Success Secrets and Stories
To share management leadership concepts that actually work.
You are responsible for your development as a leader. Don't expect the boss to invest the training budget in your career. Consider this podcast as an investment of time in your career, with a bit of management humor added at the same time.
Success Secrets and Stories
Breaking Bread, Breaking Barriers: How True Teams Form
The secret to exceptional team performance isn't found in buzzwords or corporate jargon—it's built through intentional leadership strategies that foster genuine connection. John and Greg dive deep into what truly makes teams work, beyond the superficial activities that many organizations mistake for real team building.
Henry Ford's wisdom frames our discussion: "Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success." This progression represents the journey every leader must navigate, transforming groups of individuals into cohesive units that achieve remarkable results. We explore practical approaches that work across sports, entertainment, and business contexts, highlighting the common elements that create lasting team cohesion.
Drawing from personal experiences, we share stories about breaking bread together and engaging in competitive cooking challenges—activities that revealed authentic personalities and fostered genuine connections. These examples demonstrate how the most effective team building often comes from creating environments where barriers naturally fall away. We also tackle the reality of remote work, offering creative virtual team building strategies that maintain connection across distances. From online escape rooms to digital art projects, these approaches keep distributed teams engaged and aligned.
Whether you're a new supervisor wondering how to start building your team or an experienced manager looking to strengthen existing relationships, this episode provides actionable insights you can implement immediately. The leadership toolbox we share will help you create an environment where collaboration flourishes, communication flows freely, and your team achieves its highest potential. Ready to transform your approach to team building? Listen now, and don't forget to share your own team building experiences with us at wando75.jw@gmail.com.
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast Success Secrets and Stories. I'm your host, john Wondoloski, and I'm here with my co-host and friend, greg Powell. Greg, hey, everybody. And when we put together this podcast, we wanted to put out a helping hand and help that next generation and help answer the question of what does it mean to be a leader? Today, we want to talk about a subject that I think supports that concept. So today we're going to talk about team building, and this is where you're looking for an effective way to help teams and give them some type of focus or topics. That helps building the team, providing effective feedback and navigating some difficulties in conversations. And the whole idea of team building is trying to engage your staff. Team building from the perspective of Henry Ford yes, that Henry Ford made a very interesting quote. Yes, that Henry Ford made a very interesting quote. Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success, and that's really to the point of what we wanted to talk about today.
Speaker 2:How do you make a team? How do you actually develop that next step in trying to organize your company and you're a new supervisor, you're a new manager what does it really mean to build a team. Let's give a little background. So what does it mean to build a team? Teamwork makes the dream work. We've all heard that before, and that's definitely true in a business environment. You need a solid team to get your goals and objectives across the finish line. But strong teams don't materialize on their own. Second point as a business leader, it's your job to create strong groups and advocates for your division or your business. Doing so requires an intentional approach. Greg, I think you have an interesting analogy.
Speaker 1:Thanks, john. I think one that all of us have heard. There is no I in team Right, heard that in sports, heard that at work, no selfish people allowed All right. So let's talk about team building in a more fun atmosphere. Here's a sports definition of building a team.
Speaker 1:So team building in sports refers to activities and strategies that help athletes, coaches and the staff develop really strong relationships. They also develop strong communication and a sense of unity within the whole team. These activities aim to enhance teamwork, improve communication, foster trust and build a positive team culture. Effective team building can translate to optimal performance on the field or on the court. That's a sports perspective. How about entertainment right? It focuses on fostering collaboration, communication and creativity among individuals with diverse skill sets to create a compelling entertainment product for the audience. Right, the goal is to get musicians, movie makers, writers, producers, dancers, singers and the like to work in pardon the expression concert. They build trust and camaraderie among the participants. The combined efforts of team members produces a show, and the better the team, the better the overall performance. John, the better the overall performance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, john. So in a business kind of approach, teamwork in terms of a manager or a leader, teams building in a business context refer to the activities and the strategies designed to enhance cooperation, communication and cohesion amongst employees. Right Now, step back for a second. That whole idea of communicating and making sure that you're dealing with the truth is one of those key communication goals. Understanding when there's a facade or they're trying to come up with excuses, you're asking for truthful communication. It's also about fostering stronger relationships, improving teamwork skills and ultimately, boosting productivity and morale. The third point is effective team building can lead to increased trust, better communication and more positive work environment for excellent business results. Now, something to take a look at as far as helping us with the description was an article of team building do's and don'ts by Linda Vargo, and she was writing this for Forbes Business Development Council on January 17th 2023. The first one the do is to focus on individual strengths. Use team building events to address specific challenges within your team.
Speaker 2:Don't compare employees. Comparison is rooted in resentment and you can kill your team's identity in a heartbeat. Never compare team members to one another. Another. Do check both individually and as a team. You need to keep the lines of communication open. To build a team, that means addressing the team as a whole and as the individual employees as they need it.
