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 ?!!

Room sharing is not acceptable.

WTF? No to room sharing. That’s not in your contract.

We have team building days where you come in your own time and play physical games.
I only do work things with work people when I'm being paid. And I CERTAINLY don't touch them.

So yeah. Thank goodness ours aren't compulsory.

My work does four of these a year. FOUR. They go on for several days. On the last one, I had to share a bunk room with three people I'd never met before.

I don't mind my job. I actually quite like some of my colleagues. What I do not like is being forced to live with them and discuss fucking work strategy for what equates to two weeks out of the year.

I've invented a family gathering to get out of the next one.

I have been known to make up the ‘interesting fact about myself’ in the past, especially at events where I would never see any of the attendees again, being careful to use things than can neither be proven or disproven. Such fun!

I hated them.

I’m a fucking misery though, just went to work to do the job and get paid not bond with people 😂

God save me from passionate people. I was on a CPD course a long time where one of the tutors declared her 'passion' for the subject we were studying (clinical supervision for psychotherapists). I felt a bit inadequate after that as I couldn't think of anything I felt passionate about. But when we went to lunch and I saw there was cabbage on the menu I realised I am passionate about cabbage. I bloody love the stuff. I felt much better after that.

I have two a year for all staff, and another two a year for my directorate, and they are mandatory. In addition, I now seem to have two or so "development days" which are also mandatory.

I refused to go on one as I had an important commitment, and got a load of hassle from my manager - until she realised she couldn't go because of an important commitment ....

We went go kart racing once and they made all the bosses race each other, they were so competitive they kept crashing into each other. It was the best laugh and then onto the pub after for a BBQ. Happy days.

Oh God, my heart sinks when I hear the words 'first we'll start with an icebreaker'. Once we had to say what toy we would be, and why.

One of my worst days was when the whole massive IT dept had to split into groups, devise and then perform a play to everyone else. Excrutiating.

Oh God they're awful - particularly those that require oversharing, and / or role playing, and / or physical or sports activities.

I once organised one which was actually OK, no honestly. It was at Pru Leiths Cookery school, we were split into two teams and under supervision (ie so nothing could go wrong!) 'cooked' a meal. Well, I say cooked - we did the preparation but the supervisors 'finished' it off.

Cost wasn't that bad but, OMG, the organisations that specialise in team building events charge a fortune.

I was given a small budget - and if the cookery evening had not been approved, I was going to suggest a community volunteer project (where we would pay for and supply the materials and then we would paint a classroom or whatever)

We have our team day in March.
Actually they are quite nice. We are all out on a 10_4 shift and the ither units pickup our slack ( and we do it for them on their team days) we usually have half a day working out what is going well, what isn't and how can we make things better. Our manager brings in a loads of Buffett style food accomadating all our needs. In the afternoon we usually go out for a walk and have a natter and as uts informal people speak honestly. After the shift we usually go out for tea. That is optional but usually everyone goes.

I realised I am passionate about cabbage. I bloody love the stuff.

This is so my next interesting fact...

I agree they're often cringey, in a Ricky Gervais Office kind of a way.

The best one I did was fence building at a local country park - voluntary work with a purpose that everyone enjoyed.

Yanbu they are crap. We once had to erect a tent while blindfolded.

The day at RADA was as bad as it sounds. My office is full of lovely but very stiff, grey men. It was like an episode of The Office. We had to do stage fighting, which involved one poor sod having to pretend the throttle the boss. Drama warm up exercises, which involved running round in our socks or barefoot. God, the horror - it's all coming back to me now! I remember whenever you made eye contact with someone you exchanged a look of horror / disbelief / endurance.

The day ended with us being filmed singing Joseph & the Technicolor dream coat 'I close my eyes, complete with choreographed arm movements. The video was then shown at other staff briefings.

”The day ended with us being filmed singing Joseph & the Technicolor dream coat 'I close my eyes, complete with choreographed arm movements. The video was then shown at other staff briefings.”

WTAF?

Yep. At the bigger all-staff Christmas briefing

I no longer work in that team

Worst one for me was a meditating session before ‘brainstorming’. I lost it when he told me to relax my ears. How the fuck do you relax your ears. Left the job the following day. What a lot of bollocks.

BeUpStanding Did other teams do it but your group was chosen for the humiliation accolade of being your company's Got Talent show?

I had a manager whose idea of team building was to rush out on sunny days, buy loads of icecreams and insist we ate them in the park. I miss her

Nowadays we have an ongoing calendar invite every month to go to lunch together. You can go, or not, as you please. We go to a local Turkish restaurant which is cheap and caters for all food issues and, as it's in the middle of the day, alcohol isn't a consideration.

Having taken a pool lifeguard course (and passed) I can tell any HR wonks that real team building is 4 people in a pool working to strap a casualty to a spinal board without fuss or panic. Anything else dreamt up as a jolly is just fun.

Wtf are so many people blaming HR for this stuff? Even if we did think it had any use (hint:we don't), HR never have any budget. Team buIlding ridiculousness is (in my experience) always the bright idea of some senior manager.

BeUpStanding

A day at RADA? Oh Holy Sweet baby Jesus...

"The day ended with us being filmed singing Joseph & the Technicolor dream coat 'I close my eyes, complete with choreographed arm movements. The video was then shown at other staff briefings."

You win. Hand Down. That's the worst ever. Sorry, laughing and cringing so much at that. Poor, poor you.

I guess HR doesn't really give a shit about the intorverted people at your gaff!