Is team building dead?

Nothing strikes fear in the heart of most office workers like the words ‘ice breaker’. Yet only a handful of us will have escaped falling backwards blindfolded, praying that the lady from payroll will catch them.

Not so long ago, team building events and office outings were de rigeur but their popularity seems to have waned. Was it just a phase? 

“I think the appetite for team building has dwindled over the last few years,” says Adrian Tingle, Director of the Events House which organises events, corporate entertainment and team building from its Paintworks base. “We started running team building events ten years ago and it seemed at the time that they were hugely popular in all industries. It was a buzzphrase, a budgeted requirement for businesses.”

After the financial crisis those budgets dried up and the team building industry suffered. As spending was scrutinised, businesses took a step back and asked themselves what they were gaining.

Many decided that team building still has value – helping to boost understanding, communication, cooperation and problem resolution – but took a closer look at its format. The concept has had a distinct evolution, starting with away day jollies, transmuting through Krypton Factor games and duck herding and reaching the giddy folly of naked bathing with managers and horse whispering in pursuit of novel ways to bind professional teams together – descending slowly into banality and silliness. It’s time to get serious, at least in the planning stages.

“Almost all companies will do some type of team building, whether this is taking the team down the pub, having a Christmas party or holding a day away,” says Mark Fanning, Director of ACF Teambuilding & Events based at Aldwick Court Farm in South Bristol. “The interpretation of what constitutes a real team building day can vary from company to company but the need to engage staff and provide an environment for good working relationships to grow are common.”

Demonstrable value back in the workplace and clear objectives now form the cornerstones of strategic planning – thankfully asking employees to embarrass themselves is firmly out of fashion. But it still has to be memorably fun. No small order for organisers, who find themselves at the mercy of a fast changing, mercurial market.

In the most successful events, managers are encouraged by planners to consider first what gaps they are looking to plug and tailor activities to suit. Good communication and an understanding of other people’s roles and different operational styles are some examples of skills that can be enhanced for the better by well-crafted events. 

“It’s been a pretty torrid time for businesses (and employees) over the past few years with the recession leading to many re-structures and even more disengaged employees,” says Mick Lindsay, founder of M-ocean which operates challenge-based team events for companies like HP and Morrisons. “This has a pretty significant impact on any business with absenteeism, staff turnover and productivity all being affected.

“Businesses are realising the need to put this right.”

Team building seems to be rebounding as a result, engaging staff and stopping skills gaps. “We’re noticing a real upsurge in the need for good quality team building and leadership events,” Mick continues.

“Events that make this memorable and fun are the key,” agrees Adrian. “Unfortunately for the industry a lot of the events and services mimic each other and the marketplace is awash with unified, diluted offerings. 

Since the recession, his company has streamlined its offering to focus on just one, totally unique flagship event. “It’s called ‘The Formula’ and is based on motor sport, which is our niche. The motor sport industry has many business-based analogies to simulate, so not only do people have lots of fun, but the team building messages are easily identifiable.”

And that’s the crux of good, contemporary team building.

“There are still some people doing golf days and the like but they are really dated and have a limited reach,” summarises Mick. “The good old fashioned ‘jolly’ is a thing of the past and businesses are more aware of providing employees with the tools to be more effective at work.”