Team Building

Team building is vital for any team. It is the difference between cohesion and turmoil. When you have a strong team behind you, there’s no task you can’t accomplish.

This article will cover how you use the tools you already have to build your team. Take some time to invest in your organization. All good relationships start with respect.

Welcome to the Break Room, where we give you out of the box ideas for common areas in the workplace. We provide you with insight into the people who make the heart of this company beat. A few weeks ago, we started a group project. We moved a whiteboard into the breakroom and tackled a subject together. The first subject was Motivation, the rules. There are none. The only limit is individual creativity.

Rules for the Board

First, let’s talk about the board. I can already feel the cringe in your face when I say no rules, don’t worry it’s okay. “But what if someone draws something offensive?” You might ask. My answer is simple, “It’s going to rain.” It’s your choice if you let it stop you from going outside. The ‘what if’ can be viewed as a negative or it’s a positive. ‘What if’ is a narrative we tell ourselves to justify the action or the lack. ‘What if’ does not have to be something we dread, ‘what if’ can be something magical.

Second, if you want to foster a creative environment, you can’t impose limits. The science is easy, and a growth environment should be a positive one. Impositions of restrictions and rules are not favorable, they tell us what we can’t do rather than what we can. So, it becomes a limit to our imagination and creativity. Try reversing it, ask yourself, what can we shift that will turn a can’t into a can and accomplish the same purpose.

Lastly, participation is essential. More importantly, Authentic Participation. Is everyone engaged because out of coercion or is it genuinely a choice? You can foster authenticity though. Tell them it’s optional. The ‘must’ pushes us not to participate or do it half-heartedly. Whereas the ‘will’ gives us a choice and we may make a choice not to, but at least we choose. Over time participation will increase because we cannot resist.

You have now given someone a choice, to introduce a new idea, outside of the cycle of their reality. Creativity is born through the relationships that we create. It is when we can link two things that the universe would have otherwise, kept apart. Now if you add a problem and allow the team to solve it, you are also helping their relationships. We aren’t saying that you’ll have changed overnight. But with consistency and patience, you will make a lasting change. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you didn’t reach your success overnight, it took time. Elif Shafak discusses the power of diverse thought in her Ted Talk, which you can watch here.

Invest in your Employees

Rosa provided some insight into investing in your team, “Our team spends most of their valuable time at work. We desire to invest and provide all necessary tools within the work environment for our team members to express themselves. They should know that they have a voice within their work environment. We all have great minds, through the freedom of creativity we can help them grow. Grow in areas they have the most passion and show off their abilities without judgment. How incredible would it be if we can all as a team, put our minds to work to help each other?”

“Our biggest asset at work is time, and we must give our team members a return on their investment. It is important more than ever that they feel appreciated and enjoy the work they do. We must build an environment out of trust so that they don’t feel trapped or robotic. Somewhere where they can rise daily and feel fulfilled in the work environment. We want to elevate them so that they can elevate the people around them. If you build your team, then they will have no limits.”