Team Building

For the last two decades, scholars have emphasized the importance of teams in organizations. Some like McEwan, Ruissen, Eys, Zumbo & Beauchamp (2017) have conducted meta-analyses of teams to recommend the behavior of highly effective teams. From that, many organizations have invested in team building, against the recent Valdes-Dapena’s (2018) assertion – that team building is a waste of money and time.

From experience, team building has both pros and cons. Concerning the pros, team building activities break the workplace routine, thus reducing stress levels. Individuals understand the strengths and weaknesses of one another, hence boosting self-esteem. At times, individuals may share ideas, which is healthy for the team’s functionality. Overall, team building activities are a benchmark platform for individuals on ways to achieve common goals.

Regarding the cons of team building activities, they may be costly to plan and execute. Besides, businesses sacrifice their operational time for team building activities or pay employees for overtime. Lastly, the pros of the activities are often not long-lasting.

I think that Salyers (2018) is wrong and that he contradicts himself. Firstly, Dapena (2018) argues that team building is a waste of money, not a waste of time, as asserted by Salyers. Secondly, he notes that trust is paramount for a highly effective team and that the trust takes “takes time, intention and the crucible of hard work” to build (Salyers, 2018, par.14). Thus, organizations ought to plan their activities through time to build trust. Hence, time is essential for team building.

After working in many different jobs throughout my lifetime, as an office assistant, administrative assistant, teacher’s aide, nurse assistant, and I also in the fields when I was growing up, I define effective team building as aligning individuals to achieve a common goal. It is thus an organization process, in which organizations may invest time and money. However, Salyers’s article prompts my concerns about the extent to which organizations may spend both money and time to ensure value for their team building activities.

References

McEwan, D., Ruissen, G., Eys, M., Zumbo, B., & Beauchamp, M. (2017). The Effectiveness of Teamwork Training on Teamwork Behaviors and Team Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Interventions. PLOS ONE, 12(1), e0169604. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169604

Salyers, L. (2018). Yes, Team Building Is A Waste Of Time–But Trust Is Essential. Retrieved 3 July 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/lancesalyers/2018/09/19/yes-team-building-is-a-waste-of-time-but-trust-is-essential/#3af5f5a110b5

Valdes-Dapena, C. (2018). Stop Wasting Money on Team Building. Retrieved 3 July 2020, from https://hbr.org/2018/09/stop-wasting-money-on-team-building