Speaker 2:A don't Brag about one employee. Yeah, if you're trying to build a team and you're going to talk about the superstar, that's not going to be a good idea. At the end of the day, there is no I in team, as Craig has talked about before, so don't drag down an individual employee too much. So don't drag down an individual employee too much. Even if there is a need for a rock star, you shouldn't have a favorite team member that you would put on a pedestal. Adieu Plan. Fun bonding experiences, and we'll talk about that a little later. Give your team a chance to unwind and to get to know each other outside the work environment. A don't Don't avoid conflict. New managers are often guilty of suppressing conflict as a way of encouraging harmony, but it sweeps the problems under the rug and only makes it worse. Your team has to navigate through the difficulty to stay strong.
Speaker 2:A do Identify how people prefer to be managed. Maybe you prefer to be a hands-on manager, but your employees just want you to operate in the background in a support role, if you insist on being hands-on with the hands-off employees, they're only going to feel smothered. Remember, management is an art, not a science. So my example of what I've seen as an employee I think Greg and I have had similar backgrounds the idea of eating a meal and breaking bread together as being a productive activity that almost anyone can participate in.
Speaker 2:There is something to be said for getting together and having a chance for people to relax and to see through their facade. As we are human beings, we want to put up that business face, but usually you're working on trying to find the real person to emerge within a safe and comfortable environment, and that's the environment you have to create. At the end of the day, you want to hear all the employees speak, to be part of that exchange in that meal, so that there is no one isolated, and sometimes you're trying to pull the people that are quiet into the conversation. Believe me, that whole part about being an employee in that environment really makes the job fun, greg.
Speaker 1:So John and I have really the same example, maybe just slightly different takes on that example and for me that dinner was supposed to be. I mean, the intentions were honorable, it was supposed to be a time for us to get together and kind of break bread and feel good about each other, because we went through two weeks of hell. Right, I mean, it's as simple as that. And sometimes people thought, yeah, this is a pretty good deal, I enjoy going and I'm going to get engaged. And sometimes people didn, yeah, this is a pretty good deal, I enjoy going and I'm going to get engaged. And sometimes people didn't enjoy going and they didn't enjoy getting engaged and that kind of took away from the group, and so our effort for team cohesion was partially met. I give the leaders at that time, our leaders credit for trying something. But when we talk about making sure there's connectedness and that there's somebody taking pictures and sharing back with folks, that probably didn't occur back in those days.
Speaker 2:John. So an example of being a leader and helping the team. You have an opportunity to work with your team to develop solutions in the cooperative environment. Have an opportunity to work with your team to develop solutions in the cooperative environment. Instead of giving immediate answers to questions, you're never going to have them actually answer it on their own if they can walk into your office and the magic answer comes floating into their hands. A great approach that I have used is the what-if, and I tried to help them and guide them to their own answer, and sometimes it's not exactly what I was trying to get them to say, but it was their concept and they were close enough that they would learn and it had more of a lasting impact because it was their idea. So you're looking for ways to try to communicate that engages people and doesn't turn them off. My what-if approach, I think, really helped a lot. Greg, I think you have another approach.
Speaker 1:I do, john. This was a team-building exercise I was involved in as I was a leader of the team, and one of my employees came up with an idea that I thought was brilliant. It was a cooking competition. We used an outside group, chef JJ this is in Indianapolis. We divided the HR department into multiple teams for cooking contests. We didn't say recruiters over here, comp and benefits over here, learning and development over here. We mixed those groups up to create the teams and the group Chef JJ. Their staff taught us how to use the cooking utensils, which was the big green egg, right. So you're not even thinking about an electric fry pan, we're talking about the big green egg. Everything could be cooked on there. So each team prepared a multi-course meal, including salad and dessert, which there were some rules, and we did it within a certain timeline, and each dish created by a team was judged by Chef JJ's staff. We got very competitive. There was food, flour, whatever on people's faces or hands. We got messy and we learned something about cooking, but we learned a lot about our individual selves and watching people help each other and even teams helping other teams, and we talked about the event long after it occurred. It really didn't make any difference who got the gold medal. We kind of all got the gold medal because we definitely became closer as a group. It was a lot of fun working together and, yes, we ate what we created together.
Speaker 1:Let's move over to tips for organizing team building. This is an article by Nikki Christmas, november 24, 2024, in events management. So some of the tips are Use team building events to address specific challenges within your team. So if it's a communication issue, then work on a team building opportunity using communication tools. Link real workplace issues to the activities you plan. Solicit feedback during and after the event so you don't just roll it out there and say, okay, next time. Next thing, make sure you get feedback during the event and then after the event from folks.
Speaker 1:You want to make sure you balance fun, because fun does help. Fun helps you get the team going, but you want some challenging tasks, right? It's not just a pass-through, not just a walk-through. So balance fun with challenging tasks in this team builder. And you might feel more comfortable hiring an outside professional facilitator. That's okay too. You got the budget for it or you know a person that could serve in that role you think would be helpful.
