into that a moment.

Building morale is defined as building confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline.
To build confidence, you need to build skills.
To build enthusiasm, an authentic inspiration and connection must be developed.
And discipline requires focus, commitment and resolve.
These move a team forward, and these require real work, not just fun.

Your team should truly perform better after the session.

If you hire a trainer that can only bring ‘fun and games,’ a few unfortunate things happen.
First, you continue the legacy of lame team building that makes your people want to choose that day for their dental appointments; in short, it is typically perceived as a waste of time. Secondly, if the team really has development work to do – issues to be resolved, tensions to dissolve, tough decisions to make or dysfunctions to change, fun and games breaks trust. It can make the leadership of the organization seem out of touch, or worse, too weak to deal with realities.

When you hire a team-building trainer who knows how to use the fun factor as leverage towards the team actually moving forward, breaking bad habits and resolving tough situations, you invest in real team building.  With fun as a component not as the core objective, you actually get team development, you actually get behavior shift, and you get culture change.

For your next team building event or session, choose trainers who know how to weave in fun while they support the team in doing the hard work to attain excellence. Now you’re using your money wisely.

 

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About the Author

Solomon is a trainer and consultant who works with organizations and teams in a graceful, energizing, and insightful manner - transforming the individuals and the whole. Inspiring, palpable and sustainable, positive change is always a result.