Groups and Teamwork - Pearson Canada

Chapter 5 Groups and Teamwork 217
OB AT WORK
Sloman says. “It was a great success—with
the manager saying his
staff were re-energised and achieving
their best results.
“But when I arranged an identical
day at the request of the manager
of another district office in the
same department, productivity and
motivation fell,” he adds. “It
emerged that this manager had
never won the confidence or respect
of his team—and that the away-day
merely united staff in contempt for
him.”
Ensuring the support of those
attending away-days is vital.
“Everyone taking part must buy into
the aims of the get-together—and
not feel intimidated or annoyed by
anything they are asked to do,” Mr
Sloman says.
Moreover, organisers should
pause to think before arranging any
intense physical activities to encourage
bonding or leadership skills.
“Workplaces are diverse in terms
of age, strength and fitness and no
member of a group should feel at a
disadvantage because they can’t run
quickly, climb or lift a length of timber
to build a raft,” he says.
“Let staff know the broad content
of the programme in plenty of
time—and be prepared to modify
it.” He adds: “Reluctant participants
are unlikely to learn anything.”
But using some surprise activities
can help maintain interest. Mr
Sloman’s favourite method is getting
people to write down a littleknown
fact about themselves—and
then inviting the group to match
these to the individuals.
“It’s very effective in bringing
people together,” he says. “My
‘unusual fact’ is having appeared
on a film-set in Chicago in 1968—
and, no, not many people manage
to match it up with me.”
But is the corporate away-day
here to stay? Stephen Bevan, director
of consultancy at the Industrial
Society, believes that technological
change is making such events all
the more useful. “Communicating
by e-mail and telephone from busy
offices means that considering
issues face-to-face with colleagues
in places free from constant interruptions
can offer real advantages,”
he says.
“Strategic planning, exchanges
of best practice between different
departments and the creativity
required for ‘blue-sky’ thinking can
all be generated via carefully structured
away-days.”
An important part of that structure,
he says, should be the use of
outsiders. “Facilitators from outside
the organisation can be very effective
in bringing together different
parts of an organisation—such as
trade union representatives and
management.”
Mr Bevan also advises soliciting
feedback from participants to guide
future get-togethers and assess how
far the objectives set are achieved
in future months.
“Combining fun with a change
of scene can also be effective,” he
says. “But away-days for senior
managers should not be a cloak for
a junket during which no serious
thinking is done. Word gets out and
will fuel deep resentment among
more junior staff—harming morale
and productivity.”
Away-days are gaining popularity
in the public sector. Surrey
County Council uses them to
improve staff performance and the
way its services are delivered.
“Every away-day is carefully
planned to achieve a range of aims
and progress towards these is monitored,”
says Claire Holloway, head
of service development and customer
and staff relations. “We need
to know they are effective and
value-for-money.
“Locations are chosen with care
to offer the facilities required while
not requiring long journeys or costing
large sums. We recently used
rooms on a small island in the
Thames near our headquarters in
Kingston. It was 10 minutes
away—yet a complete change of
scene and ideal for creative strategic
thinking.”
Staff at every level take part in
away-days with recent issues
explored ranging from exchanging
best-practice between departments
to managing change. One technique
used successfully is to ‘road test’
proposed changes by having staff
play the part of people with typical
needs and then examining how new
structures might meet these.
Questions
1. What team-building activities are identified in this article?
2. Using the discussion on building effective teams, consider how these team-building
activities increase team effectiveness.
Source: D. White, “Team-Building Events Are More Likely to Succeed if They Include Outsiders and Unexpected
Activities,” FT.Com, March 31, 2002, http://news.ft.com/cgibin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTBlobServer?blobtable=Image&
blobcol=urlpicture&blobkey=id&blobwhere=FT3T7CBLEDC&blobheader=image/gif, accessed March 31, 2002.