“We need team building” can describe several different needs. Colleagues may want time to reconnect. A new team may need to understand one another’s roles. An established team may be struggling with handovers or a shared goal.
Start by describing the situation you want to improve. The activity can then be discussed in relation to that purpose, the people involved and the conditions around their work.
Separate what you see from what you think it means
“Nobody cares” assigns a motive. “The last three handovers arrived without the information the receiving team needed” describes something that can be explored. Ask the people involved what they experience. They may identify unclear requirements, conflicting priorities or a difficulty you had not considered.
You do not need to settle the cause before speaking to a facilitator. A useful brief can say, “This is happening; these are our current explanations; we need help understanding the situation.”
A hypothetical example
A sales team and an operations team say communication is poor. A shared day could give them space to hear one another. Their handover difficulty also involves two different order forms and no agreed point at which an order is ready for processing.
The brief should include both the relationship concern and the working arrangement. If the day goes well but the forms remain contradictory, the original problem can remain. An enjoyable experience and changes to daily work may have different jobs to do.
Write a brief someone can use
Include the following:
- The people: Which roles are involved, how they work together and the approximate group size. Avoid unnecessary personal details.
- The situation: Two or three recent examples, with assumptions marked as assumptions.
- The purpose: What you hope people will understand, discuss or do differently.
- Previous efforts: What has already been tried and what happened afterwards.
- Practical requirements: Location, preferred timing, accessibility needs relevant to participation, and any constraints on taking people away from work.
- Follow-through: Who can take agreed workplace actions forward and when the team could discuss progress.
For the hypothetical handover team, a useful purpose might be: “Agree what a complete handover contains and understand what each team needs from the other.” That gives the discussion more direction than “improve morale” on its own.
Ask what belongs in the wider response
Some concerns need a management decision, a process change or an appropriate organisational procedure alongside team development. Be open about those dependencies. Do not ask an event to resolve decisions that nobody in the room has authority to make.
Bring your situation to Haviland’s team-building discussion. You can also explore Bader Way within the AV-X programme family.