If you think that building team effectiveness–aka team-building–is a waste of time and money, think again. The data says you’re wrong:
- Stanford: Teams that work well together are 50% more productive.
- Deloitte: Collaborative teams are 5x more likely to be high-performing in creativity and innovation.
- Gallup: Companies that foster teamwork have a 50% lower employee turnover rate.
- HBR: Organizations with collaborative leaders are 4x more likely to outperform their competitors.
- And a Journal of Business and Psychology study found that team-building activities can increase collaboration effectiveness by 50%.
To be clear, I don’t mean kumbaya and trust falls.
It’s about making intentional time to focus on building alignment, collaboration and trust, and doing that with an expert who can architect and facilitate the experience.
So as you close out the week, take a few minutes to reflect on your team and ask yourself these questions:
- What is the 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 level of trust between members and across the team? How do you know?
- How well do team members collaborate with one another?
- How often and how well do team members engage in productive and healthy conflict?
- What is the level of alignment across the team? How does each team member articulate our goals and their part in our collective achievement?
- What team would your team members consider their First Team? The team they are a member of? Or the team they lead?
If you’re unsure of the answers to these questions, now is a great time to think about getting your team together before the end of the year for a team building offsite. End the year on a strong note, and set the stage for the next year.
No trust falls or kumbaya required.
(Although I’ve come to believe that horseback riding is the great team equalizer. Plenty of ranches are happy to host your leadership team retreat.)
PS – If you’re looking for that expert facilitator, I have some room left in my schedule for December offsites. Designing and guiding teams through these experiences is the work I most love to do, and I’d be honored to partner with your team to accelerate their effectiveness.
If you aren’t already, follow me on LinkedIn!
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