Team Building is For Twits!

The corporate world has fallen in love with team building activities and exercises. The theory is that the team that plays together, stays together. And by extension, the group becomes more efficient, effective and productive in the workplace. All I can say is “Hogwash!”

Team building activities are usually an expensive way to allow the staff to act silly and get drunk. If the group camps out together in a wilderness setting or goes whitewater rafting or climbs a rugged mountain trail, all that will develop are sore muscles, the start of a cold, and a number of hangovers. Rather than developing a more cohesive and bonded team, the members often become more resentful, disgusted or intolerant of each other. They may have had fun but the “team” is no more built than it was before they started.

In my opinion, a team is built only when the members are focused on the same goals, are committed to those goals and work hard to achieve them. The more that each member recognizes the same commitment, focus and hard work in his team members, the stronger the team will be. Participating in some peripheral activity like golfing together, climbing a high pole or learning to sail has no relation to building a team. The team that plays together just plays, it doesn’t advance the group’s real goals.

I recently read of a new corporate team building activity- playing in a child’s bouncy castle. For $2000 a team of twenty can rent a big inflatable castle for two hours and bounce individually or collectively to their hearts content. Among the activities that you can play in the castle are Follow the Leader, Tag Team Climbing and Kneeling Basketball. Can’t you just visualize the corporate board of General Motors bouncing around trying to solve their financial woes?

I am sure that when the team returns to the staff room at the office it will be hard to keep them from bouncing on the couch and playing tag. And Corporate America spends millions of dollars on these inane team-building activities each year. Has anyone ever done a scientific study on the overall effect of these activities on the team achieving its stated business goals?

If someone has, I would love to read it! Only then will I see this team building nonsense in another light.