There is an emerging trend in Rwandan organisations with regard to team building. An increasing number of organisations seem to prefer team building activities at year end. The activities themselves are desired to be stronger in form than substance. Terms of reference to facilitators are almost always to keep it fun and short as there will be a staff party right after that. It seems more like the team building is a precursor of the end year party than an activity conducted to ensure that the team gels and performs better. Indeed, team performance seems to increasingly diminish as a factor in these activities.  This begs the question; when is the best time for team building? Indeed, why team building in the first place?

Let’s begin with what is fast becoming the norm in our organisations; end year team building activities. At year-end, there is need to have a ‘thank you session’ to show appreciation to staff members. This is only natural. However, it should not be presumed that every ‘get together’ activity amounts to team building. End year staff parties are great for morale boosting, but they are just that, parties.

The first step a manager or an entrepreneur needs to appreciate before undertaking teambuilding is the group s/he is dealing with. Not all groups are teams, much like not all drugs are medicine. New groups need different approaches from the established and high performing ones. They for example need more guidance as opposed to established teams. Thus, the stage of team development matters.

To understand this better let us analyse the English premier league. A critical look at the teams will reveal those that have been together with their manager and with each other on the whole perform better than those that have not. One could argue that the main reason for this is that the players and the coach, top notch as they are, are still gelling and need to understand each other.

If your organisation is in a scenario such as this, it might be best to conduct team building at the beginning of the middle of the business calendar as opposed to the end of the year.

The second consideration would be the Purpose of team building. What do we want to achieve, for example are you seeking deeper understanding between co-workers, getting them to like each other better, or is it the emotional high that results from having excelled together and feeling that they are good at what they do? Or are you seeking more cooperation and specific lessons that can be applied at work or just a sense of time well spent?

A team that has gelled well and is performing does not need team building before the second half of the quarter. Even in this case, its purpose is to move the team to the next level, performing.

Regardless of what your purpose is, it is important that the events have a commonality of objectives for all participants. After all, a common purpose is the hallmark of a team. This unity of purpose ensures that there is more cooperation that makes the experience nice for everyone and that the lessons learnt can be applied at work.

Team building events should be fun. There is no debate about that. Perhaps this is why some managers bring them last- the work first play later mentality is still popular in management circles.

You may not get the same hectic moody you get from those intensely competitive events – but that is actually good…as long as the objectives are achieved and lessons are learnt. This is why there are sessions for reflection during team building activities.

To make team building both easier and effective, there must be good and clear communication before, during and after the activities. It motivates the participants if they are involved in design and decision making for the activities. How do you do this? Simple - ask them. This way the organisation achieves more, especially if the activities are geared towards developing people’s own potential. Else the whole thing may come across as patronising for participants. To avoid this find out expertise or interests of your team members that they would enjoy sharing with others; great team activities can be built around many hobbies and special interests.

The best time for team building is not a straightforward matter. It is also determined by internal and external dynamics that surround the organisation. These factors must be put in consideration. However, the rule of the thumb is that team building should be seen as an integral part of improving organisational performance. Planning for the same should thus be done early, preferably at the beginning of the year. It should not be treated as part of end year partying, that makes it a mere fad.

The writer is a management consultant and trainer specialising in entrepreneurship and project management.

sam.kebongo@gmail.com.