Team Building: Learning through the Experiential Way
- A Case Study
INTRODUCTION
Team building is a process whereby employees work together as a team by engaging in various activities which are specifically designed to increase motivation, cooperation and collaboration.
Experiential team building activities performed as a group creates platform of inclusion and strengthen a team. Conducting team building programs, organizations ensures that the participants learn in an experiential way.
Facilitators integrate the activities and elements of team building into the beautiful natural surroundings. How does it differ from the traditional way of training? In traditional way, it is more directive in nature whereby it is spoon fed by the trainer.
On the other hand, in experiential team building activities, the participants imbibe “learning by doing”. So through effective team building activities, the retention power of the participants increases, and they can correlate and collaborate better at their workplace.
Team building hones creative problem solving, critical thinking, decision making etc. to ensure that participants are more engaged towards achieving organizational goals and objectives.
However, organizations incorporate experiential team building activities to make the event relevant, enjoyable and meaningful.
Companies integrate the challenges and goals into thought provoking interactive activities. Employees walk away after the experience with confidence which has lasting positive outcomes.
The following case will reveal the importance of experiential learning through team building and its effect on employee behavior.
CASE STUDY
MotorInc. Pvt. Ltd is an automobile company, which deals with two wheelers and cars. They have been into the market for the past 10 years. Mr. Sridhar Srinivasan is the CEO of the company, who is forward thinking and always looking for incorporating the best practices in the company.
The company has been performing well and customer satisfaction was high. Employees have always been dedicated and productive, thus giving a better impact on the company portfolio.
Amit Kumar is the HR and Training manager for the past 3 years. He has been conducting various in- house team building programs on a routine basis to keep the employees happy and involved.
In order to keep a track on the employee well being, the company conducts Gallup survey and an employee happiness survey, whereby they bring in new ideas to upgrade engagement activities.
This year, post survey results showed that the employees were getting de-motivated. It was also diagnosed that there were issues with interpersonal relationships between the newly recruited and the existing employees.
There was a lack of trust evolving amongst employees. There was dysfunction within the department and productivity was hampered due to lack of team collaboration. Moreover, the sales and marketing department was under performing due to lack of sense of ownership. As a result of this, the ROI was gradually decreasing.
This created a concern for the HR Department. After a meeting with the CEO, it was decided that, this year, external training experts will be hired to conduct their training. MotorInc was ready to invest on the best team building activities which could enhance employee satisfaction and involvement.
A three day employee engagement program was conducted by an outbound training company focusing specifically on team building. The main objective was to positively reinforce the employees and teams so as to encourage inclusion within the teams and restore the market share of the company.
Employees were taken on a specific campsite location and various team building games were conducted. At the end of each activity, employees had a debriefing session, where they could share their experiences and learning outcomes through those games.
Through discussion, they could relate to their challenges they face at work and how to cope with those situations with effective communication strategies.
Participants shared that this was one of the best training programs they attended. For Mr. Srinivasan, this was a new approach that he incorporated. Amit also acknowledged that employees sometimes do not give enough importance to their in-house training experts.
At times, it is important to hire external facilitators to feed in new methodologies of team building that could ignite innovative ways of team bonding. In the next Gallup survey, it was reflected that the employees were highly satisfied and appreciated the CEO and the HR for their initiatives taken towards retention of happy employees.
By the end of the next financial year, MotorInc could able to reestablish their financial platform having moderately high return on investments.
Team building is a process whereby employees work together as a team by engaging in various activities which are specifically designed to increase motivation, cooperation and collaboration.
Experiential team building activities performed as a group creates platform of inclusion and strengthen a team. Conducting team building programs, organizations ensures that the participants learn in an experiential way.
Facilitators integrate the activities and elements of team building into the beautiful natural surroundings. How does it differ from the traditional way of training? In traditional way, it is more directive in nature whereby it is spoon fed by the trainer.
On the other hand, in experiential team building activities, the participants imbibe “learning by doing”. So through effective team building activities, the retention power of the participants increases, and they can correlate and collaborate better at their workplace.
Team building hones creative problem solving, critical thinking, decision making etc. to ensure that participants are more engaged towards achieving organizational goals and objectives.
However, organizations incorporate experiential team building activities to make the event relevant, enjoyable and meaningful.
Companies integrate the challenges and goals into thought provoking interactive activities. Employees walk away after the experience with confidence which has lasting positive outcomes.
The following case will reveal the importance of experiential learning through team building and its effect on employee behavior.
CASE STUDY
MotorInc. Pvt. Ltd is an automobile company, which deals with two wheelers and cars. They have been into the market for the past 10 years. Mr. Sridhar Srinivasan is the CEO of the company, who is forward thinking and always looking for incorporating the best practices in the company.
