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Team-building events can be a great way of bringing individuals together to develop, learn and have fun as a team. These events can not only be enjoyable on the day, but can also have a long-lasting impact on the effectiveness of the team. Here we provide some suggestions for planning, executing and following up on a team-building event to help ensure its success.
Establish a Purpose For the Event
It is important to establish from the outset exactly how you want the event to help your team develop and/or learn. For example, your aim might be for the team to develop their collective decision-making, problem-solving or communication skills. Alternatively, you might want the event to help the team boost their technical skills, product knowledge or understanding of the organization’s brand or identity. Establishing a purpose for the event upfront will help you to source activities that are appropriate and relevant to your objectives.
Determine a Budget and Timeframe
Before you start planning your team-building event, it is important to establish a clear budget for it. Depending on the size and scale of your event, costs might include venue hire, travel, catering or accommodation. A cost is also likely to be associated with any activities delivered by an external facilitator.
At this stage, it is also important to consider how long your event should last. While enough time should be allocated to the event for it to be effective and meaningful for your team, you should also give some consideration to the cost of taking team members away from their day-to-day roles and the pressure this might put on other teams or individuals.
Get Your Team Involved
One of the most effective ways to ensure your team’s buy-in for a team-building event is to encourage them to participate in its planning and design. Explain in a team meeting or email that you intend to hold an event, and outline its objectives. Then ask team members to suggest the activities they feel would be particularly relevant. You may also wish to ask them to suggest venues or locations for the event. Invite your team to record their ideas on a shared document, such as a wiki, Google Doc or Word document stored on a shared computer drive. While you might not be able to implement everyone’s ideas, being asked to contribute will help spark your team’s interest and enthusiasm for the event.
Source Activities For The Event
Having established a purpose, budget and timeframe for your event, the next step is to start sourcing appropriate activities for it. In addition, you may also find it helpful to speak to your Learning and Development department (if you have one) for their input.
You may wish to delegate the sourcing of activities to a member of your team. This can provide the team member with a good developmental opportunity, and can save you time. If you do choose to delegate, make sure you establish clear guidelines for your team members in terms of how much decision-making power they have, and how frequently they should update you on their progress.
Make it Inclusive
For a team-building event to be effective, it is important for the whole team to participate fully and to feel comfortable in doing so. If you are considering incorporating any outdoor or unusual pursuits into your event it is vital to check how all your team members feel about this, and to re-think your plans if someone is strongly averse to taking part.
Provide Some Variety
To ensure the event is as engaging (and enjoyable) as possible, it is important to provide team members with a variety of activities (e.g. group exercises, games, competitions etc.). Similarly, there should be a balance in terms of the tone and pace of the activities; not all of them should be quick and light-hearted in approach, nor should they all be lengthy, serious and overtly work-related. Having a varied program of events will help to ensure the team-building session is interesting and productive, and that team members participate fully.
Decide How to Run the Event
Depending on the nature and purpose of the event, you may wish to ask a member of your Learning and Development department (if you have one) or an external trainer or facilitator to run the team event. It can often be helpful for you, as manager, to participate in such events, rather than run them. Doing this can help you to develop relationships with employees and demonstrate that you are a team player as well as a manager. However, if budgets or resources for appointing a facilitator are limited, you could consider running the event yourself.
Provide Guidance, Not Instruction
Whether you are facilitating the event or taking part in it, it is important not to be overly directional when interacting with your team members. While you should be prepared to provide guidance and support if team members need it, it is important to encourage everyone to get involved and to give others the chance to take the lead when the opportunity arises.
Maintain Energy Levels
On the day, set a good example by being positive and upbeat and participating fully in all the activities (if you are not the facilitator). This will encourage your team members to do likewise and engage fully with the team-building event.
Translate the Event Into Action in the Workplace
Following up on your team-building event is an important way of ensuring that its effects have a long-lasting impact on your team. At the beginning of the first working day after your team event, gather the team together to reflect on your collective experiences. Ask your team members to consider whether the original objectives for the event have been met, and what additional work might need to be done to ensure they are fully realized. Encourage your team members to reflect on what they learned during the event, and how they intend to use this new-found knowledge or experience in the workplace. Agree a series of next steps and actions and review progress against these actions next time you meet as a team.
Solicit Some Feedback
Finally, to evaluate the success of your team-building event properly, it is a good idea to ask team members for some detailed feedback. You could do this through a survey or questionnaire, or as part of a team or one-to-one meeting. You may wish to ask for feedback about the suitability of the activities, the structure of the event and the effectiveness of the facilitator (if you facilitated the event, it might be appropriate to make the feedback anonymous). You can use this feedback to reflect on lessons learned and consider what went particularly well, as well as what you might wish to do differently in the future.
