Team Building or Team Development

Have you ever participated in a Team Building event with lots of laughs, pats on the back, and great atmosphere? Great, sounds like a fun social event! Team development runs deeper than that, and goes beyond just having fun together.

It is well known what characterises high performing teams. Among other things they need: Commitment to a common purpose, complimentary skills, and mutual accountability. (Katzenbach and Smith)

In our Team Development workshops we have a strategical focus to identify development initiatives in relevant areas.

The focus of Team buildings are often to have fun together and strengthen the relationships in the team. In our Team Development workshops we have a strategical focus to identify development initiatives in relevant areas.

The Process

In our experience, it is very important to conduct interviews with a few members and stakeholders of the team to get a feeling for various perspectives on the situation. The outcomes of the interviews supports the design of the workshop.

Engage! It's important to create a sense of excitement and engage all participants in the discussions to create a common perspective on the current reality. Get everyone on board regarding what we are here to do!

Analyse! There are many tools to analyse the current reality, and identify focus areas for the development of the team. Here we want to choose a methodology which is aligned with the purpose and suitable for the size and context of the group.

Prioritise! It's common knowledge that we can't focus on too many things. Discuss and analyse what will have a big impact, but is still fairly easy to implement and lay out the foundation for your action plans.

Plan! Do as much planning as possible and set accountabilities during the workshop. If you leave it until going back to the workplace, there is a risk of agreements disappearing among other priorities. Decide and schedule a follow up. Team development is not a one time initiative!