How
All employers want to boost morale, increase communication between staff members and ultimately increase proficiency, so why don’t more organisations send their staff to take part in team development events?
Maybe it’s because some of these events can suffer from the fact they conjure up bad thoughts – many brought about by the humorous events shown on TV shows?
For certain, the words and wisdom of David Brent from television’s “The Office” have forced middle management personnel to consider themselves and wonder if that’s who they resemble.
Among Brent’s many, now well-known, quotes the one that best 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 excellent show in which a team development expert visited their offices. Brent rapidly took over, and changed the course into basically a celebration of himself, including an interpretation of his seminal 1980s pop ballad “Free Love on the Freelove Freeway” on the guitar.
However, team development events in real life are nothing like the cringeworthy and destructive nightmare depicted in the programme.
Many companies across the UK now offer companies the chance to take their staff away from the office and away on a team building day.
Team building allows staff members to learn and develop the tools and skillsets necessary to drive business growth and sustain development and improvement.
And despite worldwide economies being in the midst of a recession, staff development remains crucial to business growth. In fact, it’s even more important, as when the recession stops there will certainly be chances for the best-managed businesses to take advantage of the growing market.
Team development can take a variety of forms, from in-house education 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 employees taking part.
All these activities are fashioned to encourage staff – regardless of age and background – to work as part of a team for the common good of your company, and they all contribute to the common long-term goals of your business.
So team development events are essential to business growth. Just don’t copy David Brent, a man whose hiring policy was straightforward: “Avoid employing unlucky people – throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them”.
