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Frustrated by a lack of progress and results, organisation's will frequently despatch an underperforming team on a team building day with the expectation that they will return transformed. Problem solved. More often than not both the team and their organisation are disappointed.
The team returns to work on a high but once the initial "buzz" has worn off the same old problems reappear. There is little change in performance, results fail to materialise, cynicism and frustration return, worse than before.
Team building has its place and can be highly effective when used appropriately however, it is seldom the cure for the fundamental problems that plague many teams.
Significant improvements in team performance can be achieved more rapidly through carefully targetted interventions which eliminate (or reduce) the systemic barriers to a teams performance. Often these barriers have less to do with the team's "skill or will" and more to do with the team's design and the environment in which it operates.
This is clearly illustrated by the findings from a recent survey of Fortune 500 (and other companies) across a variety of industries. It identified primary factors that contribute to the failure of teams. These were classified as:
Internal Factors that exist within the team itself
External Factors present in the team's (organisational) environment
While some of these factors are related to specific team based skills (which can be improved through training or team building) the most significant are connected to the organisation and team design.
The lesson, if your team is struggling to gain traction on a project or is underperforming generally then before you send them on a team building or training event, identify if any of the factors listed below are present. Then assess their impact on the team.
Focus your efforts on eliminating external obstacles and improving the team's design (structure, systems and processes). You, your teams and your organisation will experience far greater and more enduring results.
Any training or team building you do invest in will then yield more substantial changes in successful behaviours. Why? Because the team returns "skillled and willed" to an environment that supports its performance. |
