AIBU or are team building events really f*cking awful...

[rOsie80]

Especially the variety that ask you for an "interesting" fact about yourself so you all sit around and reel them off in an awkward, stilted fashion for an hour.... does anybody really enjoy this stuff ?!!

Christ no, definitely not unreasonable. I worked for an American company and they were huge on that sort of stuff, no backing out either. Practically everything was videoed, horrific. I was sent on an assertiveness 'course', that was bloody awful. There was one thing in particular that you were absolutely forbidden to discuss with anyone afterwards, it was shrouded in secrecy. It was basically staying in an isolated place with a group of people and having to 'face the fear and do it anyway'. Thankfully I was pregnant when I was summonsed for it and didn't have to go.

OMG no I have one of these coming up. Our team has joined with another so we are doing a team bonding session.

The only interesting things I can think of about myself happened when I was drunk in my 20's and the only thing I'm passionate about is ensuring I take all the annual leave I'm entitled to!!

RosyPrimroseface

here's a few:
"make a team gel"
"bring folk together"
"encourage team spirit"

"cohere" is a truly naff choice... "frankchickens" has it right

"make a team gel" "bring folk together" "encourage team spirit"

Why are any of those unquestionably good things? I'd like there to be a respectful distrust, thanks, so that when one person fucks up, the others aren't too busy being "bonded" and "gelled" to do something about it.

I'd like there to be a respectful distrust between the people on the flight deck right about the time the commander decides to fly a perfectly serviceable plane into the ground (the morbidly named CFIT: controlled flight into terrain). I'd like there to be a respectful distrust between the lieutenant and his platoon of troops, right about the the time they start thinking about shooting civilians. I'd like there to be a respectful distrust between surgeons and their operating theatre staff, right about the time they start using lasers to sign livers. I'd like there to be a respectful distrust on a dealing floor, right about the time they start thinking about rigging interest rates to make a buck. I'd like there to be a respectful distrust between social workers, right about the time they start thinking that terrified half-starved children are "part of the black family script". And so on, and son.

Group think is bad. It kills people. Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten killed 583 people because his crew didn't disagree with him. I bet Lt William Caley had plenty of "team spirit" with his platoon, and look how that ended up. You can look my other examples up easily enough (Climbie case, in the last example).

The same applies anywhere that we implicitly rely on two or more pairs of eyes being used to check that people are being both competent and honest. The obsession with "team spirit" is how crimes happens.

As everyone says best team building is in the pub. No, everyone doesn't say that. People who like drinking, who like trying to converse in a noisy atmosphere, who like talking to lots of people, say that. People who find it easier to converse 1-1, who don't drink alcohol and don't want to spend an evening drinking sweet fruit drinks, who find it difficult follow or contribute to conversations in a noisy atmosphere, unsurprisingly don't find being in the pub does anything for their feeling of being part of the team.

Drinking should really be in addition some other social activity (or at least a meal). It's a shame, but just a mark of modern life that we (the majority) consider sitting around drinking a legit way to spend time... I'm of the opinion that if you have to be drunk to enjoy something, then it's hardly worth doing! That said, I'd still rather do it than bang bongos with my colleagues...

Keneft: Excellent points. Though a group of people who all hate each other (or are divided into two or more mutually resentful, feuding groups) doesn't make for the most productive environment, either.

But then the whole idea of 'company loyalty' is a bit suspect and should be more so. A fair day's work for a fair day's pay is reasonable, of course - though obviously, the fair day's pay is just as important as the work - but a lot of the wretched bullshit peddled at these 'team building' gigs is probably sold to senior management as a way of making staff love their masters ie turn a blind eye to questionable practices and obey without any objections, no matter how much unpaid overtime they are asked to do...

"KeneftYakimoski " that's a fair point - I was merely articulating a better of way of saying it ! You paint a dark picture and team should certainly not = diminished sense of responsibility. Colleagues should challenge one another's thinking. "Distrust" might be a bit harsh but certainly faith in their own convictions and the ability to put ethics (and common sense) above the need for a collective decision.