Speaker 1:Think about that idea. Choose an inspirational theme. Sometimes people will say fall, get together or new project team, whatever it is. Choose a theme that makes sense and apply that and make sure everything fits under that theme banner. Involve the team in planning. I'm going to say that twice Involve the team in planning. If you do it as a leader, you do it in a vacuum. You're going to be surprised what you're not going to get out of that event. So encourage input and build up anticipation and then, of course, capture memories. Somebody's taking photos, videos and then share them, post them, if you want to, online in the office area and talk about them and think about them when you have your next event. John.
Speaker 2:So what are the popular team building activities? Some of them we've experienced and some of them I haven't. Scavenger hunts are interesting if you have the right group. Volunteer work at a food pantry is awesome. That has such a great opportunity to work as a team. An escape room is an interesting example. Another one is minefield or lava, where you have somebody describing to someone who's blindfolded how to handle a minefield. The one that I would be careful about is axe throwing. Depending how your team is getting along, that might not be one of the ones at the top of the list.
Speaker 2:Murder, mystery events, which are a ton of fun Trivia games, book clubs. If you have the right group, that book club might be a big stretch, but you'd be surprised that trying to get somebody engaged in doing the book club and what you get for results it is interesting. Group painting, pottery activities, trying to work with your talents as an artist, pull people out of what they do as their normal or cultural events like visiting a museum or cooking competitions, as Greg was just talking about. There's more. It's up to your own imagination and the environment that you're in. Something that would be fun is really the key, and these are just ideas. Maybe there's something that's more appropriate for the work that you do and you can find a way to make it a fun activity, but whatever it is, you're trying to build a team, and that's the most important part.
Speaker 1:Greg. Thanks John. And over time you may use several of these activities. Again, the thought here is if you do volunteer work in a food pantry, which is great for your culture, great for the community, you can do that once a quarter, you can do it twice a year, but you can also have a murder mystery event three months later. So don't feel that these are just single activities to do. You can mix and match and combine Over a couple of years. You may use a lot of these. If you change your staff over for whatever reason. You've got new people on board. So think of these as fluid and you use them when and as you need them.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, you know. One of the things I've noticed is when the organization are in silos and if you're not familiar with the term, it's where, like I'm in accounting and the only thing I see is accounting and I don't deal with finance because there are two doors down that kind of isolation. You're trying to find ways to break down those barriers. These things help. They're not a panacea to answer all your questions, but that's the way that you try to break down those silos, greg.
Speaker 1:Thanks, john. So we're going to move over to an interesting topic that really kind of developed during COVID. How about virtual team building activities? Yes, more work on the screen, but creative work opportunities. So a lot of companies still have hybrid work schedules. Some folks work remote all the time. They're still producing for you, they're still on your team. How do you keep them connected? How do you keep them engaged? How do you make sure they're working at their optimal and they're comfortable working with the folks in this environment? So remote team building activities can be highly effective in enhancing team cohesion, communication and overall morale within remote teams.
Speaker 1:While physical presence is absent, virtual activities can foster a sense of connection, improve collaboration and even boost productivity. And there's a lot of technology out there most of it's free that help you create these activities virtually, that you don't have to be in front of each other. And so what are some of the things you can do? There's some really basic things. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of icebreakers like To True the Sentinel Eye. It works well in person as well as it does on a screen.
Speaker 1:There's online games not much unlike what our kids do, right. There's different games that you could be in different locations. Guess what you got? A location in Minnesota, another location in Indiana, another location in Illinois. You could connect them all together probably easier than you could trying to bring them in or fly them in for an event. You could do things. John and I've talked before about mindfulness, meditation, yoga. There's a way to create that opportunity to teach Learning skills, like languages. People want to learn Spanish, want to learn French. You can do that and create a team building situation too. John and I talked before about the creative side Digital art projects, create music. There's cool stuff out there that you could do virtually together and build that team. And yes, even though we know about escape rooms that are physical, there are virtual escape rooms as well.
Speaker 2:So I think the bottom line is that there's ongoing team building activities, which is really the bottom line, and how frequently you do it is up to you. If you're thinking about a team building concept, it's sometimes one and done, and you're wrong when we're talking about management by responsibility. That's, the responsibility is ongoing. Team building events can't be done in a vacuum. They should have a theme. They should have a connection to your specific team's opportunities. Don't confuse standalone events like company holiday parties or baby showers or some significant event of the calendar for an actual team building exercise. Also, your staff will change over time. Keeping the team building strategy relevant to your current employees and to your specific needs at the time is also another way to build on team activities and building that essence that you're looking for within your organization.
Speaker 2:So, if you like what you've heard on this podcast, I've written a book called Building your Leadership Toolbox. You are listening to Success Secrets and Stories, the podcast. It's available on Apple and Google and Spotify, but we appreciate you listening on whatever format you're on. A lot of what we talk about is from Dr Durst's books on MBR Matching by Responsibility, and you can also get the current lessons and books from successgrowthacademycom if you'd like to contact us, please contact me at wando75.jw at gmailcom. And the music has been brought to you by my grandson, so we want to hear from you. Tell us how we're doing, tell us about a subject that you would find interesting for us to cover. We have learned a lot from our audience and we continue to learn. Well, greg, thanks.
Speaker 1:Thanks, John. As always, Next time yeah.