As a manager, why should I run team building training programs for my staff? And when should I run them?

The main goals of team-building are to improve productivity and motivation. Taking employees out of the office helps groups break down political and personal barriers, eliminate distractions, and have fun. The benefits of team-building programs are so significant that many corporations have incorporated teambuilding strategies into their standard training curriculum.

Some of these benefits include:

• Improves morale and leadership skills
• Finds the barriers that thwart creativity
• Clearly defines objectives and goals
• Improves processes and procedures
• Improves organisational productivity
• Identifies a team’s strengths and weaknesses
• Improves the ability to problem solve

WHY RUN A TRAINING PROGRAMS?

A training programs looks like it might involve a fair amount of work and cost some money. Does your organization really need one? The answer is yes, for a number of reasons.

For new staff, there's what seems an obvious answer: a training programs is necessary so they can start their jobs with some idea of what they're supposed to do and how to do it. But there are a number of other ways in which a training programs can help new staff members:

• It shows them that the organization is serious about what it does, and therefore encourages them to be serious about it, too.
• It makes them feel that the organization is supportive of them.
• Having the proper training boosts their confidence in their ability to do their jobs.
• A training programs can help to convince new staff members of the value of the organization's philosophy and methods.
• It enlists them as "regulars" in the organization by giving them a vocabulary and way of looking at their work similar to those of others in the organization.
• It shortens the time needed for them to become competent at their jobs.
• It reduces their need to ask other staff for advice or information, and thus increases their independence and decreases the drain on other staff members.
• It greatly diminishes the chance that they'll make mistakes that cost the organization in prestige, public relations, credibility, lawsuits, or money.

For veteran staff, a training programs also has numerous benefits:

• It helps them to become continually more competent at what they do.
• It increases their knowledge of the field by introducing them to the latest research and theory, and can expose them to new ideas which ultimately may improve their own effectiveness and that of the organization.
• By keeping them from becoming bored and stale, it helps them to maintain interest in and enthusiasm for their work.
• It can expose them to other practitioners with different -- and perhaps better -- methods.
• It gives them one more reason to stay with the organization.
• It keeps the organization as a whole dynamic: thinking, growing, and changing. A dynamic organization is almost always a healthy and effective one.

In short, a good ongoing training programs for all staff increases organizational effectiveness and keeps it increasing, rather than allowing the organization to stagnate.

WHEN SHOULD YOU RUN A TRAINING PROGRAMS?

Training for new staff should clearly be conducted as soon as possible after they're hired. The ideal is that it be part of their orientation -- if the orientation period is long or comprehensive enough -- or that it at least starts before they begin work, so they'll know what they're doing. But a well-planned training programs should run all throughout the life of the organization.

Staff development should be scheduled regularly, as part of the normal operation of the organization. Probably, at minimum, everyone in the organization should have the opportunity for some ongoing training at least once a month. Some organizations may conduct or sponsor ongoing training much more often, sometimes as part of a weekly or biweekly staff meeting. Such training opportunities could be as low-key as a half-hour presentation at a staff meeting, or as formal as a presentation or workshop by a nationally known expert in the field, depending upon the organization's resources.

Many state or federal grants and contracts require and fund staff development, and union contracts sometimes include paid staff or professional development time.

Professional development opportunities may be more difficult, because they generally require money. Most small organizations simply don't have the resources to pay for staff members' college or graduate courses, and may not even be able to afford conference fees. While some staff members may be more than willing to pay for their own conferences or courses, it would be unfair to require everyone to do so. A compromise might be to ask staff members to take advantage of at least one professional development opportunity per year. Some of those opportunities - study circles, for instance - are free or almost free, and can be arranged by staff members themselves, or by the organization.

WHO SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMS?

This question really refers to two different aspects of running a training programs. The first is that of who actually controls the program ( i.e. who determines the subject matter, frequency, and form of the training). The second is that of who conducts the training itself. The two may be, but need not be, the same person or group.

There is actually a third facet to running a program as well: coordination. Someone has to be responsible for scheduling, communication, finding outside presenters if necessary, etc.. The question of who coordinates in this way may or may not be less loaded than the others. A member of the support staff might, in fact, coordinate training as part of his job, or the director might insist that she be the training coordinator. However your organization does it -- and having the responsibility rotate among staff members is a possible answer -- it's absolutely crucial to have effective coordination, usually invested in a single person. Without it, a training programs will get lost in loose ends and unfinished business.

