Team Building For The Haters

There’s no getting away from it folks. We’ve all worked with or come across someone that absolutely hates team building events. As soon as they hear there is a team building event, work night out or summer BBQ coming up. They’ll start piping up about how boring they are blah, blah, blah. The reality is that they’ve been on god awful team building events before and have a negative experience because of that. They simply need a BigPotatoes.ie team building event. Here’s Team Building For The Haters!

As I mentioned earlier you’ll hear the haters pipe up in the run up to the event with a few classic nuggets. We’ll go through them now.

A Team Building Event is a Waste of Time

Unless they’re a complete workaholic, which they probably are not, most people enjoy a break from their work to refresh their mind. That’s why a lot of us live for the weekend right. If they say it’s a waste of time it’s simply down to their dislike of team building events or they’re simply blind to their benefits.

Take them aside, explain the company’s short and long term goals and the team performance on every level is going to drive this. Then explain that you are not all going to be sitting in a room talking it all out. You’ll be out enjoying activities like paintball, surfing or even paint a nude. Then detail each of their benefits to the team like communication, interpretation and developing a deeper trust. Also, they might change their tune if it’s during work hours.

Team Building Activities Are Stupid

Again, this comes from a previous negative experience on a team building event that required them to impersonate an animal or had to do a scavenger hunt that they had no interest in doing. But, we guarantee when they hear they’re going for a Spa Day, Cocktail Making Class, Zorbing or even driving Dirt Buggies. They won’t think team building activities are stupid!

I Get Tired From High Energy Team Building Activities

Fair point, some people don’t fancy working up a sweat in a variety of high octane outdoor activities. They may also not be the most physically fit either. So, to avoid this let them know that as your team building event or work night out, you’re just enjoying a Gin Tea Party, A Cruise on a River or just indulge in a little BBQ. It’s all about getting to know your work colleagues better and creating long lasting relationships.

It’s Awkward And It’s Just Forcing People to do Things Together

Depending on the size of your team, most people within the team know each other. It’s not like you’re asking them to have a team building activity with a complete stranger. You can always select team building activities to suit their comfort level. Something like a trip to an Adventure Centre is a great option as there is normally a wide variety of activities to choose from that are both individual and team based.

Again reinforce the benefits of the team building activity, the reasons you’re doing these activities and that it all helps to your long term goal.

I Hate To Lose

By there very nature team building activities such as karting or paintball are competitive. If the person in question is overly competitive it’s always a good idea to speak about the process rather than the outcome. Set up your activities as a cumulative event that everyone feeds into the overall result.

So, there have it folks, just a few tips for Team Building For The Haters.

Finally, for more details on booking your next team building event. Drop us a line on info@bigpotatoes.ie now.