What team building reveals about a workplace culture!
Authored by Diane Caine
Clients, friends and family who follow half full, llc always make the same comments . . .
“You look like you are having SO MUCH FUN!”
I respond with a big smile, “We are!” The teams who choose to invest time and resources into team building know that it is an important part of employee engagement and creating positive workplace cultures. Others do it to re-engage their teams, especially as organizations continue to navigate many new pressures, challenges and opportunities.
The last few years have seen quite a shift in terms of how to approach culture, employee engagement, and team connectedness. Hybrid work is increasingly common. Team members are still coming and going, with the quiet quitting and great resignation eras still in the air. But no matter what changes — and how — a core question always seems to remain...
How can organizations successfully bring their teams together to be brave and reach breakthrough moments?
At half full, llc we believe team building is an amazingly effective approach to achieving the above. Here’s how we think about it…
Enter a team building day
For nearly two decades, we’ve curated unique team building experiences that are designed to help teams stay connected and engaged. The highest priority when designing what the day looks like is connection! Did you know that two-thirds of workers feel disconnected from colleagues?
Team building allows us to immediately drive connection because, whenever possible, we take the team out of their day-to-day work environment to an offsite location that removes them from the daily distractions. That location could be a ballroom in a hotel, a local scouting camp, an oceanfront Airbnb, the beach, on a mountain or a retreat center nestled in the woods — it all depends on the size of the team we are serving. Simply moving the team from their familiar location creates the space to explore and start breaking down the invisible silos. We have moved them to common ground together.
Creating the space
At half full, llc the most important part of the day is to create safe space to be vulnerable and open up. One of the ways we do that is by modeling the power of vulnerability to our clients, by starting the day with sharing our stories and bringing you into our WHY for facilitating with teams.
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Once the bedrock of vulnerability has been established, we want to ensure the space is rich with thoughtful questions. Some typical questions we use to really open up the room are things like:
What is a mission moment? (A moment where you were able to see the fruits of your work and why you do what you do every day)
What are some recent wins you would like to celebrate?
What does communication look like in the organization?
The right question, at the right time, can unveil “the elephant” in the room and shine a light on what is usually a communication or perception issue. Questions can also help navigate the emotions that are attached to “the elephant” and bridge the gap between uncertainty and certainty, or facts vs fiction. Helping to get to the truth of the story, to eliminate assumptions and identify the perceived obstacles in the way of moving forward.
The fun you see…
Aside from creating space to be vulnerable and ask the hard but important questions, team building should always bring a high degree of fun! A critical ingredient of our team building experiences is being intentional with what exercises, experiences and games (yes, games!) we introduce to the group. Behind each game is an intention that quickly reveals team dynamics.
You will soon discover who is
fiercely competitive
the rule follower
the introvert
the influencer
the active listener
a good communicator
the cheerleader
Exercises, experiences and games can bring out a side of a person you may not always see in the normal working environment. You may discover things that you would never have learned during the “business as usual” time during the day. Like that the CFO is a really good singer and still performs on occasion. Suddenly this senior leader is no longer just a person in the C-suite; they are a relatable human!
Keeping the forward momentum
Once the truth has been revealed, obstacles identified, and fun had, it’s time to shift towards the future and what comes next. Sometimes issues and opportunities are resolved right there in the room. More often though, there are opportunities to go back to the office and do a bit more work. Sometimes it is a follow-up discussion to review a system or a process. Other times it is getting into a regular cadence of strategic planning time.
It is imperative that whatever action items are identified are acted upon when the team gets back into their daily activities. Whereas typically it can be the leadership team who assumes accountability for the next steps, we at half full, llc, believe it should (and needs to be) the responsibility of everyone in the room to lead the forward momentum.
Building and maintaining a positive, healthy workplace culture doesn’t happen in one day. It’s a daily activity of living the company’s values. It’s about being intentional about keeping the mission top of mind, and prioritizing people over productivity. When organizations prioritize people first, productivity takes care of itself. After all, we are people before we are professionals.
Interested in learning more about team building opportunities with half full, llc? Click here to get connected with our team and let’s start dreaming and building together!