Life Notes: The Importance of Team Building
by Kim Ratcliff, BA, MS

One of the most important characteristics of business is teamwork. Companies spend lots of money sending their staff to traditional team building seminars where the staff may learn a lot, but there is no real “hands on” practice provided. Many businesses today are shifting from the traditional styles of training to more not-traditional approaches. Some of these trainings include team building and leadership training.

Businesses that operate with a team approach can really benefit from a wide variety of non-traditional team building training styles. One such team building training that has recently grown in popularity is the use of Challenge Courses. With this training, teams learn invaluable teamwork skills. They learn to communicate better as a group. They also learn who the natural leaders in the group are. All of this is facilitated through hands on activities where everyone in the group plays an integral part.

The goal of a challenge course is to introduce groups to a more creative way of problem solving. The group will not only complete a task successfully, but also complete the task using skills that bring the group together. The team will be faced with a task that at first glance may seem insurmountable, but through persistence and teamwork the group will be able to accomplish their goal. In essence the group will learn to “think outside the box.” All of this is learned in a fun and exciting environment that doesn’t feel like work.

If you are looking for a different strategy to build greater teamwork within your company, consider a more non-traditional approach to training.

The Life Notes articles are written by staff of Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home and are published in The Ruston Daily Leader.

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