#41: Team work - part 1
Team building exercises make me nervous. At best, they teach people how to do meaningless things together; at worst, they produce the opposite effect.
This happens when the focus is on team building instead of on a work-related outcome. You don’t want people who are good at liking each other and trusting each other and paddling well together. You need people who care so much about the outcome that they overcome their liking to deal with any member who is not delivering.
A friend was once told to build better team work between her staff and her client by going river rafting. In her own words: “Before we went on the river, I thought he was an idiot. But now I know he’s an idiot.”
So much for team building. What should have mattered was the work they produced together, not whether they could paddle together.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com
Copyright: 2006 James Henry McIntosh
This happens when the focus is on team building instead of on a work-related outcome. You don’t want people who are good at liking each other and trusting each other and paddling well together. You need people who care so much about the outcome that they overcome their liking to deal with any member who is not delivering.
A friend was once told to build better team work between her staff and her client by going river rafting. In her own words: “Before we went on the river, I thought he was an idiot. But now I know he’s an idiot.”
So much for team building. What should have mattered was the work they produced together, not whether they could paddle together.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com
Copyright: 2006 James Henry McIntosh
posted by James Henry McIntosh at
7:20 AM
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