“We also learned to respect all personality types, and this helped strengthen the bond between us, and enhanced our ability to work on specific team goals,” she says. “I always found it interesting to observe the different characters that evolved throughout the course and how we worked together to get the best out of each individual. It brought a strong feeling of teamwork and purpose to the group and gave us an invaluable insight as to how we could capitalise on our capabilities in the future.”
Bo Hansen Talks Team Building with Team8
Four times Olympian and triple Olympic medallist Bo Hanson has a rare insight into team dynamics; he was a member of the UTS Coxless Four. He founded his company Team8 to share the experience.
“Rowing is the ideal way to greater levels of trust as you learn about a team’s strengths and address its limitations,” he says. “It takes people out of their comfort zones in a safe but highly engaging way. The culture at the boathouse and in the rowing boat demands that successful communication strategies and a common language are created and shared. And, when you’re rowing in a boat together, you can physically feel the difference between being in and out of synch with each other.”
Hanson also understands the need for a measurable outcome.
“However great the activity, it needs to be combined with diagnostic tools and assessments which can measure the team’s starting point and then how far they’ve come,” he says. “That gives them a great sense of satisfaction. Improvement is a fundamental need for any individual or team and leads to feelings of personal esteem, accomplishment and morale. This brings greater staff engagement and improved ongoing performances.”
We tend to assume that team building will include some kind of physical challenge, but Wendy Mak provides a very different experience. A personal and corporate stylist, she began by specialising in wardrobe consultations and shopping trips for women. Now her biggest growth area is team building activities based around corporate dressing and grooming.
“There is a strong correlation between how employees dress, groom and present themselves and the perception clients have of a company,” she says. “A well-dressed and well-presented employee is the first and lasting impression your clients receive of you and your business. It garners more respect and makes business communication and negotiation more equal between you and your client.”
While generally skewed towards women, Mak’s style of team building is increasingly popular with men.
“We learn together, individually and as a team, how we can best present ourselves the business that we represent,” she says. “The learning around dressing, grooming and presentation helps to build confidence, and confidence is a benefit that stays with someone for a long time."
When team building is on the horizon, it’s easy to focus entirely on which activity to choose. The excitement of the event can certainly be a great motivator but, if you’re looking for a meaningful return on your investment, it you might want to view it more as an important starting point than an end in itself.
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