CM Porter Novelli’s Angela Casey extols the virtue of team building exercises

Team building has come a long way. There were the days of sitting in a ring on each others’ knees and “trusting” that no one would fall over. And then there were the days of the outward bound, skinning rabbits with colleagues and tough luck if you were someone who hated the great outdoors. These days it is all much more sophisticated, with facilitation, feedback and no group humiliation.

As with all training, team building can be an expensive exercise. But is it really worth it and does an away-day pull the team together, or is it a day out of the office that increases the workload even more?

For many people working in our industry, the day-to-day role often involves problem-solving and working as a group in itself. In our PR business we have found that working on a large event, running a press office, or managing a high profile project, provides all the team building we need. We have to structure ourselves, plan ahead and know who has to be where and what their role is. The final result gives us a buzz and thereby we have done some great team building without leaving the day job.

However, for many organisations, there is value in getting away from the office and doing some thinking and planning. And I think that is where the value of team building really comes into its own. By taking a step back and looking dispassionately at the business and everyone’s role within it, we can get a good picture of where we want to be in the future and what we need to do to get there. However, because of the expense involved, having a focus on outcomes is important.

Jennifer Cramb of Viveka, the facilitation and coaching business, has strong views on this: “Budgets are tight everywhere, so your team day must earn its place in the calendar. Three things make for a valuable day in my experience.

First: Build your team by working on a real business challenge – so if your priority is to generate more revenue, work on that together.

Second: Take time to check in with how you are working – what’s going well? How could you be more effective?

Third: People want to do their best and make a difference, so make sure that you celebrate your strengths and successes – some social time in the pub afterwards is a great way to do this.

We recently had a team-building event – a brilliant one at that – at the lovely Crieff Hydro in Highland Perthshire. This involved a range of activities in the outdoor pursuits centre and a team meeting to talk about ourselves, plus an overnight stay. As a small team, it is rare for us to find the chance to think about things other than the day-to-day as someone always has to answer the phone or has something on the go. It was a valuable opportunity to look at our business, plan for the future and, crucially get to know one another better as people. We all concluded that it represented both great value for money and a good use of our time away from the business.

Team building can be expensive in terms of both time and money, but if it is focused and relevant, it represents a good investment for any business, large or small. And, in my experience, it can make the difference between a good team and a great team. The key thing is to invest the time ahead of the event to ensure it achieves best value. So go for it!