CONTROL OF THE TRAINING

There are a number of choices for who or what controls a training programs:

• The director, program director, another administrator, or training coordinator, with or without input from other staff members. In a large organization, there might even be a training coordinator for each department, or for each group of services.
• Organizational policy: the subject matter, form, and frequency of training may be specified by the organization itself, either in the bylaws or in personnel policy.
• A particular staff member or group of staff members.
• All staff collectively (including administrators and support staff).
• Staff and other interested parties, such as participants, who may have knowledge of the training needs of the organization.
• An outside facilitator or organization.

Federal adult literacy funding mandates that each state have, in effect, a staff development resource. In Massachusetts, the Department of Education supports SABES (the System for Adult Basic Education Support). This organization provides free staff development for staff members of all Department of Education-funded adult literacy programs. The five regional SABES centers periodically survey administrators and line staff in the programs in their regions, and organize workshops, courses, and study circles in the areas of most interest to practitioners. SABES also conducts regular trainings for staff members new to adult literacy.

While many adult education programs conduct internal training in addition to whatever SABES activities their staff members attend, many others rely totally, or at least partially, on SABES for their staff development and training.

• A combination of some or all of these.

Yet another possibility is joining with other organizations with similar needs to conduct joint trainings. Especially where none of the organizations alone has the staff or financial resources to conduct a full-fledged training programs, this can be a great way to provide high-quality staff and professional development.

Even if the organizations have different specific purposes, the trainings could cover areas in common. Trainings on substance abuse, domestic violence, or youth issues, for instance, could be relevant to many community organizations besides those particularly working on those issues. Training in counseling skills or conflict resolution would be useful to almost anyone.

Such joint training can also be made available to the public. This can educate people about the issues and gain support for the organizations in the community. Please see Examples #1 and # 2 for some successful joint training ventures.

As is stated many times elsewhere in the Community Tool Box, it is extremely important for organizations to live their beliefs. Effective organizations usually have a consistent view of how they treat people, whether those people are members of their own staffs, of the target population, or of the larger community. Toward this end, an organization should ask itself some important questions before deciding who should control its training.

• What are the political implications of your choice? If the director determines the course of training, even with the input of other staff members, that says something specific about the distribution of power in the organization. The same is true if the control of training is a joint responsibility of all staff.
• How important is it that training in your organization be participatory? What is the organization's stake in doing things in an inclusive and democratic way?
• How does the control of training reflect the organizational philosophy? If the organization tries to foster a collaborative atmosphere, then training should be viewed as a collaborative effort as well. If the organization seeks to empower its target population, it's important that it also empower staff. An empowered staff would have at least some control over its own training.
• How distinctive does the training need to be? Does the organization use a self-developed or very unusual method, and has it developed a specific course of training as a result? If that is the case, how much room is there for flexibility and the introduction of other issues and ideas?
• Are many or all staff members already knowledgeable in the field, or are they one-sided in their knowledge (i.e. are most familiar with only one of several possible methods for doing what they do)?

In general, staff members are far more likely to actually use what they get from a training programs if they have at least some control over it. It makes sense, for instance, for those actually working in the field to determine what they need to do better, or what they need to know more about in order to do their jobs well. A training programs imposed from above becomes simply a chore, another boring meeting to go to.

A model that often works well is one where staff members take turns being responsible for staff development sessions. Staff members collectively determine their training needs, and then divide up the responsibility for providing training in the areas selected.

Some staff people may have the expertise -- or want to do the research to develop it -- to conduct trainings themselves. Others may know or find appropriate outside presenters or materials (a video on the topic, for instance). Still others may use their turns to present ideas or methods that they have learned about or used elsewhere, or to discuss issues they care about. The important thing is that those who are to be trained make the final decisions on what the training will be about.

CONDUCTING THE TRAINING

In many ways, deciding who will conduct the training is simpler than deciding who will control it. Possibilities are a program or training director, other staff members, outside presenters (including participants and other community members) or organizations, or some combination.

There is also the possibility here, perhaps with the exception of initial training, of individual staff members planning and carrying out their own programs. See the material below on training contracts for one way this can be accomplished.

Again, there are questions an organization should ask itself here:

• Who has the expertise? The answer to this question will probably vary from topic to topic. Some or most training might be conducted in-house by staff members with the right background and experience. At other times, an outside source might be necessary.
• Is it important to involve the community -- either members of the target population or people from the community at large?
• Do you need special training that no one on staff is competent to provide?
• What, if anything, can you afford to pay for training?

WHEN SHOULD YOU RUN A TRAINING PROGRAMS?

Training for new staff should clearly be conducted as soon as possible after they're hired. The ideal is that it be part of their orientation -- if the orientation period is long or comprehensive enough -- or that it at least starts before they begin work, so they'll know what they're doing. But a well-planned training programs should run all throughout the life of the organization.

