Most corporate team building is a waste of time and money. I say this based on my 25+ years of research and practice in the field of team effectiveness. Seventeen of those years were with Mars Inc., a family-owned $35 billion global business with a commitment to collaboration.
Stop Wasting Money on Team Building
There are better ways to learn collaboration.
September 11, 2018
FREDERICK FLORIN/Staff/Getty Images
Summary.
Many companies, when they decide to invest in team building, decide to do offsite events like bowling nights or ropes courses. Some spend thousands on special events, hoping to improve collaboration. These efforts often fail, so Mars Inc. took a different approach. HR leaders decided to interview and survey 125 teams. They used this data to develop a team-building approach that focused on the work itself. In an intensive two-day workshop, they asked a pilot group to discuss two questions: Why is their collaboration essential to achieving their business results? And second: What work, which specific tasks, would require collaboration to deliver those results? The results from these discussions were so good that Mars rolled out this approach to the whole company.
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New!
HBR Learning
HBR Learning
Team Management Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Team Management. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Build a better team and achieve more of what matters.