Bosses always want to boost morale, improve communication between staff members and in the end increase productivity, so why don’t all organisations send their staff to team development events?
Is it because some of these courses can suffer because they evoke negative thoughts – many connected to the humorous events portrayed on TV shows?
For certain, the wisdom of David Brent from television’s “The Office” have forced middle management personnel to look in the mirror and wonder if that’s who they reflect.
Amongst Brent’s many, now well-known, quotes the one that most accurately summarises his thinking about working as a team reads: “There may be no ‘I’ in team, but there’s a ‘ME’ if you look hard enough”.
If you watched the show, you may remember the funny instalment in which a team development expert visited the Wernam Hogg offices. Brent quickly took control, and transformed the meeting into essentially a celebration of him, including an interpretation of his seminal 1980s pop ballad “Free Love on the Freelove Freeway” on acoustic guitar.
However, in real life team development events are nothing like the cringe worthy and soul-destroying nightmare depicted in the show.
Many organisations across the country now offer business organisations the chance to take their staff out of the office and away on a team building day.
Team building allows staff members to learn and develop the tools and skills essential to push business growth plus sustain development and improvement.
And despite worldwide economies being in the midst of a recession, staff development remains essential to business growth. In fact, it is even more important, as when the recession stops there will certainly be chances for the best-run businesses to take advantage of the developing market.
Team development can take many forms, from in-house teaching to getting out into the wilderness and taking part in adventure courses, high ropes trails and personal challenges – which will certainly inspire and be memorable for staff members.
All of these activities are fashioned to encourage staff – regardless of age or background – to work as part of a team for the common aim of your company, and they all add to the common long-term goals of your organisation.
So team development events are essential to the growth of any business. Just don’t copy David Brent, a man whose hiring policy was simple: “Avoid employing unlucky people – throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them”.
