Lessons Learned from a Hurricane, Part II

In the second half of this, I’d like to examine another facet of what makes us stronger, and helps to weather the storm.  Yes, pun intended.

Another observation that was uncovered in the article is that trees that typically are less resistant to hurricane force winds, but still survived, were growing in groups.  Growing in groups.

Team as a concept in the corporate world carries far less weight, in my humble opinion, than in any other setting where the term is commonplace (sports, military, etc.).  Maybe that is due in part to terms like group and division, or that this is just our job.  I’ve seen far too many organizations view ‘team building’ as simply a box to check in order to appease the powers that be.  That said, here’s my personal checklist to get your team to grow as a group:

1.  Change the view!  Get approvals, budget, etc- and plan a day out of the office, but to STILL WORK.  It’s amazing what a change of venue can do for workplace distraction elimination, creativity, etc.  Work CAN BE brainstorming, idea generation, etc – you don’t HAVE to have your laptops fired up 🙂
==> Coffee Shop, conference space, a team member’s house, etc.

2.  Do something different!  Do you think those trees were expecting a hurricane?  I think not!  So do something where you will interact with each other, in a different context.
==> For ideas, maybe survey your team for their top 5 hobbies or interests and find some common ground, then dot vote?  Hike a 14er, play a game, go golfing, etc.

3.  Be intentional! …about #1 and #2 above on a semi-regular basis.
==>  every 3-6 months?- or whatever makes sense, and vary the duration from a couple of hours to a day.

4.  Pass the torch!
a) give folks within the team the opportunity to lead, event to event.
b) inspire other teams to do the same.
c) take this into other spheres of your life! (family, church, friends, etc.)

Party on!

 

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