Corporate team building once used to be associated with boozy overnight stays away, combined with mortifying bonding activities and cheesy coaching programmes. Big companies with cash to flash were happy to invest heavily in the development and performance of their teams – recognising that a strong team is one with great delivery. Since the credit crunch, the lavish activities may have died down a little, but the need for – and focus on – corporate team building is stronger than ever.
Different Types of Teams
Organisational psychologists study the dynamic of teams and the behaviours that individuals within them demonstrate. Teams within organisations may be formal, project-based, informal or geographic for example. They can be put together in a deliberate fashion, or be allowed to evolve with optional inclusion. When well formed and managed, a team can do wonderful things. The most common type of team is departmental based, and with the right coaching, management and evolution, these teams can become more creative, more productive and more highly performing.
The Value of Sports
One interesting way of building teams is to bring the lessons of sport together with the lessons of the corporation. Sports activities, whether netball, rugby drills, ball games, athletics or even orienteering, help to define team roles and encourage new ways of working together and communicating. Different people will naturally take on different roles within the sports team, often changing the dynamic of the group and challenging it. New helpers, coaches, communicators and team players appear, along with new and natural leaders. The lessons can be fascinating.
Coaching organisations will use sports activities like those found at to achieve specific learning outcomes, as defined by the customer organisation. They may be looking to strengthen a team, to bring a new team together, to challenge and shake up ‘old’ behaviours or to tackle development areas together. Sports programmes can be completely tailored to embrace diversity and ensure inclusion of everyone on the team, regardless of their physical fitness and skills. You can ensure that your members all feel like one team by getting them all Nike Football Kits like the ones you can see at www.kitking.co.uk/brand/nike to really feel like one large group.
Regardless of the objective, the combination of physical exercise, mental stimulation and fun can prove to be a powerful learning tool, and certainly far more so than the old style approach of sitting in a lecture theatre, eating biscuits and struggling to stay awake through long Powerpoint presentations!