Team Rejuvenation
rather than "team-building"
We all depend on effective teams. Yet, when a team performs sub-optimally, most managers don't know what to do.
The most common approach is "team-building," yet most team-building approaches are disconnected from day-to-day workplace demands and relationships. Doing a "ropes course," "who should be saved from a sinking raft," or other fun team-building exercises, can be interesting, but when team members come back to work on Monday, the same stresses and strains are there. Unless they learn now to make decisions more effectively, clarify roles and responsibilities and move through their current issues, their "team-building" will not have much effect.
The Collaboration Institute Associates approach "Team Rejuvenation" in a grounded, issue-based way. When your team signs up for "rejuvenation" they leave with better relationships AND solve present problems. They will go from ropes to roles and responsibilities, moving forward in a collaborative way.
Rejuvenation work applies (1) to teams that are not performing up to their potential, and (2) to teams where almost complete breakdown has occurred. The Associates' skills at diagnosing and matching the approach to the team's needs is the hallmark of our success.
A rejuvenated team comes back to work with issues resolved, relationships improved, and action steps planned--all interwoven. and supporting one another.
Here is an overview of the differences between Team-building and Team Rejuvenation
Team-building Team Rejuvenation
| Participants | Whoever can attend | All team members |
| Issues addressed | None | Most salient ones for the team |
| Relationship Goal | To get team members to like another | Getting people to work well with others, whether they like them or not |
| Focus | Relationship building disconnected from the day-to-day tasks | Relationships improved while working on issues |
| Time | Usually a day or weekend | Individual interviews and then a team meeting usually less than 4 hours |
| Outcome | fun, involvement, no decisions made | Outcome based involvement, action items, contracts for change (and yes, fun can be had in the midst of good work) |
| Follow-up | None | Always |
How do we do it? Through a variety of approaches. Two of the easiest to explain are (1) Recognition and Requests and (2) constructing a Communication Protocol. Using these innovative strategies with other content-focused work (such as having the team identify and work through current issues) brings some amazing changes to teams.
Give one of the Associates a call for more detail.