RE: Your Inner Brad Pitt: Team Building Nonsense

[Sharon Key <sharon -at- dra -dot- com>]

	Andrew said:

> You cannot FORCE people to bond. People bond when they understand their
> environment, responsibilities, and expectations. They bond when management
> acts
> as a role model and shows the employees how to behave responsibly and
> professionally. You cannot MAKE two (or more) people work well together.
> You
> have to give them the tools, support, and leadership so they can forge
> their
> own bonds. You also have to facilitate those bonds by introducing people
> and
> making sure they remain in contact.  
> 
I totally agree.  I worked for a large corporation for nearly 18 years that
spouted "team building" as a way to make their employees feel like they
belonged to a family.  They took entire work teams on an Outward Bound type
of "adventure" in the woods, hooked harnesses to us so we wouldn't fall off
the walls we were forced to climb (while our co-workers acted as spotters),
and fed us bran muffins and warm apple juice.  The only thing that was
missing was singing "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" around the campfire.  

We returned to the office a week later to face a pile of work that took
nearly a month to complete.  And three years later, the "family" laid off
nearly 40% of it's work force.

Sharon Key
Data Research Associates
St. Louis, MO  USA