The company has been performing well and customer satisfaction was high. Employees have always been dedicated and productive, thus giving a better impact on the company portfolio.
Amit Kumar is the HR and Training manager for the past 3 years. He has been conducting various in- house team building programs on a routine basis to keep the employees happy and involved.
In order to keep a track on the employee well being, the company conducts Gallup survey and an employee happiness survey, whereby they bring in new ideas to upgrade engagement activities.
This year, post survey results showed that the employees were getting de-motivated. It was also diagnosed that there were issues with interpersonal relationships between the newly recruited and the existing employees.
There was a lack of trust evolving amongst employees. There was dysfunction within the department and productivity was hampered due to lack of team collaboration. Moreover, the sales and marketing department was under performing due to lack of sense of ownership. As a result of this, the ROI was gradually decreasing.
This created a concern for the HR Department. After a meeting with the CEO, it was decided that, this year, external training experts will be hired to conduct their training. MotorInc was ready to invest on the best team building activities which could enhance employee satisfaction and involvement.
A three day employee engagement program was conducted by an outbound training company focusing specifically on team building. The main objective was to positively reinforce the employees and teams so as to encourage inclusion within the teams and restore the market share of the company.
Employees were taken on a specific campsite location and various team building games were conducted. At the end of each activity, employees had a debriefing session, where they could share their experiences and learning outcomes through those games.
Through discussion, they could relate to their challenges they face at work and how to cope with those situations with effective communication strategies.
Participants shared that this was one of the best training programs they attended. For Mr. Srinivasan, this was a new approach that he incorporated. Amit also acknowledged that employees sometimes do not give enough importance to their in-house training experts.
At times, it is important to hire external facilitators to feed in new methodologies of team building that could ignite innovative ways of team bonding. In the next Gallup survey, it was reflected that the employees were highly satisfied and appreciated the CEO and the HR for their initiatives taken towards retention of happy employees.
By the end of the next financial year, MotorInc could able to reestablish their financial platform having moderately high return on investments.
As Confucius said,
“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
From the above case study, we have seen the impact of experiential team building initiatives on employee performance. In order to sustain the competition, every company needs to focus on the importance of this kind of team building activities on employee learning and motivation.
Let us now understand the importance of experiential teambuilding activities and its impact on goal achievement in organizations.
Team building activity is the process where people are able to transfer the learnings immediately into practice. Learning environment is very important for people to assimilate information getting ingrained into their DNA. Learning happens when participants are highly active and having enough fun, which in turn adds a lot of enthusiasm and energy to their learning process.
The best way to increase experiential learning is by incorporating team building activities. Every team is different. They carry their own strengths and weaknesses. However, the successful strategy to conduct effective team building in corporate is by addressing organizations and team’s unique goals, challenges and opportunities.
Five most important aspects that we need to focus before conducting team building activities are as follows:
Broadly, team building programs can be delivered at three different levels, viz.
It is very important that we choose the right team building activity for the real work related skills. The key is to make the program relevant, so that employees understand the value of participation. When a facilitator makes the connection to a work situation, the participants realize that the exercises can influence workplace issues and skills.
Experiential learning helps people to learn by “experiencing” themselves and others. Hence through business simulations and fun, participants learn through an interactive platform.
“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
From the above case study, we have seen the impact of experiential team building initiatives on employee performance. In order to sustain the competition, every company needs to focus on the importance of this kind of team building activities on employee learning and motivation.
Let us now understand the importance of experiential teambuilding activities and its impact on goal achievement in organizations.
Team building activity is the process where people are able to transfer the learnings immediately into practice. Learning environment is very important for people to assimilate information getting ingrained into their DNA. Learning happens when participants are highly active and having enough fun, which in turn adds a lot of enthusiasm and energy to their learning process.
The best way to increase experiential learning is by incorporating team building activities. Every team is different. They carry their own strengths and weaknesses. However, the successful strategy to conduct effective team building in corporate is by addressing organizations and team’s unique goals, challenges and opportunities.
Five most important aspects that we need to focus before conducting team building activities are as follows:
- Understanding the objectives of the team building and the desired outcome
- Getting an in-depth knowledge about the audience of the team building exercises
- Deciding on hiring external experts or do it yourself technique
- Balancing cost of training and ROI
- Making the training session fun and engaging
Broadly, team building programs can be delivered at three different levels, viz.
- In-house team building programs conducted at the office premises
- Outdoor team building exercises generally done at resorts
- Team experiences which is theme based and generally occurs indoors, outdoors and city bound
It is very important that we choose the right team building activity for the real work related skills. The key is to make the program relevant, so that employees understand the value of participation. When a facilitator makes the connection to a work situation, the participants realize that the exercises can influence workplace issues and skills.
Experiential learning helps people to learn by “experiencing” themselves and others. Hence through business simulations and fun, participants learn through an interactive platform.