August 7, 2015 at 9:51 am
chill8 (8/7/2015)
At Ford in the group I am currently in we don't do any team building since the team is of a global nature. So it makes it hard to do this. Consider yourselves so lucky if you are able to team build at all!
I'm with you. In 8 years, I've only gotten to 2 teambuilding exercises, and those were because the trips were planned around them. Otherwise, it is hard.
August 7, 2015 at 9:53 am
One note I'll add, at the one company where we did this every month, it was self funded. The company didn't really contribute, and it was a good sized company (5k employees). Instead, we chipped it, bought our own, or we used some fines that were assesses for various actions throughout the year.
August 7, 2015 at 10:10 am
Do you engage in team building at work and what events have you enjoyed?
We sit in a circle, join hands and sing Kumbaya.
Well, not quite, but management in the past had insisted upon similar kinds of exercises.
I can't stomach them. Honestly, I think they're stupid and a waste of time.
At the office, there are four or five gaffers besides myself. We've worked together for a long time, sharing the same foxholes. We'll go off to lunch or meet up after hours for bowling, or dinner, or a concert. We enjoy each other's company and our spouses get on well, too.
That's good enough for me. I don't care to socialise with the youngsters (anyone around aged forty or less). They have different interests and seem to speak a different language. We work well enough together, but for the most part they seem to be made of different stuff, and frankly not all that impressive. I suppose it's usual for every generation to have a critical view of the younger one coming up the ranks, though, and I'm sure they'll hate having to sing Kumbaya together just as much as we older folk did.
August 7, 2015 at 10:37 am
"A team of 20 people"? "Various groups"? These words that you use, I do not understand them.
I've been a lone DBA/developer for far too long, the only time that I had someone else in the database group was a former boss who left not too long after we got in to SQL Server. At my previous job the IT director tried to do some outings, but as everyone rabidly despised the man (for quite a variety of reasons), they weren't very successful. At my current job, the soon-to-be-former boss occasionally buys pizza lunches, as we're only five people right now that's not too onerous. And the school occasionally throws all-worker lunches which are on the clock, so that's nice. (yes, oddly, I'm a DBA/developer and I'm hourly)
I've developed some long-lasting friendships with former co-workers, but I can't say that I've had any significant team-building experiences. I think I would have enjoyed them, sadly I don't think they're very common when working for government orgs.
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[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
August 7, 2015 at 11:39 am
I'm really curious to follow this for ideas. My company takes team building seriously and I recognize its importance... but I'm also a serious introvert and generally hate spending time with groups of more than two or three people. I don't even like activities with large groups of close friends; co-workers don't stand a chance. Maybe there are ways to build a team that aren't big organized outings?
August 7, 2015 at 11:55 am
Maybe there are ways to build a team that aren't big organized outings?
Online video gaming?
August 7, 2015 at 1:00 pm
Brian J. Parker (8/7/2015)
I'm really curious to follow this for ideas. My company takes team building seriously and I recognize its importance... but I'm also a serious introvert and generally hate spending time with groups of more than two or three people. I don't even like activities with large groups of close friends; co-workers don't stand a chance. Maybe there are ways to build a team that aren't big organized outings?
A few things that have worked well and aren't hard:
- movie at a close theater.
- mini golf
-
August 7, 2015 at 2:03 pm
GoofyGuy (8/7/2015)
Online video gaming?
At one point we would take a hour out of the day an do first person shooters at our desks. Those that were out of office would VPN into the network and join in. The boss was a wicked good gamer and the lag when he was on the road was an equalizer. It was not only team building but frustration relieving.
Later the on-line in-house gave way to an Xbox in our lobby.
The other benefit of the office was having a full kitchen. There was the monthly catered lunch. On a rotating basis an employee did the arrangements for the month. This meant doing the research and planning as well as organizing the cleanup. Not only team building but skill building as well. We are blessed that Kansas City is such a "food" city.
On the lunch gatherings and other functions spouses and kids are included and always welcome. So our team building was family building as well.
ATBCharles Kincaid
August 7, 2015 at 3:26 pm
Charles Kincaid (8/7/2015)
GoofyGuy (8/7/2015)
Online video gaming?At one point we would take a hour out of the day an do first person shooters at our desks...
Been there, done that! We bought a hub (switches were very expensive in the '90s) and ran our own CAT5 through the drop ceiling, so we would literally disconnect from the work LAN for our lunch hour (sometimes a very long hour...). As I recall, Quake 2 and Lucas Art's Outlaws were the preferred FPSes that we ran. Seems like we even upgraded the video cards in our PCs, since we were the IT department, we could get away with it back then.
Fun times. I recently got an emulator for my Mac and played Outlaws again, I still love that game.
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[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
August 10, 2015 at 1:36 am
I've been on brainstorming away days where the last two hours have been some form of competitive game such as a treasure hunt in the hills and woods. The idea of the treasure hunt was to prioritise tasks (not all tasks were possible within the time limit), assign resource (the person fit enough to tackle the steep bits) and get some fresh air after a surprisingly tiring day.
The challenge is always to apply what has been learnt or push through what has been decided on an away day when you get back to the office. These things don't work if everyone sits back and waits for things to happen. I take the company investing in an away day as a mandate to implement stuff and take decisions that are supported by the lessons from the away day.
If you come back thinking "well that was a waste of time" then someone somewhere has missed the point.
August 10, 2015 at 6:37 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (8/7/2015)
One note I'll add, at the one company where we did this every month, it was self funded. The company didn't really contribute, and it was a good sized company (5k employees). Instead, we chipped it, bought our own, or we used some fines that were assesses for various actions throughout the year.
These are the kind I prefer anyway, so long as everyone is responsible and not off-the-wall.
