Team Building Exercise
The Effect Team Building Interventions Have on the Corporate Sector
A dissertation submitted by Ian Harnett in partial completion of the award for BSC (HONS) Sport Development and Coaching Sciences.
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Chapter FIVE - Discussion
2) Discussion of Management's Expectations
Question
"What were your expectations for the event?"
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Discussion
The findings from this question revealed that the main expectation from the managers was togetherness or forming relationships, improving morale and increasing productivity.
These are the basis of the hypothesis, establishing what the managers wanted out of the event.
The expectations of the managers are similar to the definitions of what team building consists of that are held by Trent (2003). Trent (2003) explains the increasing need for cohesive teams as companies have a significant reliance upon them.
He goes on to say that teams are a cohesive, organised number of employees who conduct tasks, a view in concurrence with Group 2 and Group 4.
Group 5 had heard about the psychologist Meredith Belbin and thought his style of team building interventions would benefit her team in terms of understanding what type of person each of them was.
Belbin's (2004) theory was originally designed to select which people would work well together in a team, using this theory for an existing team that is not going to change had a harmful effect on the group, creating segregation and an unofficial hierarchy.
Group 1 primarily wanted to reduce the time it takes to get to know one another, this is a very basic yet crucial concept of team building, as described by Carron and Hausenblas (1998 cited in Boom, Stevens and Wickwire, 2003; p135) who characterize team building as team enhancement, forming relationships and preparing for tasks.
The view of forming a team is the initial element of Tuckman's Team Development Theory (1965) which argues that the first stage of team development, responsible for testing the group, finding out who the natural leaders are and becoming accustomed to the working environment, can be time consuming as individuals are cautious of unfamiliar situations.
The communication and team challenge event that was selected for the event was designed and proved successful in overcoming this unfamiliar situation.
Group 3 primarily wanted to reward his team with the intention of increasing productivity and consequently profit margins.
A luxury sailing weekend was selected for its impact factor with the intention of improving morale which will lead to improved productivity and ultimately profit.
This view that team building leads to increased productivity is a perception supported by Trent (2003) who simply mentions that high performing teams provide benefits far outweighing their cost, and conversely, poorly designed or motivated teams can create serious organizational stress.
In the case of Group 1 team building interventions were intended to create a higher performing team which would lead to increased profits.
