How can team building actually be effective?

Eyes roll, arms fold defensively and people push back further into their chairs. Participation is low and mental absenteeism high. Role playing, high ropes, trapeze swings, putt putt golf, boot-camps, origami folding…all in the name of fostering greater relationships and camaraderie in the workplace. So whilst the idea is great the execution is often lacking, misaligned and exclusionary. Mostly because of the inherent mindset that has been shaped from years of poor choices and opportunities. 

Workplaces often feel they have nothing to gain with team building. They think they communicate well and have a great team approach. For the ‘achiever’ mindset they may see team building as just another day that stops them reaching their professional goals. They have deadlines to meet, sales to finalise and targets to reach. They look around the office and see others like themselves, driven and hardworking. Nothing wrong, no need for team building. They may even understand the complexities and differences of other people in the office with different roles. Maybe. They think this well oiled machine can perform no better. But what if?

What if they can do better? What if they can learn a little more about the colleague on the other side of the office who has a slightly different approach to tasks? What if they can learn from them, despite the fact they seemingly outperform that other person? What if they took 1 or 2 pointers from someone else and shared something  to increase the overall efficiency of the team? That is what team building is about - communication and appreciation. There are many ways of doing team building, but at the heart of it there must be a way of using, analysing and improving communication. It should be engaging without discriminating. It should be relevant, different enough to the workplace but not so abstract from the workplace that making connections is impossible. Would financial advisors find ‘raft building’ with old tyres and logs relevant to their workplace?

Our communication methods are embedded at an early age. They are formed through teaching and mirroring in formative years. It is our context that shapes perspective which is revealed in communication. Combined with that is the amygdala of the brain that drives the fight or flight response to threats, and the inherent human need to be right that fuels miscommunication. We are not very good at communicating when it really matters. High levels of stress, low levels of confidence, aggressive, assertive, appeasers and pleasers, non-verbal communicators, deliberators, out-loud thinkers, spontaneous, high empathy, analysers… we all work together.

As a Detective of many years, and then as a teacher, I saw the same problems in both adults and children. That inability to communicate, or more correctly - listen, comes from excitement, eagerness, passion as well as less noble and endearing qualities. So how can we work around it as a team?

My first week as a Detective saw me investigating a murder as part of a team. The Homicide squad sent three detectives to help out, and at the end of the first day we had a debriefing. The 30 year Homicide veteran Detective Inspector went around the room as has sought our opinions. When he arrived at me I was initially surprised that even knew my name. I then sputtered and stammered and said. “I don’t really know sir, I'm only new and haven’t worked a murder before”. He looked me in the eyes and said, “Son, I don’t care if you have been here a day, a year or a hundred years, you have eyes, ears and an opinion. What you think is important regardless of experience”.

That moment stayed with me and as a teacher of high school students I used that as my guiding principal. When I first trialed my ‘Crime Scene’ experiential learning in a classroom I was amazed at the results. When the expected ‘brainiac’ and ‘class hotshot’ stood up thinking they had it nailed, they started pointing out their thoughts with little regard for the others in their group. It was then that the two quietest and most withdrawn students of the class mumbled something amazing. The class looked at them, and for the first time they listened. Despite being on the ASD spectrum, socially anxious, almost non-verbal and disregarded by their peers, they offered a different insight…and proved to be right! All of a sudden they were listened to, welcomed into the group and acknowledged for what they offered. It was late in Year 10 and I wish I had done this at the start. 

So when Crime Story works with corporations we see the same effect. Recently I spoke with a young receptionist who was part of the Property Management team at a major and successful real estate firm. Like I did so many years earlier she said she was “just the receptionist”. How wrong she was! What did she see at the front desk as people came in and walked away without staying? What were people saying on the phone? What did she see and hear that didn’t make it to the back office, or up the chain of command? She was vital to her company, and she was vital to her team that day. 

When I put together a scenario for workplace communication I wanted to test people. I wanted to use the Experiential/Play Based Learning that was the focus of study overseas and bring it home. I knew my past experiences as a detective of 14 years was interesting to a lot of people, and that the true crime genre was huge. What if people could investigate a true crime? Unlike ‘role playing’ exercises I have discovered that with authentic activities, people soon forget the are part of an exercise and they will be true to their personalities. Within minutes I see those who are dominant, excited, apprehensive or withdrawn. I watch the team dynamics and work with them on their critical thinking approach and communication.

When we run ‘witness/suspect’ interviews, despite the advice on how to treat a ‘witness’, I see clients turn into the aggressive interrogator hell bent on fitting the evidence to their own theory. (Glad I'm not doing a CIA scenario with water-boarding!) It is at that moment that I know we have had an impact, not only that individual, but the entire team. Experiential learning is about transferable skills; how did I do that and where else can I use it?

Team building is just communication. Sometimes you have to break the routine and get out of your comfort zone, try something different or be someone different…but don’t go too off script. The exercise has to closely resemble reality. High ropes and paintball may be the right solution, but make sure you can relate the lessons from that day back to your workplace. How did I do that and where else can I use that? See the connection? Now go and enjoy your team building session.