Team Building for Beginners
Posted on November 03, 2010 by Guy Farmer, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
You don't have to be an expert to enjoy the benefits of team building. Read on for some practical ideas to get you started.
Team building doesn’t have to be a complicated mess. All we really need to do is help people get along better and get more done. Here are some practical ideas to help you get a team building program started in your workplace.
1. Set up a weekly, ongoing team building meeting.
2. Find activities that help people build relationships and talk with each other on a deeper level.
3. Find a facilitator who knows how to bring people together.
4. Focus on people’s behaviors; what they will actually do to be better team players.
5. Set up a calm, friendly atmosphere with no interruptions.
6. Everyone, especially leadership, should be involved. It’s actually better if team building is learned first by the leaders and then moves to other departments.
7. It doesn’t matter what activities you do as long as people are actively interacting.
8. Stay away from competitive activities where someone “wins.”
9. Emphasize people behaving kindly, gently, and with empathy.
10. Have fun and keep doing it over time.
The secret to team building is to set up a work environment where people feel comfortable and trust each other. There are no rules you have to follow, just remember that you’re trying to help people connect in ways that are meaningful. What will you do to get started?
Take care,
