| Elements of Great Teambuilding |
| Culture |
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By: Getty Stewart Head of the Home Range If you were asked to list the elements required to build great teams, what would be on your list? For years, my list included the need to communicate, share a vision, provide support/feedback, model the way, identify clear roles and enable people to act. Today, after much observation, hearing the success stories of others and working with different teams in different organizations, I’d like to add the following to my list of elements required to build great teams: • Food • Change of Environment • Physical Movement • Acts of Goodwill You may have your doubts about this list. After all, how can a serious, busy, challenging organization like yours possibly consider spending any time, energy or money on these “feel good” elements? Shouldn’t we just buckle down, roll up our sleeves and work hard? Of course we need to work hard, but we also need to create a positive, engaging environment that leads people to want to work hard and give their best. And what better way to accomplish that than activities that involve food, a change of pace and surroundings, a chance to connect with others, a chance to move and a chance to do good deeds. You may not know it but you’re probably already incorporating some of these elements in your own organization through potluck lunches, holiday parties, birthday celebrations, charitable donations, fitness centres, yoga at lunch and so on. Don’t underestimate the impact of these activities. They’re great at lifting spirits, building relationships, energizing people and giving everyone a fresh perspective. And, let’s face it; we’re all much more productive when we’re feeling energized, connected, and happy. The IBEX Herd experienced the impact of these elements first hand last week when we took time to “Clean Our Green” at the South Osborne underpass. Who knew that a day of hard labour would have such a positive impact on our team? We started with one of our traditional iBBQs at lunchtime. Then, we went outside and got physical as we raked, swept, picked, shoveled, pulled, pushed, dragged and lifted the dirt, weeds, garbage, branches etc. that had collected on the four corners of the underpass. Our goal was to clean our green space and show our pride in our community.  It was dirty work – not the kind of thing you would expect to make people smile and feel good. However, despite the sand in our eyes, the blisters on our hands and the grit in our hair, our smiles far outnumbered the 25 huge bags of garbage we collected. And, as we ended our day with ice cream (yes, more food!) it was easy to see that the sense of pride, camaraderie and accomplishment were well worth the effort. If you’d like to share your stories about how you have used any of these elements with your team, please send Getty an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
