Teambuilding Leads to Team Disintegration
My company bosses, in their infinite wisdom, recently put myself and a group of my workmates on a teambuilding camping trip. The exercise has resulted in two of my workmates leaving and one is currently facing disciplinary action.
Although attendance on the teambuilding event was not compulsory many signed up out of fear that non-attendance would not be good for their careers. There was a packed itinerary including archery, kayaking, climbing and orienteering. But things began to quickly go downhill soon after our arrival.
There had clearly been a major breakdown in communication as many people apparently had not been told what they needed to bring along. Many people had turned up without sleeping bags and some had even omitted to bring any proper outdoor clothes.This prompted some arguments between some of my colleagues and a small group decided it was time for lunch at a local bar.
The organizers had provided all of the essential camping equipment including optional tents, hammocks and tarpaulins, ideal for the hardier, experienced campers. I chose the log cabin option as this was comfortably fitted out with proper beds.
When my colleagues came back from the bar they had clearly had too much to drink. An orienteering exercise had been arranged for the afternoon that would take us out into the local woods. The organizers had set up a treasure hunt that would see us cover around 6 miles, following clues and instructions as we reached each checkpoint. The group who had just returned from the pub weren’t keen on the exercise and instead chose to to carry on drinking from a bottle of whiskey that one of them had bought.
When the evening rolled around it was time for us to cook our dinner over the camp fire. They provided a selection of raw ingredients for our supper including several chickens and a range of vegetables. The menu was clearly not to the liking of a few of my colleagues who decided that they would prefer pizza so they got on the phone to a delivery service in a nearby village. This prompted the orgnisers to call a meeting with all of the attendees to make certain we all knew what was expected of us.
Things went from bad to worse, largely fuelled by alcohol. The group who had chosen to go for a liquid lunch had missed the opportunity to choose bunks in the log cabin so they were expected to sleep in the tents. This didn’t go down well and several said that they would prefer to go to a hotel. When one of the organisers pointed out that this was outside the spirit of teambuilding they became quite belligerant and one even threatened the organisers.
This resulted in several people who were unhappy with the exercise packing up and going home. Those of us who stuck around had a really excellent time but the organisers will not be inviting us back.
This sorry tale should serve to remind managers that you really need to be certain that you get the buy-in of everybody who attends a teambuilding exercise like this. It’s also important to ensure that everybody knows what is expected of them and what they will get out of the exercise.
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