Make your teambuilding workshop deliver

They’re more than icebreakers and bonding activities – they can actually increase productivity in the workplace and boost company morale. Here’s how to make the high last.

Agree that there is a need. “A teambuilding activity begins with a need,” says Susan Tayag, organizational development manager of Roche (Philippines) Inc. “Depending on the situation, particularly in what stage the team is at the moment, i.e., newly organized project team or task force, result of reorganization, appointment of a new leader. etc., the teambulding is designed to cater to the need at hand.” Teambuilding workshops also help the organization quickly adapt to changes in strategy, policy, leadership, products. It focuses attention on what needs to be done and provides a venue to create the means to do it.

Organizations also need a venue for common ground to enable them to forge ahead. Dada Salud, managing director of Human Capital Asia, Inc., says: “Most organizations we’ve worked with look at values as the main driving force in organizational achievements. Having an agreed of doing things through its corporate values gives the organizations an edge in achieving objectives.”

Conduct a pre-workshop diagnosis. Workshop designs should be tailored to the needs of the organizaztion and not come off the shelf. Just because the in-thing is outdoor adventure activities does not mean you have to do it, too. You can only design the proper workshop after a proper diagnosis. During a dignosis, your internal or external consultant, will interview the participants (or a representative sample thereof, in the case of a big group) on various aspects of the organization. For all you know the problem will not be solved by a teambuilding workshop. There might be a problem with skills, an understanding of processes, or a need to clarify goals. Or, the problem might not be with the staff but with how the leaders interact amongst themselves. In which case, the workshop should target leaders.

“Clients usually think that teambuilding is a solution to all the organizational problems they are encountering,” says Salud. “Sad to say, a teambuilding workshop, if not properly diagnosed, may remain an activity that will not impact the bottom line of the company.”

Get top management support. Those initiating the workshop, usually HR or the line manager, must make a clear case for it. They must clearly present the problem and the workshop proposal to top management – which usually foots the bill – and win management’s approval and support, otherwise, the workshop, is doomed from the start. Top management ensures that everyone is committed to the activity. It makes sure that the gains of the workshop are preserved.

“It is necessary that everyone involved has the same reading of the problem and that everyone agrees that something should be done about it. If everyone agrees on the problem and agrees on teh way to go, then half your job is done,” says Noelle Protasio, senior HR manager for a government construction project. Leaders should have the same message when communicating with the participants.

Salud says that the leaders have to be committed to change, othersise it would be nothing more than “an annual activity that will not reap gains [that impact] the organization’s bottomline.” She adds that the leader’s political will is important. If it surfaces that the problem is the leader, the leaders should be able to admit that he himself has to change. “You have to be a role model,” says Salud. Leaders don’t have to make any public confessions, but they have to admit it to their consultants so they can come up with the appropriate intervention. A good facilitator will be able to design a workshop where no one gets embarrased.

Ensure people speak up during diagnosis. Most employees are willing to participate in a preworkshop diagnosis if they know it will improve the work and if it has management support. “Top management should send out a memo telling everyone to participate,” says Protasio. At the same time, management should ‘ensure that people know they are safe when they give information and that they could remain anonymous.”

Sometimes a diagnosis is done in two steps. One involves an objective, quantitative questionnaire, designed to rank the organization in terms of clarity of vision, strategies and goals, work processes, communication and conflict resolution, human resource development, and culture. From there, a qualitative diagnosis such as an interview or focus group discussions is designed to probe further into organizational concerns.

“If there are any hidden agenda among participants, a good diagnosis should be able to bring it to the surface, so that it could be addressed,” says Protasio. This enables the facilitator to manage any undercurrents of conflict that may emerge in the workshop proper.

Pre-teambuilding rah-rahs are not necessary. Communication is. There are situations that call for hot-priming the participants, and there are situations where being low-keyed is best. Tayag says: “For example, if you have a team who has been given a new leader, the rah-rah would not be effective because there may be underlying perceptions about the leader or his style. Creating a pre-workshop rah-rah would be superfluous and may only create a wrong perception of a leader and a team. It would be good to surface concerns through one-on-one interviews so the facilitator would have an idea on what to emphasize and what to look out for (i.e., issues that may be raised; conflicts that may arise).” A simple briefing or a teaser might be enough to prime the participants for better participation.

