Yep. The T-word is up there with the dirtiest words you can use in the conferencing and events space.
As soon as you mention TEAMBUILDING audiences groan, moan… cross their arms and look for the door (or worse… pull out their phones or laptop).
Just don’t use it. Period.
Many peoples opinions of team building has been shaped from “team building fatigue” where they’ve undertaken tasks that are more suited to a 4year olds birthday party than carefully constructed activities designed to develop high performance teams.
Don’t get me wrong, Teambuilding has its place and can be super effective in delivering a bunch of predetermined outcomes HOWEVER it needs to be wrapped up and packaged differently than what has traditionally been done in order to engage delegates. Here are a few hacks to help you with this:
#1- Never ever use the t-word with delegates
#2 – Replace “teambuilding” with one of these terms instead: team development/ team engagement, HPT development etc…
#3- When introducing the activity/ external activity provider, ensure the MC talks to the WHY of the activity (not the what & how). Why are we doing this activity? Make it personal, make it relevant to the audience….
You might be thinking “Cas, that’s all well and good… but we just want the team to have some fun”
And that’s totally OK! But still the MC needs to provide context WHY you are having fun…
#4 – ensure the activity outcomes align closely with either the conference themes or company values (…. that’s right…. this links with point #3- the WHY!).
If you keep these simple hacks in mind when organising your next conference, your delegates will be sure to be more engaged with the (teambuilding) team development activity!
Feel free to get in touch if you’d like any more info or support in building a successful offsite for your team.
