Learn to be a team player

The photo in the advertisement for Outward Bound's team programme says it all: a young woman plastered in mud, hair falling in her face, arms spread wide in elation. Apparently, there are people who still get a buzz from 'team-bonding' sessions that leave them tired, dirty and yet enlightened as they discover their inner strengths and stumble across those of their teammates.

But isn't this all a bit 1980s? Do 'team-bonding' sessions involving blindfolds and falling backwards into people's arms really still happen? And more importantly, do they work?

Rona Davidson, corporate account manager for Outward Bound, which incorporates sailing, bush activities, rock climbing, high ropes and rafting into its programmes, says experiential learning gives people the confidence to accept new challenges, and helps them to step up and take risks in the [workplace].

Jennifer Austen, managing director for team adventure firm Epiphany, says experiential courses work because team bonding requires a stimulating environment that gets people outside of their comfort zones. The increased confidence learned on team courses is reflected back in people's work and they are more inclined to embrace change in the workplace, says Austen.

Austen says as adults mature their capacity for learning and innovation slows down - team activities with a playful component impact people more then sitting around a table for discussion.

Epiphany, which counts Fonterra as a client, has developed a portfolio of team adventure products that involve the cerebral, the physical and an element of adventure, says Austen. These include a corporate version of "The Great Race" TV series in which competing teams race around the city completing set tasks against the clock; and country experiences and film making.

Austen says conservative participants bond best when they're required to be "horrendously" far outside their comfort zones. But how far is too far - can people feel frightened or pressured when they're supposed to be bonding? Austen says while courses involving military-style training and challenges can put pressure on people to participate when they don't really want to, there is a point to them.

"Assault-type courses do result in people learning to work together. It the same with trust exercises like 'blind walks'. It comes back to encouraging people to take a leap," says Austen. If employees can do that, say team-bonding theorists, they will make similar leaps in the workplace, whether these are leaps of innovation or trust in others.

Andrew Perrier, a sales and marketing director for a printing company, says he hopes his staff still trusts him in after a 'bonding' stint in which Perrier, who dabbles in motor racing, drove employees around a race track at 220 km/hr.

His firm took part in a Holden Advance Driving School course - run at Auckland's Pukekohe race track and tailored for the needs of corporate customers with a formal theory component, a gymkhana event and a competitive slalom.

"Afterwards everyone came back to my place and we had a BBQ and a few drinks," says Perrier.

With 55 employees spread across four locations, Perrier says team building and communication programmes are important to his organisation. Team events, including golf driving, put staff outside their comfort zones and build trust, he says. Although a fan of both motor racing and golf, Perrier says employers also need to consider team courses and events outside their personal interests.

Obviously, team bonding sessions are alive and well and while frequently expensive, the managers we spoke to see benefit in investing in them. But what do employees think? Do people stand around wishing they were anywhere else - and can people refuse to take part?

Warwick Jones, chairman for accounting firm Grant Thornton Auckland, says while his staff regularly engage in team programmes, each time the same people refuse to go.

"While we are disappointed, we respect it. We hope that great majority will go, but we don't want to put pressure on people," says Jones.

Austen says the announcement of team bonding tasks can generate a fair amount of eye-rolling, particularly among younger people, but that's where good facilitators come in. A strong, confident and comedic facilitator will charm even the most cynical person, but at the same time team training has to be emotionally safe so that people don't end up feeling like idiots.

"The number one question I get asked is: you won't make me feel like a chimp, will you? My answer, and my philosophy, is if you make any team training venture damn good fun, you avoid rolled eyes. People learn more if they're laughing," says Austen.

Jones says the advantage of team courses is that they accelerate relationships and get people used to working together. This increases workplace productivity because people are more willing to collaborate on problems and projects, and are more confident about delegating. HE says team courses also encourage people to realise their contribution to the origination, however small, is valuable.

"You might also start looking at Bob in accounting in a slightly different way," says Austen.

Jones says while Grant Thornton has tried a variety of themed courses over the years (including a Kiwi Country Challenge involving rounding up sheep, tossing cow dung, and riding on the back of a farm truck) programmes with an element of physical involvement, competition and challenge reap the best results.

"Indoor sessions focused on puzzle solving tend to end up being controlled by a small group of individuals who take over," says Jones.

However, he says employers need to choose carefully if they employ a diverse cross section of people. If a course excludes people for physical or health reasons, that exclusion can be very damaging and works against what you are trying to achieve. A course should be not too dangerous or too boring, says Jones.

Austen says some people fail team activities through lack of trust or preconceptions about one another, but this is a learning experience. And Outward Bound's Davidson says team courses help people understand their own leadership style and how to motivate and empower others.

"Our course objectives are around self development but also compassion and service. Employers usually send people that they want to gain more self understanding, drive and personal confidence," says Davidson. She says despite Outward Bound's reputation for running arduous and physical courses, the organisation has trained men and women, teenagers and pensioners.

"More men than women attend; this is possibly a reflection of the gender split in management roles or maybe because the course simply appeals more to males," says Davidson.

Or perhaps it's just all that mud.