Abstract:
Mbugua retained a proud tradition at his manufacturing firm in the Athi River Export Processing Zone. He held an annual team building retreat to show his employees how much he valued them. He desired a well functioning performing team.
Mbugua hired an international consulting firm to run his team building retreat this year. The firm’s fee plus travel and accommodation for the staff cost him a meaningful sum of money. Once onsite at the Ole Polos Kisamis area cottages, the consultants took over and had the staff run around playing games. Mbugua observed that the staff greatly enjoyed some activities and not others. Overall, though, he felt pleased that his investment in the event could reap benefits at his manufacturing facility.
However, following the retreat, Mbugua noticed team interpersonal relationships started to deteriorate. Staff appeared more irritable with each other. Trust between coworkers diminished and staff began viewing management as incapable of bringing order and firm performance.
Unfortunately, Mbugua fell into the trap of so many briefcase consultants and non-tailored international consulting firm team building solutions. Instead of enhancing team cohesiveness, the retreat entrenched already existing divisions, grudges, and cliques. Staff returned to work demotivated and frustrated.
Now that the end of year is upon us, hundreds of Kenyan firms are engaged in the perennial ritual of team building. From Coastal resorts, Lake Naivasha retreats, Maasai Mara camps, to OlePolos area tented camps, Kenyan getaways receive a plethora of corporate bookings this time of year for team building activities.
In follow up to the Business Talk column in the 8 November 2013 Business Daily that detailed actions managers must take before and after team building, let us exam techniques to utilise during team building activities. Team building retreats present unique opportunities in powerful ways, unavailable in an office setting, to shift, introduce, or solidify team norms that you, the executive, require for your groups. Proper team norms enable your team to move through the five stages of team formation as desired: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
One may breakdown the components of team building into the following four sections: icebreakers, team cohesiveness, team learning, and team appreciation.
Description:
An article on the Business Daily Newspaper by Professor Scott serves as the Director of the New Economy Venture Accelerator (NEVA) and Chair of the Faculty Senate at the United States International University-Africa,