Ask SCORE: Team building can help employees refocus
Question: The more employees I add, the less it seems like we're all working together as a group. What can I do to get us all back together?Answer: It's pretty common for a growing small business to need refocusing. Sounds like your group is ready for some team building activities. Let's talk about this.
A team building activity, also called a group development exercise, is an inexpensive and fun way to get your group back on track. One simple definition of a "team" is a group of interacting individuals sharing a common goal, plus the responsibility for achieving it. A frequent problem arises where those goals and responsibilities are shared by employees who have little contact. For example a front-end employee (salesperson) and a back-office worker (bookkeeper) may have very little direct interaction. And, as you noted, new hires need help integrating. Another good time for a group exercise is if you've had several employee positions turn over recently.
If you need any further incentive, realize that workplace friction is expensive. A happy and harmonious workgroup is much more creative and productive.
A simple activity might be a brief 15-minute exercise during a regular weekly meeting. At the far other extreme is an elaborate all-day retreat at a swanky secluded location with catered food and a professional facilitator. This is expensive and requires shutting down the company for the day.
Warning: Many people had bad experiences with early versions of team-building attempts. You may find some are skeptical and wary of being manipulated. For example, in the 1990s, corporate adventure-training programs were popular. These were often very physical and involved some pretty wild activities like paintball wars and ziplining. They flopped. Then other team exercises went completely the opposite way. Many of those were built around a very popular personality assessment questionnaire, which assigned everybody to one of 16 personality types. They mostly flopped too.
Current team exercises are much more down-to-earth. Here are some general thoughts. Then we'll look at an example activity, and then some sources of information.
For your first activity, make it simple. You want your group to enjoy it, and to see that it works. Hints:
• Advance planning is essential.
• Have a clearly defined objective and state what it is.
• A good starting point would be revisiting your mission statement. (In a future column, we'll talk about this.
Team Building - News
Mountaineer Chris Warner on teambuilding, the dangers of K2 and why in climbing the ties that bind make the difference between life and death. (/Gary Peters/Darden Business School) Correction: Clarification: SuperFan badge holders consistently post
Sounds like your group is ready for some team building activities. Let's talk about this. A team building activity, also called a group development exercise, is an inexpensive and fun way to get your group back on track. One simple definition of a
Sunquest Information Systems, Inc.®, a leading provider of healthcare diagnostic information technology and outreach solutions, hosted a special “Build a Bike” charity team building event on July 13th from 5:00-6:30 pm during its Sunquest User Group
This highly successful team building effort offers tours of Eva's Village and volunteering in the Eva's Village soup kitchen program (Eva's Kitchen), serving a nutritious lunch to more than 350 homeless and working poor individuals daily.
Defining moment: In getting to consecutive AFC championship games, the Jets are no longer second-rate citizens in team building in their own division behind New England. Decision '11: The team is facing several key free-agent choices in the near future
Travel and Transport Team Building Fun in Phoenix | Team Building ...
Travel and Transport, a travel and transport management company, help a Build-A-Bike Team Building Event at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale AZ. The event was a time of fun and learning that ultimately resulted in 12 brand new bicycles being given to children from the local boys and girls clubs. It was an energetic event that kept the participants active and interactive as they participated in team building activities and built bikes. The group of over 70 expressed enjoyment with every part of the program, with the highlight being the children coming in to receive the newly assembled bikes.
During the event there was a lot of laughter and smiles. The people gathered from across the US really enjoyed being together, working on the projects, and completing the activities together. There were several lessons on team work that could be learned, but one of the most important was clearly in place with this special group. They have already learned to enjoy one another and make the workplace something other than drudgery and mundane. It was clear during the activities that this group enjoys their jobs and each other, as well as the responsibilities and service they perform. From the positive attitude of the leadership, to the smiles and warmth evident in all the people participating, this is great and progressive team.
The activity was great and the feeling afterwards was very, very positive. The activity was great, but it started with a great team. Congratulations to Travel and Transport on having a winning Build-A-Bike event , and for having a great company with great individuals and great leadership.
the swat team waiting outside a place while a guy with a gun is inside the building.
Effective Team Building (Successful Office Skills): 
RT : Team Leggoo is in the building...big shout out to 
Solar panels not just cool for the environment but cool for the building as well: According to a team of researc... 
" Solar panels not just cool for the environment but cool for the building as well: According to a team of res... "Team Building - Bookshelf
Team building, an exercise in leadership
As you complete the exercises and activities in this book, you will learn how to increase your group’s productivity, develop a supportive environment that ...Team building, proven strategies for improving team performance
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Discusses the nature and benefits of a team, shows how people work within a team, and suggests ways of evaluating and rewarding team progressTeam building, the road to success
All the facets of the team building process, including team tactics and psychology, are included down to the minutest detail.Team building, a structured learning approach
An ideal book for teaching the fundamentals of teams, team building, and quality improvement to students that includes exercises students can relate to.Team Building Directory
Team building - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Team Building refers to a wide range of activities, presented to ... Team building is pursued via a variety of practices, and can range from simple bonding exercises to complex ...
Team Builders
Offers innovative, fun, and effective team building activities.
Team building: Definition from Answers.com
Team Building refers to a wide range of activities, presented to ... Team building is pursued via a variety of practices, and can range from simple bonding ...
Twelve Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams
People in every workplace talk about building the team, working as a team, and my team, but few understand how to create the experience of team ...
Team Building
Team building, more than team exercises and icebreakers it means building a sense of team in your people, helping them find the team in teamwork
