I used to hate going to offsite team-building events.
The goal was to build trust (fall and the team catches you) or teamwork (mix up people to work on something) and so on.
Most are not very successful long term. Team members change and people forget.
The key in building a high performing team (HPT) is to understand that everyone views things from their own perspective.
You need to find a way to build “looking at things from someone else’s perspective” into the culture. Since culture is defined at the top of the organization, it must start there.
Consider leadership team building in three steps:
- Clarity – Ensure everyone sees the goal from the perspective of what is best for the company.
- Alignment – Make sure everyone is in alignment toward the goal. Includes their respective teams.
- Execution – Develop a plan, execute the plan, hold each other accountable, pivot if needed, and celebrate when they achieve their goals.
Building a HPT is not hard when every team member commits. It gets hard when the leader must wrestle competing interests. Don’t allow it. Otherwise, you will never be more than a hard-working team that ultimately underperforms.
Use off-sites for Clarity and Alignment (or for celebrating)!
If you'd like to discuss further, contact me at www.richhallgroup.com/contact