Team Building Exercise
The Effect Team Building Exercises Have on the Corporate Sector
The following pages contain extracts from a dissertation by a student studying for a sports degree.
Five groups took part in events, only the managers were interviewed on their perception of the exercise. The events themselves varied but were all products from our company
The events are listed below.
Click here for a full list of team building events
Chaper FOUR - Results
Introduction
Management's Expectations
Question 1
"How would you define Team Building?"
Answers to Question 1
Group 1
"Togetherness, communication, forming relationships"
Group 2
"Improve morale and communication"
Group 3
"Fundamental business tool used to maximise profit"
Group 4
"Process or event influencing the way individuals work in a team"
Group 5
"Teambuilding can be anything that helps a team work together"
Detailed Analysis
- Group 1
(12 Participants)
Group 1 was preparing a team of individuals who, in the near future, would be working together on a multi-million pound project to develop a cleaner more refined diesel.
The individuals had never worked together and some had not even met.
The manager was aware that the team was under time pressures for the project and wanted to use the team building exercise as a means of reducing valuable project time which would otherwise be used at the start of the project.
This is evident in the statement:
"In past experiences it has taken up to two weeks for teams to get to know one another and establish a pecking order. The reason for this event was to save this time, allowing the group to start on the project immediately"
- Group 2
(21 Participants)
Everest Challenge
Group 2 was expecting a high level of strong facilitated feedback at the end of each communication challenge, with the intention of making the team aware of what they did well and who worked well in certain situations.
The manager also wanted prescribed success, inclusion of all members and a team spirit.
This is evident when she said:
"I wanted constant constructive feedback for each team member throughout the day"
- Group 3
(19 Participants)
Corporate Sailing Day
Group 3 had a team of line workers involved in the welding of axels on a production line within a large factory in an industrialised part of Bristol.
The workers were low skilled labourers working unsociable hours, had low motivation and ultimately production was slowly declining.
The manager wanted to improve morale and motivation through a team building exercise which he hoped would improve production.
He wanted an emphasis on fun with proscribed rewards and success. He said:
"I wanted a reward for my team and to make them feel special, I hoped that this would improve their morale and ultimately their productivity"
- Group 4
(65 Participants)
It's a Knockout
Group 4 had sixty five telephone salespersons that were experiencing increased targets with no increased salary.
Employees were threatening to leave and morale was down.
The manager said that the reason for the team building exercise was to:
"Pick up morale and motivations to not only get rid of the negative office environment but to make provisions for hitting the new targets"
- Group 5
(17 Participants)
Facilitated Belbin Event
Group 5 had a team who had a somewhat mundane, yet crucial job role; they had low motivation and no real sense of purpose.
The individuals did not socialise together as they had never gotten to know one another more than simple niceties.
The manager quotes:
"The team building interventions are to act as a catalyst to develop relationships within the group which would lead to a happier more productive working environment"
