Team Building Gets a Bad Rap

I just read another blog posting about how useless team building exercises are with regards to effective work teams. You know, the kind of article that starts out with a cliche about some ‘touchy-feely’ ice-breaker and what a waste of time it was. And have you seen the Geico commercial that shows the CEO taking a trust fall with the Gecko? Yikes! Team building really gets a bad rap!

It is unfortunate that there are so many poorly facilitated ‘team building’ programs out there. As a professional facilitator, I regularly hear from clients – and the blogosphere – about how ineffective their last company team building event was. I agree with the premise that ’silly ice breakers’ is not the way to build a high performing team, however, those ice breakers do serve an important purpose.

Ice breakers – silly or not – are designed to lower inhibitions. Inhibitions are what makes us hold back in both our introductions to one another and our daily working relationships. Lowering inhibitions creates an opportunity for a skilled facilitator to introduce techniques for building vulnerability-based trust between the members of the group. I don’t mean the ‘fall back and I’ll catch you’ cliche (although in some circumstances, that is still a powerful trust-building tool), but the kind of trust that allows individuals to step out of their comfort zone and suggest an idea that might be a flop, or might just lead to an innovation. The most effective teams have a bond that allows them to speak freely, listen actively, and remain open to new and possibly uncomfortable ideas. Professionally facilitated team building programs, as part of a broader team development effort, can create the space where innovation is commonplace – and sometimes an ice breaker is the way to get that process moving more quickly.

The Evolution of a Team Building Facilitator

From Recreational Team Building to Professional Facilitation

NEXTeams Team Development is the product of our continuing evolution as an experience-based team building and adventure education provider.  In 2001, we opened GO-AdventureSports – a team building and adventure instruction company dedicated to introducing groups and organizations to enhanced teamwork through ropes courses, portable team building and “extreme sports” instruction.  Over the years and through constant improvements, we began to realize that the programs offered through GO-AdventureSports were beneficial, but limited in the depth to which they could affect change in the performance of a team.  Seeking new and innovative techniques, Eriq Powers (the founder) began to read, attend seminars, and eventually became certified as a Professional Facilitator.  Armed with new perspectives and a renewed enthusiasm, Eriq went through each of his existing team building offerings and improved the benefit to the client by the development of new activities, streamlining classic activities, and cutting activities that seemed to produce less lasting benefit.  The result was a new company, with a more long-view approach to team development.  NEXTeams is “the NEXT Step in Team Development.”  We look forward to serving you.