Why the Office Isn’t like Your Office – Team Development
Saturday, November 21st, 2009Bosses always want to improve morale, improve staff communication and ultimately increase productivity, so why don’t more companies send their staff to take part in team development events?
Is it because some of these courses can suffer because they conjure up negative thoughts – many connected to the humorous events shown on television?
Certainly, the words and wisdom of David Brent from television’s “The Office” have forced middle managers to consider themselves and wonder if that’s who they resemble.
Among Brent’s many, now well-known, quotes the one that best shows his thinking about working as a team reads: “There may be no ‘I’ in team, but there’s a ‘ME’ if you look hard enough”.
If you watched the show, you may remember the funny show in which a team development expert visited their offices. Brent rapidly took over, and transformed the meeting into essentially a celebration of himself, including an interpretation of his seminal 1980s pop ballad “Free Love on the Freelove Freeway” on acoustic guitar.
Yet, team development events in real life are nothing like the cringeworthy and soul-destroying nightmare depicted in the programme.
Numerous organisations across the country now offer businesses the chance to take their staff out of the office and out on a team building day.
Team building allows employees to learn and develop the tools and skills required to push business growth plus sustain development and improvement.
And despite worldwide economies being in the midst of a recession, staff development remains essential to business growth. In fact, it is even more important, as when the recession stops there will certainly be opportunities for the best-managed businesses to take advantage of the developing marketplace.
Team development can take many forms, from in-house education to getting out into the wilderness and undertaking adventure courses, high ropes trails and personal challenges – which will certainly inspire and be memorable for employees taking part.
All of these activities are fashioned to encourage staff – regardless of age or background – to work as part of a team for the common good of your company, and they all add to the common long-term goals of your organisation.
That’s why team development events are crucial to business growth. Just don’t follow the example of David Brent, a man whose policy for hiring new staff was simple: “Avoid employing unlucky people – throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them”.
