One of the elements of an exceptional organization is that they are made up of great teams. However, great teams don’t just happen. There are five critical elements that helped forge great teams:

A goal
A roadmap of how to get there
A scoreboard that tracks the progress
A culture that provides the guardrails for the team to operate between.
Trust in the team that developed through shared experiences and hardships

So how do you build the trust through shared experiences and hardships? The coronavirus is definitely a shared hardship but are you, as a leader, using it to build or break down your team? Research has shown that team building activities can positively enhance team performance. The research also says that there are five team building activities that produce the best results:

Physical Activities — sports are great ways to bring the team together, get exercise, and see people in a different setting. From personal experience, if your team is bigger than four people I would not recommend a golf outing — the foursomes limit the amount of team building that can happen. Ultimate frisbee, ultimate football, flag football, soccer, softball, and even a group bike ride can all help bring groups together.
Field Trips — a trip to a museum, a sporting event, or a park can bring new ideas to the team and help build the bonds within the team.
Professional development activities — workshops, guest speakers, trade shows, and webinars can get your team thinking about new ideas or revisiting the fundamentals of something you do regularly.
Shared Meals — rather than everyone eating at their desks, a gathering over lunch is a great way to encourage casual conversation, get to know one another’s interests outside of work, and build the bonds within the team.
Volunteering — an activity the entire team can feel proud about doing. A construction project for a good cause or volunteering at a shelter or food bank can help people get to know one another outside of work and build the bonds within the team.

The organizations I was part of in the military relied heavily on physical activities, field trips, professional development events, and shared meals to build the team. I can still remember some of the flag football games I played in and the field trips we took over the years, while the powerpoint driven meetings have faded away.

Iron Rakkasan Flag Football Turkey Bowl, Afghanistan. Officers vs. Senior NCOs. Unfortunately, the officers lost.

But what intentional team building events can you do now during social distancing?

Virtual professional development — bring in a guest speaker for 90 minutes or set up your own Leader Decision Exercise (Contact us —https://www.thefivecoatconsultinggroup.com/tfcg-webinars )
Shared meals — host a virtual happy hour at 4:00 PM on a Friday. It gives your team a chance to end work early and socialize. Plus you don’t have to watch everyone try to eat on Zoom or Teams.

In 2021 TFCG will host the Currahee Mountain Leadership Experience which combines four of the team building events — physical activity, field trip, professional development, and shared meals — to really enhance your team. Want to know more? Reach out here to start the discussion and get our brochure — https://www.thefivecoatconsultinggroup.com/tfcg-currahee-leadership-experience

Building great teams takes hard work and effort. Go on the offense to use innovative ways to build your team during the remainder of 2020 and on into 2021.

Team Building (#46)

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Facts and Assumptions (#45)