Quit, and start your own company where people don’t have to do these things. It called PLAYING THE GAME! I’m refering to the “team building” thread in MPSIMS in which people are BITCHING about doing things that they actually might get something out of them, even if they, try as they might, don’t want ot do them!
Some people feel that “quit anytime something is less than perfect” is not a good principle to live by. So when they encounter something unpleasant they just try to endure it rather than quit.
That’s my point Nemo! The people in the thread are BITCHING because they were “forced” to do things that have actual work implications/could be fun.
OH, FUCK YOUR STUPID GAMES!!!
I’ve been in a large number of different positions in a large number of companies over the year and I’ve gotten less out of the sum total of all team building exercises that I’ve ever participated in than I could get out of reading one book, or spending one lunch with co-workers without the boss present.
I haven’t read that thread, and may or may not at this point, but to be honest, I’ve experienced a few “team building” exercises that were nothing more than thinly veiled “make the employees to shit for our (management) amusement” attempts to embarass and bully people while showing that management can force you to do anything they want if you want to keep your job.
The point is, most “team building” exercises are not even useless…they tend to impact morale negatively, as well as wasting time and money. All the resources that are spent on the exercises could be better spent on raises.
Team building exercises are generally a sign of poor management. I believe that in the thread in question, someone in management wanted a little golf vacation, and found a way to get the company to pay for it.
Chimera, your response proves my point, to a degree. Let’s say there are 50 employees in a department, isn’t easier/more efficient to have 1 “team building exercise” than print 50 books or have 5-10 lunches? And in regard to bosses havingg employees over a barrel in regard to “come or else”, as mean as it sounds, that’s a perk of being the boss. My original advice stands.
You are either fucking insane, or terminally stupid.
As Lynn says, “team building” exercises do exactly the opposite of what they are billed as doing.
And if you think it is a perk of being a boss to be able to bully and humiliate people, then you’re a fucking sociopath and I hope I never work for any company stupid enough to employ you.
How long have you been working in Human Resources?
Not if it lasts a week and they pay money to the exercise runners.
Can we get a link to the thread in question? I seem to have missed it.
I agree with the consensus, that shit is a stupid waste of time. I’m sure it’s amusing to watch people make fools of themselves together so they’ve learned things like “cooperation” and “trust”, but I have never seen one of these exercises in futility result in any spontaneous mass enlightenment. Going to work the next day is exactly like going to work the day before, so you’ve had no effect on anyone.
It’s not much of a “team-building exercise” when events are scheduled outside of work hours, are considered mandatory (people who didn’t attend had it brought up as a “demerit” on their yearly review and believe they got less of a raise), and do not take into account the physical limitations of staff members, making it awkward or near-impossible for the elderly and/or physically disabled to participate.
“Team-building exercises” are pathetic wastes of time. You build teamwork and morale over time, by providing recurring opportunities for camaraderie among co-workers without forcing it, and by showing them that you value their contributions and by treating them with respect. When an employer holds some once-a-year team-building seminar or retreat where they pay some guest speaker or group to lead the session–well, then management has no fucking clue what they are doing, and they are too lazy to put forth any real effort to build relationships among the workers. Figuratively speaking, management just wants to be able to check off a box on their leadership list that says “team-building.”
For example, my employer this year hired a group that came in and had us all play bongo drums. A few people (the usual suspects) really got into it while 95% of us just played along because the boss was watching. Everyone later agreed it was a waste of time and wondered how much money was wasted to bring these motivational bongo players in.
Kyrie: never been in HR, But I HAVE participitated in “team building”. IME it helps you learn about people, and how they handle issues you’ll face in the position. And isn’t the lack of change in the work environment post “exercises” more a reflection of the failures of the boses, than the short-comigs of the exercises. Incidentally, would you rather be: happy+poor, or annoyed+middle-class? Easy choice for me.
If your goal is to lower morale, then yes, having one team building exercise that everyone has to attend, or else risk getting demerits, demoted, or fired, yes, it’s more efficient.
Occasionally team building exercises are fun and effective for all or most of the workers. For the most part, though, the exercises that do work are very loosely structured, and revolve around the company providing some free food, a place to relax, and maybe some free booze, too. If a company even does as much as require potlucks where the workers have to bring food in, then there’s resentment.
The goal of these exercises is to IMPROVE morale, not to lower it. And most of the exercises, especially the more structured ones, fail miserably at improving morale.
I work in HR and I admit that I suspect such exercises are completely useless. I even suspect that it’s useless for those people who claim they got something out of it.
Lynn, you’re TOTALLY right that “effectiveness” is usually inversely related to “structured”.
Easier and/or more efficient? Somebody’s got to plan, design and organize the thing, on work time, instead of doing their real job. And if you don’t have anybody onsite willing or capable of doing that, there’s these guys.
http://www.teambonding.com/faq
Which costs a company more, 50 books bought off Amazon (printing them? really? Who said the company was printing them itself?) or a $1500 team building exercise that nobody enjoys and takes employees away from actual productive work time?
Note, TeamBonding was simply the first company that came up when I googled “Team building activity companies.” I don’t know if their prices are typical, but they’re charging it and getting it, apparently.
Jenorph :smack: I completely forgot about Amazon! I still believe “team building” CAN be productive if it’s presented as a fun OPTION! Don’t foce people to do it.
Well if it’s optional then I’m sure it will raise the morale of the rest of us who opt out and make fun of you for being one of the dweebs who participates.