The Three Biggest Teambuilding Mistakes

From axe throwing to flower arranging there’s a whole spectrum of team building options out there, and what they all have in common is that they’re fun. It’s lovely to go on a boat cruise. It’s fun to win a scavenger hunt, it's delightful to make pasta.

What more do you need? With a spread from mini golf to murder mysteries, what could be missing?

So, so much.

Like so many things in life, building a healthy work culture looks easier from the outside than it really is. Team building is usually about a shared experience. Maybe it’s a contest, maybe it’s entertainment, maybe it’s a class. But generally, as long as you’re doing something fun together, that counts as team building. Because, yes, fun, non-work, shared experiences are a critical ingredient for connection. But it takes more than that one ingredient. Connection takes more than just sharing the same space or experience, no matter how fun that experience may be in the moment.

In fact, sometimes the nature of a shared experience can actually interfere with building a lasting, quality connection. We see 3 qualities in common team building efforts that derail lasting positive impacts on a team’s long-term behavior: Competition, Passivity, and Old News.

Competition
By its very nature competition divides people and pits them against each other. Also, most people lose. That rarely feels good. But even being the best is a trap. It means you’re recognized for your accomplishments instead of your existence. At our core, most of us want to be valued without having to prove our value. That’s not to say that people don’t like to prove their value. People are proud of their accomplishments, love winning in sports, looking good, and all the rest. But ultimately we still want to know we’ll be loved even if we lose, get saggy, and misfire. We want to be valued no matter what.

Passivity
Passive activities are the ones where you’re basically an entertained audience member. It doesn’t matter if you’re engaged, paying attention, or even there at all. Participants don’t contribute anything of themselves to the experience.

Old News
By Old News, we mean that the traits that you already see in the workplace just get bigger. The loud get louder. The quiet get quieter. The cliques huddle more tightly together. You don’t learn anything new about each other. Now, we need to be clear. we’re not saying that competition isn’t fun. We’re not saying that classes aren't fun. We’re not saying that happy hours aren't fun. But we are saying that “Team Building” should be more than just fun. It should also make a difference. It should have an impact beyond the day of the activity. If everyone just goes back to work as usual the next day, that’s a wasted opportunity.

In our next blog, we’ll talk about our alternatives to Competition, Passivity, and Old News.