Team Building Motivation

Team building motivation is necessary if a team is to be built properly. Workers have to arrive on the company away day feeling that their day will be spent on something worthwhile and that they will come away from it having learned something of real value.

This is not always so, unfortunately. The provider may do the best it can to provide a suitable day of activities to build up the team, but unless the workers have been properly prepared in the workplace beforehand, they will not fully appreciate the fundamental opportunity inherent in the situation.

Motivation starts in the workplace. The manager or boss of the team needs to understand what makes the team tick, and what it takes to make them want to cooperate.

Job satisfaction often lies at the root of what is required. When a team member is engaged in their work and fully committed to the overall company goals, there will be good motivation for exercises that encourage the better building of the team. There will be a real desire to see the team become even more efficient and positively improved.

On the actual company away day team members should be made to feel that they will be engaging in activities that will strengthen them as individuals and strengthen them as a team. The activities should therefore be structured in a way that allows team members to respect the philosophy behind the activity, rather than see it as just a silly game.

Activities that belittle and demean team members in any way do not help to increase team building motivation. On the contrary, no one wants to feel stupid or silly, or even just be made to feel uncomfortable. Any away day provider who takes this approach does not understand what it takes to motivate a team member.

A company in California were made to pay 1.7 million dollars in compensation when an angry employee took them to court as a result of being fed baby food, being made to wear a nappy, and being spanked on the buttocks. The employee had been on a losing team and this was the "reward" for being among the losers.

Team members can be motivated much better through cooperative activities. When a person feels that they are an important part of a team and when they understand their place in the team because of the cooperative nature of the way the team is being built, they will have the right degree of team building motivation to carry them through.

A cooperative approach rather than a competitive approach instils trust and a feeling of being fully supported. This helps individuals to be committed to the shared common goals of the team. They are more likely to be engaged in their work and will be more liable to feel a high degree of motivation for being part of a process to build a better team.

Team building motivation should be a gentle, humane process. People need to feel respected and valued. They need to know they are making a difference and that they can continue to do so too.