Drinking should really be in addition some other social activity (or at least a meal).

I think that you don't have to be the most nervous sort of HR department to think that organised team activities based around alcohol are an employment tribunal, or an HSE investigation, waiting to happen. The religiously observant person who feels excluded. The recovering alcoholic who feels excluded. The incipient alcoholic who has an accident on the way home. The person taking medication which doesn't mix with alcohol. And so on, and so on.

It's one thing when a group of self-selecting colleagues goes to the pub together, although even that has its issues. But if the employer organises events centred around alcohol, they are both excluding for some staff and risky if some staff decide to make an issue of it.

If you hate them it's just because they have been the wrong type of events, the wrong provider, the wrong participants.

Training is so often done on the chaep by people who don't know what they are doing.

I love them!

BeUpStanding.

I think you've won the thread - if that's what you mean by winning. Worse than the waterboarding and the kidnapping.

If you hate them it's just because they have been the wrong type of events, the wrong provider, the wrong participants

If only. I think this thread proves almost unanimously otherwise. And how exactly would you go aboutchanging the participants?

I was worried sick about having an endoscopy.Got myself into a right state for weeks.I wanted to post my experience to stop anyone worrying about it like I did.Its a wonder I didn't give myself an ulcer.The nurses were fantastic and so was the Consultant.I chose sedation and didn't feel the cannula go in.One nurse sprayed a fruity tasting liquid into my throat to numb it.Another nurse talked me through procedure and how to breathe.Sedative just relaxed me, throat spray makes you think you can't swallow or breathe.Believe me you can.It felt strange and like there was a piece of dry bread stuck, but all you need to do is deep breathe.Once on my side they began to pass the endoscope down, with deep breathing I didn't even gag.It took between 3 to 5 minutes and it was all over and I was back in recovery for 1 hour before they let me go home.I can't believe i got myself into such a state over it.If anyone's going for endoscopy, don't worry about it, it was fine.I am a right worry wart.Staff were great...

I once had to crawl under Lego bridge because I was the smallest person in the room.

Needless to say I crashed the bridge and a lot of my underwear was in full view.

Err zico I think you’re on the wrong thread. This thread is also six months old...

Yes an Endoscopy as a team building exercise wouldn't be good. Hope you find the right thread zico.

Mrsorgan.

At least the team building days I’ve had to go on have been crappy in the figurative rather than literal sense 😂

Or am I thinking of colonoscopy...

We used to have some good ones where I used to work. Once we had to film a work version of a scene from a well known sitcom- we took the £50 float and went to the pub to film! Another time we painted something as a team. I enjoyed them!

My team bonds best when we sort it out for ourselves. This generally involves chips and beer.

This! Anything else... a wannabe 'team builder' can fuck right off.

I’m a social worker. I am also disabled. In previous team building shit, we’ve had games that involved jumping up and down and rushing about the room as fast as possible, dropping paper into cones. Fun times for those of us with impaired movement.

I’ve also participated in “circles” where you were allowed to air any grievance you had about anyone in the organization, supposedly, without fear of reprisal. Comments got very personal. Feelings were hurt. I left before everything was sorted out from those ill advised exercises.

I'm going to go totally against the grain and say when done right they can be really effective even if at the time they feel uncomfortable. They are sort of supposed to take you out of your comfort zone a bit. That said, I appreciate many are done badly, with lack of consideration for people's needs and are not appropriate for that particular group.

And before anyone asks, no, I don't do this for a living but I do run training courses sometimes and have organised away days for my company and put a huge amount of thought into getting the activities and level of participation right. It's really easy to be cynical.

I imagine hell to be really hot with constant "team building", inflatable course that are "so much fun!!" And never ending role play.

I think I possibly would rather have a colonoscopy all things considered.

I think companies should save their money.