Teambuilding (team building) is a process for fostering, empowering, and enhancing a group sense of teamwork and accomplishment. Teambuilding as a an organizational exercise, is conducted in small groups, corporate picnics, as incentive meeting format, and a range of other formats.
Many companies or associations find their objectives for team-building fit within one or more of the categories identified here.
Corporate Enculturation
In today's far-flung global business environment, employees of one company may find themselves working in various locations, whether cities, states, or countries. Yet companies still wish to instill corporate values and the sense of team. Since employees are seldom all under one roof any more, bringing together employees for an experience that instills and sustains the corporate culture is vital. Employees brought together for enculturation can include just the new hires, those recently promoted, or those reaching a certain employment anniversary date. Many companies also value periodic socialization for all their employees, and find team-building one step up from the enrichment from a corporate picnic-styled event.
Competition / Corporate Olympics
For many employees, competing in an Olympic-style corporate competition can be an exhilarating personal experience. For the companies involved, bringing together groups of employees in a structured competitive environment is a fine way to create interaction among employees that may not otherwise have much reason for personal interface.
Specific Business Objective
Some companies may be seeking a very specific result beyond just the general sense of "building the team." Senior managements, corporate or association boards, or other corporate groups may be seeking a means to foster group decision-making. Or, a merger, a new company program, a new product, or some company issue may be on the horizon where an off-site dynamic session may be deemed the way to reach consensus.
Celebratory - Commemorating Milestones
Companies as well as individuals, sometimes just have a need to celebrate, to commemorate achievement, meeting a milestone, or recognizing a significant corporate event. Bringing together groups of employees for a celebratory event can be a valuable means of heightening the sense of corporate teamwork.
For Fun's Sake
And then there is simply the team-building event for fun's sake. Many companies recognize that corporate environments cannot be all about the work. To retain employees, creating a work environment with perceived benefits over other companies, becomes quite useful.
Other Planning Factors
Once the team-building objective is established, resolution of a few other issues is also helpful. These include the desired length of the event (several hours or several days), as well as whether physical competition and possible injury is a concern. Specific client organizations typically have additional business issues as well that need to be integrated with event planning.
With the client organization's objectives well in mind, the team-building event can be created to great effect. The physical facilities available become the essential element in structuring a teambuilding event.
