Team building: what it is and its benefits

What is Team Building?

Team Building is a concept that was born in the 1920s and was coined by William McDougal in his book The group mind where he talks about the importance of work teams. A little later, around 1927, Elton Mayo begins a study to understand the relationship between working conditions and productivity and concluded that both concepts are closely related!

The teams that maintain better interpersonal relationships and have better working conditions are the most productive and, as a result of their work, several studies have been carried out on motivation and work environment.

The overall conclusion is that activities that promote belonging to the company and that improve interpersonal relationships between team members have a direct impact on productivity. In addition, during the development of these activities, previously unrecognised communication or organization problems may arise that hinder the proper development of the company.

In short, Team Building is capable of improving the productivity of our team and, therefore, of our company.

What is Team Building for?

As we have already said, Team Building is a methodology that uses different types of activities to improve and foster the interpersonal relationships of team members, as well as the feeling of belonging, and promote better communication between all people involved, from the workers all the way up to management. If we improve these relationships, the work environment will also improve since it is not the same working with people we barely know as with people with whom we can have a certain friendship.

When these relationships are improved, communication is much more fluid, camaraderie flourishes and the feeling of belonging to a group increases, so workers feel closer to their colleagues and are able to empathize, help and understand them much more.

For this very reason we say that Team Building is part of any good people management strategy, because it is just about that, to let people get to know each other better, and create bonds of trust. If you trust the person next to you, you do a better job.

Benefits of Team Building

Team building pursues certain objectives that have a direct impact on the well-being of our company.

For example, Team Building seeks to create bonds of trust between team members so that their relationships are stronger and a good working environment is created. At the same time, it encourages better and more frequent communication between staff members as in many cases, that is the problem – the lack of communication.

Communication is a very important factor for a team to function effectively and have a quick response to possible challenges or difficulties. Along with communication, transparency and sincerity are also promoted.

Reaching that point makes results in a positive increase in the general attitude of the company. If small problems are faced with a positive and proactive attitude, they will be solved more easily. If, on the other hand, there are small hidden fights between workers and there is a negative reaction to small setbacks, in addition to the Odyssey that you will face attempting to solve them, it is possible that they will not be resolved.

Some examples of Team Building

Normally, when talking about Team Building, the most powerful activities and the ones that can work best to create a strong team are those that are carried out outside the company. These types of experiences occur in an extra-corporate context and, therefore, are more powerful from the experiential and personal point of view. Outside of the office and we are no longer with co-workers, but with other people with whom we may be able to create bonds of trust at the end of the experience.

There are some smaller things that promote team bonding and that can be described as team-building activities that are simpler, but effective.

For example, if your team take their meals at the office, create a space for it. Make sure there is a room or a table big enough for everyone to sit down to eat. During that time, they disconnect from work and more everyday topics of conversation or anecdotes can come up that bring people closer together.

Another option is regular meetings to talk about the situation of the departments and the people . This should not be a meeting to discuss aspects such as the profit margin, more so to deal with issues such as the well-being of the people in a specific department or simply check-in on how things are going. This concern on the part of the leaders also aids towards building a good team sprirt and is highly valued.

This is just a small sample of what Team Building can be and what it can do for the well-being of our team and our company. By taking care of our team, we take care of our company. People are what make us grow and evolve as an organization and, as leaders, we must not forget this. Creating a strong and motivated team involved with the company is the key to the success and future of the organization.