Baseball teams (little league through professionals) from across the country have worked hard to train for the upcoming season. They did not just work on throwing, fielding and batting. They were also building relationships with teammates and coaches since the bonding that goes on during training will last through the whole season. The team with the best athletes and skilled players are not always the team that makes it to the championships. Often the championship teams are the teams that have truly bonded, and the teams that value the personal and professional success of every other member of the team.
The same holds true in organizations. However, before we look at organizations, let us answer the following question: What is Team Building? Well, let’s break it down. By definition, a “Team” is a group of people that are working towards a common goal. And, “building” is to establish, increase or strengthen. So as we put these two words together, “team building” refers to a process of strengthening the relationships and the dynamics of an intact group working towards a common goal.
Whether your team is a sport team or a department in a Fortune 500 company, it is important to understand that the most successful organizations within their industry have a sense of individual and team worth. This often starts with team leaders and department managers being proactive with developing their team. Although it is very important to implement team development processes around the dynamics and issues of the team, often this time of the year brings about the desire to do a fun team building events.
So, is it the right time to build your team? The real answer is, there is never a bad time to start, but many teams enjoy the change of weather as an opportunity to do a fun team building event in the outdoors, such as GeoQuest, Team Olympics, Team Sailing…