Team building activities, What is your experience
What are some team building activities that others use? I supervise over 17 individuals, mostly adjunct faculty, and really try to engage the individuals as a team. I really value their comments, information and feedback. I do have a few individuals that haven’t engaged with the team. What do others do when there are those individuals that don’t take the time to get immersed with the team environment? I have listed two different activities I do for my team to engage them and give them opportunities to grow.
When I schedule meetings, I make them valuable to improve on their responsibilities in the classroom. I respect and value their time and feel obligated to reward them with an incentive. I have scheduled team building meetings where I have disclosed the incentive prior to the meeting and where I have not disclosed the information. The participation was higher the one instance I did not disclose what the incentive was.
I have attempted to have other team building activities where I have got conference passes for the team to attend for professional growth and networking. In the instances when I have scheduled activities off campus, I received 50% participation. I did have individuals outside of my team want to partake in the activities and really saw the value in the opportunity.
Richard,
You should not have to provide incentives for departmental activities. One approach is to require attendance x times a year or semester as part of the team's professional development.Participation could be noted in performance evaluations. I hate to admit it but my experience is that team members, especially adjunct members, often do not participate unless required.
Ron Obstfeld
In one course I teach we play a board game - one team believes they are playing chess, the other believes they are playing checkers. This really does a good job of creating 'frustration' but serves as a teaching point to keeping an open mind. However, we are 'wearing this one out' and I'm seeking new ideas for more team building activities I can use in a classroom specifically to aid in keeping an open mind in decision making - got any suggestions?
John,
There are many activities available to meet almost every situation. I would suggest doing research via the internet as a good starting point.
Ron Obstfeld
Adjunct staff do have a problem with commitment at times due to other commitments that may require as much attention. However these activities are important. A movie with follow up discussion might help staff to get to know one another without requiring skills that all staff do not possess.
William,
I would suggest that you involve the group in ongoing activities that would help to build common skills and build a team environment.
Ron Obstfeld
