I thought team building was supposed to help???

Is your next team building event headed for disaster? Image copyright NEW & IMPROVED, LLC
Image Copyright NEW & IMPROVED, LLC

Team building experiences…

The trust fall where someone got dropped…

A ropes course where the rope broke…

Yet another “Zoom happy hour” extending your workday away from your family…

You know the examples from your own experiences. Someone (HR? the manager? a sadistic teammate?) has a great idea for a team building activity. The intention is usually positive, to bring the team together to get to know each other better so they can work together more effectively. Unfortunately, sometimes the result is a good idea executed poorly. Other times it is a bad idea that never should have happened.

The issue often is not the activity itself, but the context of the activity. Before picking something to do, start off by understanding the reason for it in the first place. If the purpose of the activity is to have fun or simply fill time in an agenda, find out from the team what they like. You can take it a step further by having members of the team alternate finding activities for the group. The team may actually enjoy a Zoom happy hour, or a trivia game, or one of these fifty ideas. However, when you need to take team building to a different level, a little more planning and thought is needed.

 Companies interpret the definition of ‘team building’ as simply doing something fun outside of the typical workday setting—rope courses, cooking classes, baseball games. When the focus is not defined or is social rather than building teams or experiential learning, team building will not occur.

Anne Zeitelhack, Executive Board Member CBIZ Women’s Advantage

So what else are teams missing?

Building an effective team requires specific skills that can be learned and practiced. Group problem solving, constructive conflict, and personal energy management are just a few. By bringing in activities that reinforce the skills and behaviors relevant to your team, you help them be more effective at meeting their team goals. Not only that, but you can also enable them to have a good personal experience with their teammates. Here are some great examples of specific skills and related activities: The Truth Behind Why Team Building Is Important In 2021.

In my practice, I use a 30-question anonymous survey from each team member to get an understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement for the team. The quantitative survey results provide data yet do not tell the full story. Interviewing the manager and even team members brings another qualitative perspective. What is still missing is to see the team in action. That is why I choose to use an escape room (virtual or in-person) as an early activity for any team.

Why escape rooms?

Regardless of the scenario, an escape room challenges the team with a group problem solving effort against a timed deadline. Usually requiring different perspectives and skillsets, the puzzles and mysteries are fun to solve with varying degrees of difficulty. The need for the team to self-divide for specific elements while still collaborating across multiple activities is a good proxy for how things get done in the work environment.

Whether the team escapes the room in time or zombies takes over the world, the people have fun. Connecting the shared escape room experience with the other data points helps me target the right additional steps for the team. It also gives very clear examples of team behavior that everyone can discuss. This can then turn into agreements on norms on what the team wants to do more or less of in the future.

When you begin planning your next team building activity, be sure to think about the skills and behaviors needed to develop in your team. You can then find something that the team will truly enjoy while targeting the right areas to help you build a high performing team!

Do you have a team building example to share where things went really well…or really badly?

Bringing in-person and virtual participants together in a hybrid meeting

‘Zoom Fatigue’ is real.

There are clinical examinations of the causes and effects such as A Neuropsychological Exploration of Zoom Fatigue from Dr. Jena Lee in the Psychiatric Times. I also have my own personal experiences and hear stories from others as anecdotal proof.

I recently facilitated a team improvement session for a group to help them have more effective meetings. When people in the office began working remotely, they defaulted to every meeting including video because, well, Zoom! It came out in our session that this was taking a toll in the team. They decided to make video optional for all calls (no questions asked), except for a specific team meeting once a week.

And that is the good news – there are practical steps you can take to manage Zoom Fatigue! The Harvard Business Review published several great tips on How to Combat Zoom Fatigue. These range from things you can do as an individual to agreements that your team can put in place.

Video can be your ally!

What can you do when you have a mixture of in-person and virtual participants, or a hybrid meeting? This is more challenging than a meeting that is exclusively live or virtual. This is due to the different way live and remote participants experience and interact with each other. One way to level the playing field is to design and manage the session as if everything and everyone were virtual.

