Team Building

"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success." These prophetic words by the late Henry Ford are no less true and relevant in today’s fast-paced and competitive climate, than they were when Henry’s first automobile rolled off the assembly lines. The type of success that he envisioned would go on to revolutionize our world— success that was rooted in the principle of individuals coming together, holding onto a shared sense of unity, and ultimately working as a collective whole toward a common purpose. What he so eloquently was describing can actually be summed up in one simple word…TEAM. Although the definition of the word “team” may have evolved over time to mean many things to many people, few today would disagree with the tenet that a healthy, well aligned, and highly performing team is the cornerstone of most organizations’ success and long-term sustainability.

Accompanying the increased value placed on today’s corporate teams is the widespread and still growing use of the term “team building.” Team building, itself, may take on many different forms and functions for an organization, depending on that organization’s specific needs and objectives at any given point in time. It may help to view the concept of team building as a continuum. On one end of that continuum is a temporary gathering of people in an environment of fun and celebration for the purpose of strengthening relationships and a sense of community within an organization. If your goal is to reward, thank, or simply re-energize your people, then a one-time celebration or off-site gathering may be exactly what you need. On the other end of that same continuum is an organization seeking to gain insight into how effectively its internal project, leadership, and/or departmental teams are working together—in order, then, to affect targeted and specific long-term changes. Before embarking on the path of planning a successful team building experience, it is critical to first determine where along that continuum you aim to focus.

Whether simply looking for a creative and fun means to blow off steam and decompress together, or pursuing a major breakthrough with your people, the importance of investing in such experiences for the health of your organization, and ultimately your overall mission, cannot be stressed enough. Keep in mind that team building and all of its associated benefits seldom, if ever, occur spontaneously. Instead, the process must be set in place proactively and on a regular basis. In the same way elite athletes and musicians must commit to a regimen of continued practice for peak performance, strong and highly performing corporate teams must also be built up, conditioned, and maintained through ongoing discipline and hard work. Rest easy in knowing, however, that the return on this investment over time will be extraordinary.