In today’s business vernacular, teams = employees.
Team building is a simple concept engraved in our lives since elementary school, but what is it really and how do we effectively team build?
If you want to be successful, if you want a winning team, you can’t just fill a position. It’s not sufficient to just hire employees, pay them a decent wage, and show them their responsibilities. Through the hiring process (btw, there’s not time or space in this blog to discuss best practices for hiring), selecting the best individuals to fit within your culture, your team, is paramount. Then, once you’ve got your dream team assembled, employee engagement, i.e. team building is the key to success.
Oftentimes business owners may not be equipped with the skillsets for team building, so if you’re an owner without a clue how to bring your group of employees together to create unity as a team, stop reading here. Go find an expert (expert = executive coach; we can point you in the right direction) to assist you.
For those of you feeling confident enough to proceed, let’s chat about different ways to engage your team so that everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction, with the same desire to attain their individual goals for both business and personal success.
A little over three years, we made the conscious and difficult decision to close at 1pm on Fridays to work on our teamwork. It was a tough call to make for fear of losing business. Obviously, we had to explain the why to our clientele.
Why do we choose to close at 1pm every Friday?
We close at 1pm every Friday to work on our professional and personal growth;
- to discuss, without distractions, how we can operate better, more efficiently, provide better service to our clientele;
- to learn from guest presenters leading us through motivational exercises;
- to get caught up from a hectic week of interruptions;
- and sometimes we close at 1 pm on Fridays for team building events.
It all boils down to better teamwork; better unity; better synergy, all of which translates into what you receive as a result. When we are in sync and highly productive, the likelihood of your projects being completed ahead of schedule or exceeding your expectations is significantly greater.
This month’s team building event is something we’ve tried to coordinate for about four years. And we finally did it! We went horseback riding as a group.
Just have fun
We didn’t meet to discuss the week. We didn’t analyze our numbers to try and figure out how much more money we could have driven in. We didn’t have a guest speaker come in to motivate us. We just had fun. We checked all things business-related at the door and went horseback riding together on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Sometimes, it’s ok just to have fun and enjoy one another’s company. In fact, having fun is one of our cultural values.
Then get back to work
Come Monday, after something like a fun Friday afternoon of horseback riding, the general mood in the shop is lighter, more jovial, even with lots of work with intense deadlines to be done. Why? Because everyone works better together as a . . . . wait for it . . . team!
Tell us how you have fun with your team? We’re always looking for suggestions!
By the way, special thanks to Chris of Hanover Stables in Castle Hayne for accommodating us!
