TEAM BUILDING RETREATS

WHAT IS A TEAM

Any group of people organized to work together interdependently and cooperatively to accomplish a specific goal Flexible and responsive to changing events Quickly assemble, deploy, refocus and disband Effective means to facilitate employee participation

TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

Context Available resources, climate of trust etc. Composition Team size, Diversity, personality etc. Work Design Freedom and autonomy, task significance etc. Process Common Plan and purpose, team efficacy etc.

TEAM BUILDING RETREATS

Out-of-office retreats Includes activities ranging from mountain climbing to trust building skills

Improves relationships within the team

Helps change perceptions and behaviors Reduces animosity between employees while merger of companies

EXAMPLES OF TEAM BUILDING

RETREATS

Outbound group exercises

Activities such as trekking, rafting etc.

For e.g. Adobe Systems organizes an out-of-office retreat called Escape

EXAMPLES OF TEAM BUILDING

RETREATS

Community projects Social programs related to environment, people etc For e.g. Breweries Coors and Molson organized a social event and worked with Habitat for Humanity Virtual programs Online team-building exercises For e.g. Amazon conducts online team-building event involving employees from various regions.

POSITIVE ASPECTS OF TEAM BUILDING

RETREATS

Inprovcs team dynamics

Better understanding and coordination

Team Efficiency

High team productivity results in better profitability

Perceived organizational Support(POS)

Increases employees sense of belonging towards organization

Employee retention

Reduce turnover rate

THE FLIP-SIDE

Improperly organized retreats can dampen employee morale For e.g. Pitting employees against one another can adversely affect team dynamics

Enduring effects of the exercise For e.g. The effects of the team building exercise might not be long lasting Physical harm For e.g. Designing potentially dangerous exercises like walk on fire can cause harm to the participants

PLANNING THE TEAM BUILDING

RETREAT

Should be employee oriented Should be economically viable to the company Should be scheduled such that it does not hamper the normal functioning of the organization Should be within the context of the organization Should be followed up with meaningful activities at the workplace

ALTERNATIVES TO TEAM BUILDING

RETREATS

Regular team outings Birthday celebrations, Anniversaries etc.

Provide incentives to be a good team player

CONCLUSIONS

Team building retreats is like a double-edged sword Poorly executed programs can dent employee morale Proper planning can ensure effectiveness of the program

Thank you