Corporate team building workshops might be something a manager, executive, or HR professional thinks of in times where production is low, morale is suffering, or there is conflict in a team. However, team-building exercises might not be enough.
Remember “The Cupid Shuffle” from a couple of years back? The IRS was under scrutiny for spending millions of dollars on conferences, and “The Cupid Shuffle” video surfaced. It was produced at a team-building workshop and showed IRS employees dancing on a stage in unison. That video was controversial because the visible result of the workshop looked like a ridiculous waste of money. Yet, according to an article on Entreprenuer.com, 10 Insights on Building, Motivating, and Managing an Exceptional Team, team building is essential to the success of a business. So what does effective team building look like?
The starting point of team building is understanding what goes into the dynamics of a team, and many factors are involved. Studies have focused on personality types, the types of decisions being made, and roles of the team members. A study conducted by M.I.T., and mentioned in a recent New York Times article, concluded that emotional intelligence, equal contributions and even gender make-up of a team can have a predictable outcome on the success of a team.
Core factors affecting group dynamics can be taught. Let’s consider the key factors of conflict resolution, overall effective communication tools and emotional intelligence.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Conflict resolution can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. When you study conflict resolution experts and methods, conflict resolution can be boiled down into three simple steps: active listening, repeating and clarifying, and negotiation. All of these skills can be broken into steps that can be learned.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Effective communication is critical to an organization’s success. What methods do you fall back on and utilize when the stakes are high? How do you demonstrate that you have heard the other person? How do you make sure that you have made your critical points?
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional intelligence is an important component of interpersonal dynamics. In our culture, emotions are typically not overtly brought to the surface in a work environment, but they are still there and they play a role in communication. The role of emotions factors into all interactions with the people you work with. Learning how to recognize subtle nuances in emotion and what motivations and needs are behind them can help you communicate better with your staff, your peers and your managers.
Corporate team building workshops can be a useful way to build team trust and closeness in a day but they have to do more. When the team goes back to the job site, they need more than just memories of a fun day out of the office; they need an understanding of the team dynamics of their group and how they can influence these dynamics in a positive way.
Magnovo can help you address each component that goes into building great teams.
Learn about the four different personality types and how they figure into team dynamics. We’ll teach your group how to recognize and respect the different perspectives in their group. We can help with conflict resolution by introducing effective tools that make listening, respect and negotiation work. Bottom line, when you walk away from one of our workshops, you’ll have great memories and practical tools to use on the job every day and when conflicts arise.