  • Limit sessions to four hours a day maximum, with breaks every hour or so
  • Have all materials available in digital format, shared in advance
  • Instead of flip charts, use virtual boards like Microsoft Teams or Mural for collaboration
  • For breakouts, people live in the room can have a laptop/tablet for virtual members to join as individuals…unless you can afford one of these – Best telepresence robot in 2021
  • Keep a digital trail of artifacts from the session, such as an action/decision list and copies of collaborative output
  • For a team building activity, consider using a virtual escape room to engage problem solving skills while having a lot of fun!

A skilled facilitator can help design these elements into your hybrid meeting and then help manage execution for the group. They can bring in an outside perspective to making sure the tools and approaches you are using add more value than they take away.

How are you thinking about bringing live and virtual participants together?

Prepare for your 2021 kick-off NOW!

Time is running out!

NOW is the time to start thinking about your annual kick-off meeting to energize and focus your team for 2021. Many people are still just trying to get through 2020, the year of a global pandemic and murder hornets. However, a little thought and planning before the end of the year can make a tangible impact on your team for next year.

What should you do for your annual kick-off?

Kick-off meetings typically happen in the first month or so of the new year. They can last a few hours or span several days. You can choose in-person, virtual or go with a hybrid approach. They can be tops-down or very interactive. Regardless of HOW the session happens, there are a few key items to include.

Reflect on the previous year to help you learn and let go

A retrospective allows you to take time to celebrate accomplishments and acknowledge challenges. This can include reviews of financial performance, recognizing employee or team successes or panel discussions with customers. Consider your progress in context of your multi-year strategy (you have one, right?). Talk about the things to do more as well as the things to do less. Then close the book on 2020. The past is written, so most of the kick-off is about where you go from here.

Build employee excitement and inspiration through your organization’s vision/mission

An inspiring “why” or “North Star” is a great asset to attract and retain employees, next to customers and investors. If you already have one, great! Use this chance to get people excited about your direction and why they should work with you rather than someone else. If you do NOT have one, use this as an opportunity to co-create one with your team!

Establish clear, tangible next steps for each participant

Use the kick-off to make sure people see how their daily work connects to the vision and strategy. Consider a cascade of organizational goals, personal objectives and key results (OKR), or breakout sessions to define activities and owners. Each person leaves with clear personal commitments to contribute to the strategy. Be sure to agree how they will hold each other accountable to get it done.

Connect as a team and have some fun!

According to Glint, employees who feel a strong sense of belonging at work are over six times as likely to do their best work. Connection to the vision and daily work are part of this, as is feeling part of a team. Use the kick-off to build and reinforce personal connections. One way to do this is to incorporate team building. This can range from simple icebreaker activities to virtual scavenger hunts and escape rooms.

So what do you need to DO NOW?

Developing the agenda and content takes time and logistic arrangements must be done well in advance. Between chasing end-of-the-year business objectives, holidays, and on-going pandemic disruptions the time will go very quickly. Here are a few key items to start working on well before you start eating that Thanksgiving dinner.

Decide on timing and location

Setting a date early ensures people can plan appropriately. Check with participants about availability and send out a “save-the-date” announcement as soon as you can. If in person, book venues/hotels at least 60 days in advance, even earlier if you have a specific destination in mind. Consider health precautions, travel costs, proximity to offices/customers, and where people will enjoy going. If virtual, ensure technical infrastructure is in place for presenters and participants. Next to conferencing tools like Zoom, you may need to add tools like Mural or Microsoft Teams to help make sessions interactive.

Define key objectives, potential sessions, and owners

Based on your objectives and the four topics above, what do you want to accomplish? Think about the elements you can use to accomplish that, and who owns those elements. This can take the shape of an outline showing larger blocks of time which will later be refined into a detailed agenda. Be sure the objectives you set fit within the time you have scheduled. Better to select fewer items and do them very well. Focus on items where you can leverage the benefit of people being together at the same time.

Consider engaging an outside facilitator to help plan and manage your kick-off

An expert can bring in external best practices and a fresh perspective to the design of your session. During the session they play a key role as an unbiased facilitator. This allows you to focus on being a participant rather than trying to run the meeting. Some facilitators also offer targeted content or modules that can supplement your agenda, based on your objectives. If you decide to go this route, bring them in sooner rather than later. The earlier you bring someone like this into your planning the quicker they can help take some of the load off your shoulders! It also makes sure you have a chance to grab the best facilitators before their schedules are filled during this busy time.

