Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
Pondering Henry Ford’s quote above, I asked myself which task is most challenging for a leader: building a team, keeping the team together or getting the team to work together. I believe all three have levels of difficulty; however, I find that getting a team to work together is the most difficult and at the same time the MOST rewarding.
Individuals all join a team for their own reasons and with their own agendas. Leaders have the responsibility to share the vision and goals with their team and then get each individual with their expertise, skills, and agendas to all work together to fulfill that vision and meet the goal.
Just thinking about this can feel daunting. Never fear. Team building activities can be extremely helpful in moving people from thinking about “what I can do” to performing together as a team.
Team building exercises are fun, quick and engaging ways to help individuals get to know one another better, to think differently and to think collectively.
Effective team building exercises have a facilitator who does not participate but leads the exercise. The facilitator does not need to be a professional; however, exercises are most successful when the facilitator:
- Spends time up front considering what the team needs to work on
- Explores which exercises best meet those needs
- Plans out each detail in order to conduct an effective and engaging exercise
After planning and conducting the exercises, the next important piece to an effective team building exercise is the discussion at the conclusion of the exercise. It is important that the individuals participating understand that the exercise(s) were created and completed for a specific purpose and that the discussion leads the group to understand how they can take what they have learned and apply it to working better together.
A well planned, effective team building exercise ensures teams do not just come together and stay together but they meet success when they work together.
Janel Donohue is the President of Rappahannock United Way. She is a UMW alum and former Leadership Colloquium advisory board member. She will present a seminar on effective team building at our 21st annual colloquium.
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