Why Your Team Hates Team Building (And How to Change It)

Max Velocity Team/ February 15, 2019/ General

Like many things that make perfect sense on paper but somehow fail to reproduce the same effect upon execution, team building activities often don’t live up to the tall promises made by corporate managers and owners.

This brings us to the question – what exactly goes wrong when team building is something that has been occurring for decades? Is it the organisation which is to be blamed? The wrong activity? Or perhaps the stringent attitude of employees?

You will be relieved to know that in most cases, activity is the reason why things don’t go as per the plan.

Earned a bad reputation

Too much of a good thing is bad too. This is absolutely true in the case of team building activities. Organisations got so smitten with the idea of transforming their team with just a few hours of activity that they ended up overdoing it. Traditional activities also became repetitive which made things even worse.   

The bitter truth is that the mere mention of team building rakes up dreadful memories in the minds of most employees. Few of them believe that it boosts their productivity at work or particularly increases their confidence, despite claims that promise the world.

Some even go to the extent of doubting whether it actually brings the team closer together at all.

How do you expect your employees to show excitement for the nth trust fall exercise? Maybe creating an element of intrigue and surprise will work far better. Try making your employees participate in an activity that they haven’t really tried before, like Kit Karts for example.

Poor execution

The intention behind placing your team in a slightly stressful situation and an uncertain environment is to facilitate communication between employees and to develop trust. Despite good intentions, these activities usually fail to develop long term relationships.

If you’re wondering why that is, the answer is quite simple. When they return to their desks, they are again subjected to the same competitive, result-driven atmosphere which they momentarily forget during the team building exercise.

Moreover, employees are too aware of the fact that the exercises are being performed with the intention of bringing them closer together. This could be another reason why it doesn’t produce the desired effect.

What companies can do instead is make them work on their individual attributes. If you believe that a team member needs to work on their attention and focus, you can make them try Batak Walls. It’s not a one size fits all solution and working on the development of each individual to create a better team is the best approach.

Key Focus: Leadership

A culture where communication flows freely amongst colleagues and members can rely on teamwork to inch closer towards their personal and professional goals is often a by-product of good management.

Team building activities make each employee feel they are responsible for contributing to a healthy work environment, which is a burden that takes the fun out of the equation.

If as a leader you realise that there is a lack of synergy, the only way this wall can be taken down is if you face it head on and not force your employees to have fun. Just let them enjoy themselves and the rest will always follow.

Teamwork and communication must be practised every day and not just during the few hours of a team-building exercise – but hey, you need to start somewhere and trusting events specialists like us who can create a bespoke corporate entertainment day is a great place to start.

It is the only way leaders can have an in-depth understanding of the expertise and roles within their team. Such an environment encourages each person on the team to provide their input and gives them a chance to shine at what they are good at.

You can also try to engage your team in an activity that strikes the right balance between being fun and being competitive, such as Racing Bathtubs.

The right kinds of activities

What most companies get wrong when planning team building events is that they try to solve artificial and random problems which aren’t even relevant to their workplace.

Instead of trying to address such hypothetical problems, team managers should try activities which create a positive environment to bring their staff together, rather than worrying relentlessly that trust isn’t as established as it should be, for example.

At Max Velocity, we believe that team building can still work provided it is done in a less traditional sense. Gone are the days when effective team building activities revolve around building blocks and fall exercises. If your business and accompanying teams are to thrive, you need to think outside the box to get the results you desire.

Get in touch with us today to give our activities a try.