What are you planning to do to kick-off 2021?

It could be a one-hour conference call, a day of Zoom discussions, or a multi-day in-person event (following health guidelines). No matter which approach you use, NOW is the time to start working on it. What are your plans for kicking off 2021?

#annualkickoff #teambuilding #highperformingteam #teameffectiveness #facilitation

Let’s deal with it: constructive conflict

Two kids fight over a teddy bear

Whether it is children fighting over a toy or adults in political debate, you can find conflict around every corner. In business, I have seen strife between two co-workers on a manufacturing floor as well as a collision between executive vice-presidents in a board room. The situations and personalities vary yet the fundamental basis for conflict is the same – it is based on differences.

Simply being different does not necessarily create an issue. In fact, we know that having diverse leadership teams can provide tangible benefits. A 2015 McKinsey report on 366 public companies affirmed that those in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean.

Then what kind of differences cause conflict? Actually, conflict is triggered when differences in needs, values and motives come into play. Something core to ‘who you are’ or ‘what you need’ feels in jeopardy. Intense emotions can follow, from fear or apprehension to anger and even hatred.

One way to get through conflict constructively starts with understanding what is truly coming into contention. Here are some questions that can help with that:

  • “What’s your real need here?”
  • “What interests need to be served in this situation?”
  • “What values are important to you here?”
  • “What’s the outcome or result you want?”
  • “Why does that seem to be the best solution to you?”

By gaining clarity on the conflict we open the door for cooperation. Those involved can then attack the real problems rather than the people. Going for a win-win approach where the needs and values of both parties is clear then sets the stage for constructive conflict for mutual gain. While resolving conflicts take time and energy, you can come away with an outcome where both people benefit!

The questions above are from the Conflict Resolution Network. They have many free resources you can access including additional skills like the one above. If you need further help, Escape to Expand offers team workshop modules that provide practical approaches to managing constructive conflict within your teams.

Do you have an example where you were able to come to a win-win situation from what seemed to be a divisive struggle?

Doing what ONLY WE can do!

Sometimes you volunteer but many times it just happens…you end up on a team! Only we don’t always know exactly where to focus.

Even if the sponsor is clear about the desired outcome, it is NOT always clear how the people on the team can make the biggest impact. Each person may even be a “high-performer” yet putting them in a room (or Zoom) together does not automatically make a high performing team.

Doing what only we can do!

One concept to help is “doing what ONLY WE can do”. It begins with the members identifying what things they can do to add value as a team. Explore where the combined strengths of the team members come together. For example, what can they do together no other individual or group can. Sort the list so those requiring more team collaboration are at the top versus those centered on individual effort.

After that, further prioritize the list by thinking about how each item in the list impacts the company. It could be higher revenues, better sustainability, increased employee morale or other benefit. You don’t need a full ROI calculation but think in terms of orders of magnitude. What will bring the most benefits to the company as a whole?

The items where people add more value together AND deliver bigger impact to the company are the right ones to focus for the team. This helps clarify where collaboration brings the most value – doing what ONLY WE can do! 

Is there a path to build a high performing team?

A dysfunctional team

“Can someone tell me why we are working on this project?”

“It annoys me how they always interrupt and talk over everyone else...

“Our meetings always run over yet we don’t seem to get anything done!”

Do any of these sound familiar?

If you have worked on a team, chances are you have heard something like this…or worse! It is no one’s fault and everyone’s fault at the same time.

It doesn’t matter if you are working on the shop floor or sitting around the executive conference table. Confusion and dysfunction can be present in any level of your organization, including your executive leadership team.

How do you break through this and become a high performing team? It takes work. And it helps to start with some fun as well!

At Escape to Expand, we suggest you kick-off with an escape room experience. This is a fun team building event that also begins to reveal how the group is working together. From here, an expert consultant leads your team through a repeatable process based on years of practical experience. The facilitated sessions give your team clarity of purpose, tools to manage conflict, and ways to effectively execute on their plans.

These time-tested approaches and tools help you escape the confusion and expand your horizons!