Staff development should be scheduled regularly, as part of the normal operation of the organization. Probably, at minimum, everyone in the organization should have the opportunity for some ongoing training at least once a month. Some organizations may conduct or sponsor ongoing training much more often, sometimes as part of a weekly or biweekly staff meeting. Such training opportunities could be as low-key as a half-hour presentation at a staff meeting, or as formal as a presentation or workshop by a nationally known expert in the field, depending upon the organization's resources.

Many state or federal grants and contracts require and fund staff development, and union contracts sometimes include paid staff or professional development time.

Professional development opportunities may be more difficult, because they generally require money. Most small organizations simply don't have the resources to pay for staff members' college or graduate courses, and may not even be able to afford conference fees. While some staff members may be more than willing to pay for their own conferences or courses, it would be unfair to require everyone to do so. A compromise might be to ask staff members to take advantage of at least one professional development opportunity per year. Some of those opportunities - study circles, for instance - are free or almost free, and can be arranged by staff members themselves, or by the organization.

 

Source: ctb.ku.edu

Having team activities is essential for productivity enhance and achieving deadlines; co-workers will help each other. You could run such training once every 2-3 month. I would suggest you incorporate team activities / games / brainstorming events every two weeks t.hat could reinforce the team.

Team building is a PROCESS that takes place over time. The start of the process is where there is a group of people, two or more, and a leader. The end of the process is where there is a high performing team, who are highly motivated to perform better and better, who have well-developed processes and systems to organise their workload, and who gain immense satisfaction from their shared achievements.

The overall objectives are to achieve this high performance, to develop the group through the various stages of development, until it achieves high performance. However, like any other process, there are different steps or stages, and there are quite different objectives and goals at each stage. Focussing on the RIGHT objectives at each stage, and changing your objectives as you go through the process, will help you achieve high performance.

Thanks for the invitation. I agree with all the previous answers. They form a comprehensive view of the benefits of team building programs and when they should be conducted. I might have one addition which is from practical experience I have been through when I joined an oil and gas company many years ago. They had an induction program which contained a little bit of team building exercise. This was January 2007. I was part of this program as a participant, and one of the benefits I got from the team building exercise was that throughout my years with that company I stayed close with all the other participants who were part of this program too, even though they were from different departments. There is something about team building which brakes the ice and get people close on a human level which facilitates their interactions on the business level. 

 

I suggest those kind of programs be held regularly, at least once every 2 month. 

For new staff, there's what seems an obvious answer: a training programs is necessary so they can start their jobs with some idea of what they're supposed to do and how to do it

Team building training programs are very important as it is key to have an engaged team for the organisation to perform and meet objectives. The morale of the team is what makes the end goal. It is key to run these as often as you can and especially when there is transformation happening.

Team building basically brings individual skills together in a coherent manner that increases productivity thus profitability. Normally companies are challenged by the HOW question. Team building sessions are best done off-site to free the minds of employees who inturn enjoy it in a fun way but productively as they concentrate without thinking of their work backlogs and challenges. There are specialist companies out there who can be outsourced for excellent results. From Team building, teamwork is promoted and employees will know how and why they occupy that position in the organization and that they are a useful cog in the production process. Their slacking affect the whole process. Therefore from time to time, companies need to put their employees in Team building sessions.

As a MANAGER or team leader why should one run team building training programs and not preferably others for your TEAM MEMBERS; a good thoughtful question. Took the liberty to enhance clarity !

Managers are assigned the most important resource that are team members to seek their contributory strengths, to learn, to make others learn, develop  and let others develop to meet the present and continuous growing mutually accepted challenges and goals. Managers working with their respective teams are the best individuals to identify the exhibited / hidden required strengths /skills of their team members to be ignited. Based on this they take it further to cement inter dependency and trust among team members including self for learning from each other.  Thus allowing every individual and self  enough space for free flow of thoughts acceptable mutually.

Depending upon the pace of quantitative and qualitative challenges acceptable by every individual in the team the required input thru programs have to be in place with desired frequency for refreshing. 

team work creats syngeries mean 1+1=3 or 4 not 2 , team work enhabce problem solving and enhance innovation, communication  and learning  through out the team members and reduce cost in most of the cases if there is no negtive conflict

As a manager, you have leadership role. You can not achieve high level of success in your projects, if you subordinates are not working as a team. you are best person to create passion of team working in your subordinates because you know better about facts and figures of your work. In a team every one is helping each other to move forward towards the goal. There is no specific time to educate your subordinates about team building. ASAP you should do it. Create healthy learning environment and competition in your team but dont forget to recognise best in your team.