It’s July and that means some of you managers will soon be running a Team Day.
When managing larger teams (say, 10+ staff) I liked to run my Team Days quarterly. The bigger ones were in July and January. If the business could afford it I’d take the team away for two days, staying overnight somewhere. The other two (October & April) were a one-day in-house affair. They kicked off early and typically finished up with a team dinner.
Team Days seem to have fallen by the wayside for many businesses, recently. Reasons cited include, “We can’t afford it.” But the reality is you can run a team day on a shoestring budget (e.g. in-house, with an inexpensive sandwich lunch and coffees) and still grab all the goodies that come with great team interaction and, yes, some much-needed bonding. Managers keep telling me they want more from their staff. But guess what? Staff want more from you, too. And team days – even if you only opt for one or two a year – are a fantastic opportunity for you to achieve exactly that.
Any other benefits? They give your team a chance to step away from the daily noise and routine, the chatter, the faux urgency, and not only take a big breath but get a valuable helicopter (big-picture) view of what’s going on in your business. Don’t stop there, though. Use them to incorporate valuable training and development. I would give one or two staff the responsibility of organising the “event”; that included not only logistics but also content, agenda, etc. The skills needed to achieve a great team day are harder than we might first think; you should deliberately ensure everyone in your team gets their opportunity to both organise and run them.
The theme and objectives of your upcoming team day are entirely up to you. A good starting point is to include a mix of work-related and fun activities. Heck, you can even call in a favour and bring in an external friend to talk about their business and how they work. Whilst some team activities will cause the party-poopers to roll their eyes, if you do it right (which includes not taking it, or yourself, too seriously) you’ll also grab a solid culture boost.
Stuck on what work-related stuff to include? Try these simple suggestions for starters:
👈 Rear Vision Mirror – Reflect on the past quarter. Talk about your results and activity. What worked? What didn’t? Get feedback from everyone. Discuss areas for improvement. Celebrate the wins.
🛑 Stop Sign – Stop and think: where is the team at, right now? Have an honest assessment and chat about how everyone is travelling. Are you working together as well as you can? If no, what needs to change? If yes, how do you get even better?
👉 Front Windscreen – Look ahead to the coming quarter (and year). Is everyone going in the right direction re goals and objectives? What should you do more of / less of / start / stop during the coming quarter? Ramp up the creativity and innovation. Then, agree on concrete action items.
Team Days are underrated. That’s because people don’t put enough energy and effort into them. Do the opposite: make your next one a winner, and enjoy some positive team shenanigans*.
* I define this as good-natured mischief and banter, topped off with a huge dollop of fun. Not to be confused with naughty or negative shenanigans. Your team can do without those 😬