Salud says that the ra-rah might come as a starter or as a high-impact ender. “We usually design the teambuilding according to how the clients want to build the messages that will greatly impact behavioral changes and further commitment/engagement to the organization.

Form follows function: Begin with the end in mind. Teambuilding workshops fail when all it delivers is a feel-good camaraderie that lasts about two weeks. People do need to work together. They need to do real work and must deliver on their goals. While feeling good about each other certainly makes it easier to work the stress of unclear goals, an unshared vision, and ambiguous roles erode on any goodwill that is created during the teambuilding. It’s like having a house with beautiful interiors but with weak plumbing and faulty engineering.

Design according to need. Says Tayag: “Consider the individual profiles, strengths and concerns of each member and how this may impact their function and achievement of goals. The duration of workshop depends on both the size of the group, the individual and team profiles as well as the outcome they are aiming for.”

There should be specific, measurable outcomes. Do you want better performance, improved morale, successfully complete a project, increased teamwork? Then discuss with your consultant how you are about to measure this. Or get inputs from her on how to do so.

Select a credible facilitator. You can source facilitors from inside your company or from outside. The important thing is that he is “personable and able to establish rapport with the participants. This is key in moving the participants to share personal information, thoughts and feelings. He should not risk offending someone with an insensitive remark as this may lead the participant to withdraw and be passive and disinterested,” says Tayag. A good facilitator is also able to read where the energy of the group is going or what characterizes it. He should be able to midwife the process toward the end result, by ensuring that everyone feels his inputs are heard and that no one unfairly dominates the activity, and that it doesn’t turn into a griping session.

Choose an appropriate venue. Workshops do not need to be conducted out-of-town or be overnight affairs. “What is important is that the participants are not distracted during the workshop so their minds and hearts are focused on addressing the needs of the team and their own. This will lead to more engagement and commitment,” says Tayag. The venue should be safe and and comfortable. There should be enough space for small group discussions and activities that require movement. Again, it all depends on the design.

Choose activities that encourage ople to open up. There is a need to follow the in-thing when it comes to workshop design, although it is important that it does not feel old, especially to employees who have been to all sorts of workshops already.

Take a look at your participants and design accordingly. “Are they young, old, middle-aged? If they’re too tired, they would be too distracted by their physical pain to process what just happened to them. A good facilitator can create activities that will draw out the same learning points,” says Protasio. Consider also the safety of the participants. The choice of activities depend on what you want to surface in a workshop, says Salud. You could input play into the activities and people will be able to participate without fear of being judged, she adds.

Protasio stresses that the facilitator should be able to create “a safe environment for people to talk about issues.” Activities are structured so that participants can freely voice out opinions or brainstorm on solutions without embarrassing others or without fear that those who feel referred to would get back at them at work.

The real work of teambuilding begins after the workshop. Tayag shares some outputs that could be done during and after the workshop to make sure people stick to their workshop commitments:

Team norms – “It would be good to set team norms during the workshop. They may use these norms as reminders during meetings, planning sessions, decision-making, servicing clients, preparing reports, etc. They may already set monthly team meetings (blocked in their calendars) where they would discuss the team norms and how they have or have not applied it and the corresponding results.”

Quick wins – “Agreements on what quick actions or changes may be applied immediately after the workshop may also be established. For example, during the workshop, the team may agree on setting Friday 8am meetings to discuss the respective highlights that week, critical issues and plans for the following week. They can start implementing this this week after they arrive from the workshop.”

Review meeting – “A conscious effort to set a meeting at the end of the quarter to review the agreements and how they have implemented it so far would also help in monitoring and tracking their development. This may be done by setting a meeting date, time and venue early on to ensure that the follow-up meeting happens.”

The key is to make sure that agreements are monitored and measured. “It is crucial that the “performance measures” are written down and agreed among parties,” says Salud. “What we cannot measure cannot be done.”

Protasio agrees: “It has to be clear to everyone what we plan to do when we return to the workplace. Yes, it is good that there is a carry-over of good feelings, but with real next steps, nothing concrete will happen. Incorporate agreements into the performance management system (PMS). What gets measured, gets done!” (Article courtersy of HIPP magazine)