I’ve been thinking a lot about team building lately. I continue to be surprised by those who think that if their team is performing, they don’t need to work on team building. I disagree. Your team may be doing well now, but how can you sustain that if you don’t continue to work on it and grow it? People are not static. Teams are not static. Every great team has areas to work on and it doesn’t just happen. Team building isn’t just about going out for lunch together or even doing some team building game. Those can be components of team building but you also have to get to the things that the team needs to improve upon. If you’re looking for some team building ideas, here are a couple:
Reflect & Improve
Ask the team to assess what went well this past week? What successes should be shared and celebrated?
Where did you fall short and what could have been done differently?
What will you do next time to be more successful?
This activity can be done weekly to keep things moving and fresh or after the completion of a project or major work effort. The idea is to constantly celebrate your successes, learn from what could be done better, and not repeat the same mistakes.
What’s Next
The rules for this exercise is that there are no rules – no idea is out of bounds
Have the team create a list of ideas of what they think the team should be working on or looking into.
Put all ideas on a whiteboard, onscreen, etc. so everyone can see all of the ideas.
Categorize into short term, medium, long term.
Select one from each and develop the details.
Keep the list and bring back when needed.
You may learn things you never even thought you needed.
Share with me your ideas below.