Last place I worked, one employee had several arrests for public drunk. He's not the sort of co-worker I'd want to have an outing with that wasn't in some way moderated by the company rules. However, most places I've worked those sort of things would be cool. One organization we had a Cinco de Mayo picnic, and I brought margaritas with alcoholic content and everyone was good with it. No one got overzealous, and everyone just relaxed and enjoyed the time together.
That way, the company doesn't say "you can't drink" or "you can't smoke" or whatever. It's up to the people and the venue in which your group chooses to organize.
Plus, I just don't think it helps real team building (or maybe a better term would be camaraderie) with the company looking over everyone's shoulder as morality police. Getting to know people means getting to know them as more than people towing the company line to keep their job.
But yeah, I too like to participate in things where employees get together on their own and hang out and do things to their choosing.
August 10, 2015 at 6:47 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (8/7/2015)
Brian J. Parker (8/7/2015)
I'm really curious to follow this for ideas. My company takes team building seriously and I recognize its importance... but I'm also a serious introvert and generally hate spending time with groups of more than two or three people. I don't even like activities with large groups of close friends; co-workers don't stand a chance. Maybe there are ways to build a team that aren't big organized outings?A few things that have worked well and aren't hard:
- movie at a close theater.
- mini golf
-
One thing I'll mention: I'm not a big fan of huge crowds either at social events. But, I managed to deal with it by finding a co-worker or two off somewhere away from the main stuff and talk with them for a while. Me and a couple of the guys from our software systems department got together and threw frisbee and then some others came along and joined and others dropped out.
My biggest suggestion would be hanging out with a co-worker or two that you enjoy talking with, whether it's about work or anything else. Go to a diner, pub, coffee shop, a public park...etc etc etc.
As for what your department/organization could do...well...I'd say probably they'd have to do it by project groups rather than department staff or something to help build things without needing to organize massive groups.
August 10, 2015 at 8:26 am
For about 10 years earlier in my career, I worked for a consulting company in the Philadelphia area. We had close to 100 staff members, very few of whom knew each other. There were several opportunities to get together each year. These were organized by a social committee. It was quite challenging for me to walk into a room where I only knew 5 people max and engage in conversation. Especially as I was in the minority, gender-wise. I quickly learned that coming out of my introverted shell and initiating conversation usually relieved other, even more introverted co-staffmembers of the burden. It was always helpful to learn about where others were assigned, what skills they had, etc. As a group, we had a variety of experiences which each of us could draw on to help our respective clients.
August 10, 2015 at 8:49 am
Wayne West (8/7/2015)
"A team of 20 people"? "Various groups"? These words that you use, I do not understand them.I've been a lone DBA/developer for far too long, the only time that I had someone else in the database group was a former boss who left not too long after we got in to SQL Server. At my previous job the IT director tried to do some outings, but as everyone rabidly despised the man (for quite a variety of reasons), they weren't very successful. At my current job, the soon-to-be-former boss occasionally buys pizza lunches, as we're only five people right now that's not too onerous. And the school occasionally throws all-worker lunches which are on the clock, so that's nice. (yes, oddly, I'm a DBA/developer and I'm hourly)
I've developed some long-lasting friendships with former co-workers, but I can't say that I've had any significant team-building experiences. I think I would have enjoyed them, sadly I don't think they're very common when working for government orgs.
Wayne, I am like you. I work for a state government organization. Like I said earlier, there's no team building at all. And just like you I'm an hourly employee - in fact everyone is. I don't know why there's no team building, but I can guess. I hear a lot of disparaging comments about a local TV reporter who is one of those investigative reporters. (Personally, I like him.) Some people here have the opinion that this reporter "has it in" for our department, reporting on some odd things which really aren't that big a deal. (e.g.: like painting the walls of our break rooms. The scuttlebutt is that this particular reporter came in, found that the walls of the break room had been painted different colors and then the room was designated by the color of the paint. According to comments I've heard this reporter apparently said we're wasting the tax payers money. I'm not sure what on. You've got to paint walls and what difference does it make if you call a room "The Blue Room" just because the walls are painted blue? But I've also not seen that report, so I don't know if its true or I've heard all of the truth about the report. More important is the walls were painted within the last year or so, but as far as I know this department hasn't had any team building activities in many decades, if ever. It might just be because money in state government is always short. Many things like training will never be paid for. And you know what will freeze over before anyone goes to any conference to learn anything new or learn from colleagues in other agencies or companies. The only exception is if it is local and totally free.
I'm sure you can relate, Wayne.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
August 10, 2015 at 9:55 am
Rod at work (8/10/2015)
... It might just be because money in state government is always short. Many things like training will never be paid for. And you know what will freeze over before anyone goes to any conference to learn anything new or learn from colleagues in other agencies or companies. The only exception is if it is local and totally free.I'm sure you can relate, Wayne.
Yep, been there. I do have to say that I have gotten training while working for state/local gov't, a lot depends on how much the department director will fight for you. In the '90s I went to three local training opportunities (one conference and two or three vendor trainings) and two TechEds, plus a week in Atlanta training for a new programming system (which we abandoned a couple of years later). I was only supposed to go to one TechEd, but my boss got sick the day before he was supposed to leave for the New Orleans TechEd. I came back from lunch on a Friday and the assistant department administrator pounced on me as I came back in the office and said "So Wayne, what are you doing next week?" I replied, "Going to New Orleans?" Spent the rest of the afternoon going to get the expense check from my boss to get it reissued to me, changing the travel tickets, etc. My previous job I went to two ESRI classes plus PASS '08 in Seattle, but in my current job I doubt I'll see much in the way of training opportunities.
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[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
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