Team building is seen in many different ways. Let us be clear up front, a golf outing is a great way for a team to bond, but it is NOT team building. While team bonding is wonderful and has many benefits, there is a clear distinction between the two. Team building facilitation gives your team new skills, provides a place to sort through interpersonal relationship and strengthens your team’s performance.
1. Practice skills in a low risk scenario – Team building provides a space for coworkers to use interpersonal skills through collaborative processes where the outcomes have absolutely no bearing work place productivity. As facilitators we often say the results of our activities mean nothing; what matters is the skills which are practiced and the connections between staff which are strengthened.
2. Open lines of communication – Exercises in team building facilitation help individuals clarify their own interaction styles and allow coworkers to familiarize themselves with how to best communicate with each other. Increased communication allows interpersonal relationships to thrive while also allowing work place communication to improve. Both of these create the added benefit of increased productivity.
3. Increase understanding and empathy – Creating a shared experience together builds trust and comfort between coworkers. A work place built on trust sees lower anxiety from its staff. Possessing a truer understanding of each other minimizes animosity and friction. In a workplace where we feel understood we are more free to be honest and open about our needs.
