Effective Team Building with Emotional Intelligence

Team building describes a wide range of efforts to cement relationships, reinforce commitment, and boost morale. But so many of them are ineffective in achieving these goals that it’s workplace folklore and even a comedy staple. Before you commit to a “typical” team building event, take a step back and consider the concept from an emotionally intelligent perspective, with a focus on the specific culture, character, and personalities involved.

Is Team Building Worthwhile? 

Plenty of commentators are only too happy to tell you that organized team building is a waste of time. Undeniably there’s fuel for that fire, probably owing to reliance on one-size-fits-all, single-event solutions and approaches. With that in mind, it is definitely worthwhile investing in activities and events to draw your team closer together and nurture strong, positive bonds.

Done right, team-building delivers important performance boosters:

• Improved communication

• Enhanced relationships

• Increased motivation

• Deeper trust

• Stronger collaboration

• Higher morale

  
  
  
  

The key takeaway is that you can ensure team-building activities are effective if you select and plan them with the specific team, culture, and business context in mind. As part of your planning process for team-building, it may be helpful to assess the culture at your workplace. 

Team Building Can Happen Anytime

There is an everyday dimension to team-building that continually draws upon emotional intelligence competencies to forge stronger teams. Team building is not limited to occasional or special events. Effective leadership means you’re always focused on helping your team to grow stronger. Take every opportunity you can to build your team on a daily basis. Some of the ideas later in this article can easily be added to regular team meeting agendas, for example.

A Few Examples of Team Building Done Right

Over my years as an executive, leadership, and company-culture coach, I’ve heard many tales of both good and bad team-building efforts. One company organized an ambitious scavenger-hunt style game for attendees at their sales conference. Attendees competed to track down code words in various locations throughout the event venue. Some of them were found in the event slide decks or by asking others for a pre-assigned, unique code word. Still others came from solving riddles. This was so popular that the company has continued to use it for its entertainment value in encouraging curiosity and friendly competition without forcing people to participate.

Some organizations engage in activities that benefit a charitable organization. One team worked with a charity that provides bicycles for low-income families, teaming up in groups to assemble over 30 bikes from kits. The same team later packaged nutritious family meal kits for distribution to needy families and shelters. Some companies engage in toy or coat drives for local kids, or dig in for trash cleanups and tree plantings. There are even animal shelters that partner with companies on adoption events and pet food drives.

Don’t Make Your Team-Builder into a Team-Buster

Above all, the most important things to avoid are activities that may cause embarrassment or make anyone feel excluded. 

“Talk-therapy” or role-play activities or workshops may seem like a good idea on paper. But even when orchestrated in a guided manner by qualified professionals, attempting to ease tensions or resolve disagreements by acting scenarios or talking them out can be awkward, or even backfire outright. Besides, team-building activities of any type aren’t a cure-all for a toxic workplace culture. If the goal is to use a psychology-based approach to resolve interpersonal strife, a more strategic, thoughtful approach is more likely what’s needed.

Another area of caution is physically demanding activities, which make some team members feel left out. Unless you have an athletic culture among your team, group hikes or kayaking treks might not be the best fit.

Top Tips for Emotionally Intelligent Team Building

Here are some tips for planning and organizing effective team building that’s a good match for your culture and objectives.

• Determine budget and time period before you start planning: Cost and time are important constraints to identify from the outset. This includes the amount of effort needed to organize the event beforehand and clean up afterward. Consider whether you want to solicit volunteer helpers among team members.

  
  

• Solicit ideas from the team: Get people involved from the start by asking for suggestions. This sparks active communication and interest, and can be insightful in learning the varied interests among team members. Some team leaders also put the best ideas to a vote.

  
  

• Always consider the context: Think about the overall situation in which a team-builder will happen. If you’re planning something as part of the agenda for a larger event, such as a conference, for example, the available time slots and range of activities are different than for a standalone event. Similarly, consider the size of the team and the available facilities or likely locations.

  
  

• Think about the cost to employees: Leaving aside charitable engagements or employee-arranged spur-of-the-moment gatherings like happy hours, asking or requiring employees to pay towards the cost of team events, or scheduling them outside of business hours, may evoke resentment and reduce the value of these events.

  
  

• Choose inclusive activities that match your team culture: Consider the different interests and personalities within your team, and try to plan activities that every team member can join. Regardless of the chosen activity, however, recognize that you can’t please everyone and that some employees may avoid the event altogether or sit on the sidelines.

  
  

• Focus on communication, collaboration, and/or just getting to know one another: Effective activities encourage open dialogue and working together to achieve a positive goal, without being about the workplace itself. 

  
  

• Consider community involvement: Teams can come together and make a real difference through community engagements like Habitat for Humanity, food drives, or holiday gift-giving. You can add an element of friendly competition by having groups compete, for example to collect the most cans of food to donate. My team at ZERORISK HR has been involved for years with a Dallas-based charity for homeless children, where we volunteer to play games with them during recess times.

  
  

• Create a balance among activity types: While athletic team-builders may not be a good fit for your team, mixing brain-focused with more kinetic activities helps keep people engaged. The scavenger hunt I mentioned earlier was a good example of an activity that’s energetic without being physically demanding. 

  
  

• Adapt activities for remote teams: It’s important to take remote workers into account where relevant. Utilize virtual platforms for remote teams and have employees join on-camera when appropriate. Trivia games can be great for virtual teams, and there are numerous apps available that can help orchestrate lively and engaging virtual events. Be sure to get your IT team or provider involved in ensuring you don’t have technology glitches during the event.

  
  

• Generate buzz about the event: Create engaging communications that provide all necessary information well in advance, and send out reminders and calendar invitations at intervals to maintain attention.

  
  

Simple Approaches to Team Building

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly option or a quick pick-me-up to revive flagging morale, the best remedies are often simple and low-key. For example, set up a question-and-answer session with upper leadership, or invest in simply rewarding team members with something small that lets them know they are valued and appreciated. Below are some ideas for simple ice breakers. These can be added to the agenda for larger scale events or condensed for use in recurring events like team meetings, for instance by drawing a few names from a hat.

• Play “two truths and a lie” or similar game.

• Share one thing about yourself that people would be surprised to know.

• What’s your fondest childhood memory?

• What’s the best Christmas or birthday gift you ever received? 

• Talk about one thing that you’ve always wanted to learn.

• Did you play sports, a musical instrument, and/or were you part of a club in school? 

• Imagine you could have dinner with three people from history. Who would you choose, and why?

• When you were in grade school, what did you want to be when you grew up?

• Talk about where you were born/grew up.

• What is the best place you’ve ever lived in?

• What foods do you enjoy the most?

• What kinds of music/bands do you enjoy most?

• What’s the best vacation you ever had?

• During remote meetings, ask employees to describe their weekends with a series of emojis.

• A “circle of appreciation” where each person takes a turn to appreciate others

• Have a random team member do a vision board activity

Ongoing Activities

Special events aren’t always necessary for workplace team activities, and some of the most effective activities don’t look like team building at all. Many effective team-builders are initiated by employees and later sponsored by executives.

Here are some examples:

• Book clubs

• Mentoring

• Holiday gift exchanges

• Offsite lunches

• Exercise groups

• Sports teams

• Charity involvement

• Organized programs such as Toastmasters or Weight Watchers

Conclusion

As you can see, there’s a wide spectrum of activities that can help bring your team together, inject an element of fun into the workplace, and that teach us more about our teammates. The items I’ve highlighted in this article are just a start—but I’m positive your team can come up with a hundred other ideas that will draw your team closer together.