Team Building has been around for a long time, and for good reason. Every team benefits from stretching their teamwork muscles and exercising their business skills in a fun and engaging way. But the concept of team building hasn’t always met with great enthusiasm. There are skeptics and there are activities that have given team building a bad name. To keep up with the times and prove nay-sayers wrong, there has been an effort over the last 25+ years to rebrand team building to meet the need of the younger generations looking for cooler and more exciting team activity options that distance themselves from the stuffy trust falls of team building past. We started that trend when we opened in 1997 and we have continued to adapt to the changing needs in team building ever since.
But now a new issue has bubbled to the surface, blurring the lines between what is fun and cool and what makes an effective team activity. Some activities are so focused on being hip and cool that the only real benefit is that of a good time. And don’t get us wrong – there is nothing wrong with a good time! However, as a Team Building company, we must also focus on what management needs as a key outcome (or outcomes) from each event before we start planning. We choose our activities with the intended team goals in mind. Otherwise, our clients end up with a great time but no tangible team benefit. Below are a couple examples of different event scenarios with two different intended outcomes.
Management Request #1: Activity with Learning Objectives Focusing on Professional Development
True Team Building events are designed to engage employees in fun and memorable activities with a focus on professional development. When a team is suffering from poor communications, a manager might schedule a team building event to refresh their staff’s communication skills. For example, WCF’s Team Challenge has 20+ activity stations to choose from, each one highlighting different objective like enhancing communication, encouraging group problem solving or promoting best practices. The good news is each activity is disguised as an entertaining and competitive game to involve even the biggest team building skeptic. It is the perfect mix of producing real results through activities of substance but also in a cool and entertaining way!
Management Request #2: Reward for a Job Well Done or to Celebrate the Holidays or Other Milestones
Like we said before, having a good time is sometimes just what the doctor ordered. When management is looking for a way for their team to let off some steam or to celebrate a milestone, look no further than those “Just for Fun” group activities. While they may loosely qualify as team building, they are perfect for the team activities focused on having fun and building camaraderie such as the annual holiday party, a night out bowling or just a team dinner. There is no need for deeper meaning at these events and any attempt at focusing on business skills would ruin the focus of the event. The best possible outcome is smiles and building better relationships amongst coworkers.
The moral of the story is to be able to tell the difference between a “Just for Fun” event and a true Team Building program. Since 1997, we have been operating WCF events with a clear goal to create fun an effective team building programs while also being able to create memorable employee events focused on have a good time and building team camaraderie.
Whether you need a team building activity to focus on group problem solving or need help celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary with a company picnic, WCF is here to help. Reach out to Murrel at murrel@wcfevents.com, 773-486-7403 or by filling out our request for proposal form to get help matching activities to your management objectives.
