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Janet works for a large insurance company as a group manager. She was having a conversation with Larry, the human resources consultant for the company. "We don't work together as a team!", she complained. "Nobody cares about anybody else's problems much less try to help each other or share information. Everyone just seems to do their own thing! What we need is a team building offsite!" Janet and Larry discussed the problems further to come up with a solution. They came up with the idea of having a two-day offsite for the team and to make the idea more attractive, holding it at resort only a couple hours away from work. Janet wanted to have the offsite as soon as possible to quickly address these problems with the other employees, and so it was scheduled it for later in the month. Larry worked at double the pace to put together a full agenda with icebreakers, trust-building exercises, and brainstorming sessions on how everybody could work together better as a team. During day one of the offsite only half of Janet's team was there. The other half were on an important project that needed to get done by the end of the week. The half that were there did the activities politely but thought they were too touchy-feely. They knew it was because Janet was trying to force team building. The brainstorming sessions showed promise but no one even took notes. In the end, the team saw the offsite as a failure. To some, this may sound like a gross exaggeration; but to others, this closely resembles an offsite they attended or were responsible for planning. Offsites are a very effective means to getting the team focused on solving a business problem, defining a strategy, or creating a revolutionary way of doing things. A very key by-product of offsites, though, is the team-building that occurs while addressing business issue at hand. Done well, an offsite not only puts great minds together to address a business issue but it also builds better teams that work more effectively together and get more things done. Done poorly, an offsite will be viewed as a huge waste of time and will poorly reflect on you as a leader. These simple guidelines will help you to be certain that your offsites are both accomplishing their duties and creating teams that will last. Have a clear purpose for the offsite - Define some clear business reason for having the offsite. Consider things such as developing strategic goals for the upcoming fiscal year, account planning for strategic customers, or generating solution alternatives for a key business problem. If you make the goal of the offsite "Team Building" then your team is likely to look at the offsite as a waste of time that will have no real business benefit. Do your team building under the guise of solving a problem or defining the future. Make sure to provide lots of time for networking as well as time during the day and night for snacks, beverages, and chit-chat. Building relationships starts with getting to know people and that's what makes a team. Also make sure there is time for networking and casual time for conversation. A critical mistake to avoid is hosting the offsite while deadlines are coming due and everyone's burning the midnight oil to meet them. If you make this mistake, team members will be distracted by checking email, or making and taking important phone calls. Instead, schedule this important event during a lull in the business rush. In the business world, there may never be a best time to organize offsite activities, but try to avoid the worst time, when organizational members are already working frantically. Some of the best offsites I've held were overnight events. It gave it a more fun-filled atmosphere because the team ate dinner together, had some drinks... it made the whole thing feel so much more relaxed. Further, we'd always stay up late brainstorming new , out-of-the-box strategies and working through major business problems. These sessions would prove to be invaluable because the team members put their heads together to address problems and opportunities. Everyone really worked together as a team and, more importantly, the team members built real relationships with each by getting to know each other better. They got to know how the others think and act, which laid the foundation for building a strong team. Put together a follow-up plan to continue the work from the offsite - One of the most frustrating things I've experienced with offsites was the lack of a follow-up plan to implement some of the great ideas which came out of the offsite. Put together an actionable follow-up plan with tasks, dates, and owners and you'll keep the excitement going out of the offsite and will get some of the great ideas implemented. Neglect putting together a follow-up plan and you'll have an offsite that the team sees as a waste of time. Daiv Russell is a marketing and management consultant with Envision Consulting in Tampa, Florida. Find more Team Building Ideas, techniques, and exercises or learn more about finding the root cause of your organization's teamwork issues.
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