A Counterproductive Concept: Avoiding Overly Competitive Team-Building Events

If you've ever split one large group into smaller teams, pitted them against one another, and then had the winners heckle the losers, you understand what's wrong with overly competitive team-building events. Exactly how does this build camaraderie among all the participants? Unfortunately, team-building events often become too competitive and wind up destroying the very team environment they're meant to foster.

Are you considering organizing a team-building activity to encourage group cohesion? If so, be careful. Regardless of the size of the group, it's important to find events that build the team up.

Understanding the Team Dynamics

When teams develop, it's important for them to determine their unique function, why they're coming together, and how they're going to succeed. This means looking at how they can work together to function cooperatively. Not only does this build team spirit, but it also helps to develop collaboration, cohesiveness, and positive interaction.

A group of people doesn't make a team - after all, it could be just a mob. That's why it's important to understand that in order to have a successful team, there are certain team dynamics that you first need to comprehend. Critical elements include learning to get along, developing interpersonal trust, and practicing effective communication.

Unfortunately, in hopes of bonding their corporate teams, employers often plan team-building exercises that run the risk of inserting competition, instead of camaraderie, into the event. Bear in mind: Activities where participants focus on who wins offer less team-building and growth than those which measure success through cooperation. If you truly want to build a better team, it's important to find the right team-building activities.

The Best Team-Building Activities

According to an article in HR World, "Good team-building exercises involve activities that must be done together in order for anyone to succeed. The event should reward not only those who get good results, but also those who helped others and made the exercise enjoyable for everyone. Avoid competitive and overly strenuous cliché exercises."

Although competitive activities can ignite passion from participants, they tend to focus on winning - instead of working and succeeding together as a team. And, because one or more groups must lose in order for another group to win, bad feelings will inevitably result. Remember: The ultimate goal of team-building exercises is that the participants leave with pleasant memories.

Consider skill-based or problem-solving activities. Skill-based team-building exercises focus on the differing abilities that certain team members possess, such as creativity and analysis, and ways that they can combine their talents to fulfill a single team goal. Problem-solving activities, on the other hand, utilize skills, such as logical thinking and brainstorming, to develop useable solutions for case studies or real-life scenarios.

The purpose behind team-building is to do just that: build the team. Therefore, activities that involve having the team work together to focus on a solution, rather than compete for the limelight, will go further in meeting your desired result.