To teambuild or not to teambuild?

 

I will first and foremost affirm the fact that the thoughts on team-building & Ice breaker activities are a constantly challenged aspect by many. To some they are worthless, pointless, a waste of time, and should in no way shape or form be done. Some, on the other hand love them, they see them as an outlet to foster relationships, strengthen the work of the teams, celebrate differences, learn about others, challenge oneself & others, and absolutely necessary to the work being done. 

Of course this conversation is also happening within organizations on college campuses, including within the orientation program here at Davis. As mentioned previously, the students at Davis are extremely driven, and work very hard to achieve academic greatness. I was talking about this with my supervisor about how the students interact within the orientation team, and was informed that a majority of the work is focused around learning the academic material to be utilized for advising sessions during the program. Moreover, my supervisor added that during last year's orientation program the students were led through team building activities that elsewhere have worked effectively. In the feedback received about the team building & icebreaker activities the students self reported that some of them felt that the activities were a wast of time, and that they were below them.

There is a struggle with this fact about the balance between focus and team-building. On one hand the students are in their role to do a job, a specific one at that, and therefore must know all the material. On the other hand, if the group does not know each other in depth enough, or trust each other enough the group's overall impact will be limited. So although there is this struggle the supervisors must still accomplish both aspects of material and group development, while working to bring all the members full circle, and together as a group.

There lies the rub!

Over these next two months I want to work to find ways to integrate both aspects and hopefully be able to make a positive change that will benefit the common good.

It is important to note that this is not something that is limited to working in education, these issues present themselves in the public, private, and non-profit sectors as well! If you have any ideas on team-building activities, or ways to integrate some aspects feel free to comment on this post to help inform each others professional practices.