Love it or loathe it the chances are most PAs, at some point, will be tasked with rallying the troops and getting groups together for a bonding experience. But, team building is rarely met with a united opinion that it’s a fun opportunity and more often than not you’ll come up against some barriers to your plans says Cora Lydon
THE IMPORTANT THING is not to let these barriers put you off, after all team building – when done well – can bring a team together, engaging and inspiring colleagues and encouraging them to bond, understand and trust one another. It can also go a long way towards increasing feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction in a team environment. Long term, having a stronger team means better business outcomes through improved performance and team dynamics, positive communications, increased creativity and problem solving ability and a general reinvigoration of the whole team.
However it’s rarely plain sailing when you’re the PA trying to pull it all together. But rest assured barriers to successful team building can be overcome – and easier than you might think.
TEAM BUILDING ON A BUDGET
Stuck for ideas? Try these DIY options – where you need limited budget to achieve big:
Divide in to two groups and provide each with materials to construct a bridge: pipes, tape, tarp, cardboard, newspapers, rods etc. Physically divide the teams by using a sheet or room divider so they can’t see what the other team is doing. Each team is tasked with building half a bridge – but it must mirror the other team’s bridge to create one complete bridge. This will force teams to talk amongst themselves and to the other team.
Get the team together to volunteer – all the major charities and many of the smaller ones will be delighted to assist you in planning a day where the team work alongside each other to give something back to their local community.
A challenge for the business could also be used to good effect for team building. Identify an area of the business that needs improvement or some fresh ideas and divide your group into small teams. Each should be set the same task: to find a solution to the problem. At the end each team should present. For best results mix up departments.
Think too about how to get great results – could you order matching team T-shirts or running bibs to foster team spirit? And why not end the day on a high by splashing what budget you have on a celebratory team dinner out, an informal awards ceremony or a fun evening out as a team to leave everyone with a good impression.
TEAM BUILDING WHEN YOU’RE ALL BUSY
Enforced fun and team building can feel like a chore, especially when your inbox is groaning so don’t be surprised if there are a few groans when invites land.
Your first step is to establish what it is you’re looking to achieve through the team building: is it better collaboration, is it merely a social event, or is the company you work for going through change and you’re building a brand new team? With this in mind, you should next profile the demographic make up of the group in order to ensure that the experience you’re providing will achieve your goals and be the best use of the group’s time. “Food and wine is a hot topic at the moment thanks to TV shows and social media and because of this it is very clear that each person has their own opinion on what tastes good or how a dining experience should be,” says Daniel Marshall, business development manager at Your Corporate Kitchen. “We take this opinion and turn it into discussion on what it takes to truly run a successful fine dining restaurant. Each team member has a job to do and each job impacts the next and the overall experience of the customer. Working in a team within the fast paced dining industry forces teams to rely on each other to achieve the ultimate success and this ensures total buy in from all delegates involved.”
TEAM BUILDING FOR REMOTE WORKERS
What if you’re trying to bring together a group of remote workers who don’t yet know each other or yet have an understanding of how others work or perhaps even fit within the organisation?
Technology is your friend in this situation. Before the team building is scheduled why not challenge participants to an online people hunt where they are tasked with tracking down other group members. This will encourage connections and add an element of anticipation to proceedings.
Open forums, teaser campaigns and competitions, can all be set up in audience engagement platforms which take the delegate on a journey pre-event, during event and post event. When the delegate then arrives on site they will already feel connected and this will help with breaking down barriers and moving quickly forwards with the goals of the day.
TEAM BUILDING WHEN NO ONE WANTS TO GO
One of the hardest barriers to a successful team building session is when no one wants to be there. It may be that perhaps people are uncomfortable with the idea, or they’re not happy with the change in routine or that they just don’t want to spend the time away from their desk. Whatever the reason, as PA you need to try and resolve this issue. It might be worth polling the attendees before organising anything and making a couple of suggestions based on your preliminary research as to what the activities may be, where they’re taking place and when. This will give you the time to work out whether people would rather something physical or mental and whether they’d like to travel further afield and incorporate a night away or want to keep it strictly to office hours. You can’t please everyone but you can try to go with the majority rule. Also think about what incentives you can offer to make the idea more appealing… can you incorporate something more desirable into the itinerary like dinner at an unbookable restaurant or a famous face as an after-dinner speaker?
TEAM BUILDING WHEN THERE’S CONFLICT
Although this can be a tricky situation for any PA to manage it also serves to highlight just how important team building is. One of the main aims here is to get the team to work together towards a shared goal – so start your efforts before the team building session. Start by making sure you book the right type of team building. You need something that encourages people to work together for a shared vision and encourages communication. Forget pitting teams against one another, which can lead to conflict and don’t try to force a relationship by picking an event that includes an ice breaker. Look for
an activity where the whole team works as one to really
forge bonds.
Although this can be a tricky situation for any PA to manage it also serves to highlight just how important team building is. One of the main aims here is to get the team to work together towards a shared goal – so start your efforts before the team building session. Start by making sure you book the right type of team building. You need something that encourages people to work together for a shared vision and encourages communication. Forget pitting teams against one another, which can lead to conflict and don’t try to force a relationship by picking an event that includes an ice breaker. Look for
an activity where the whole team works as one to really
forge bond
