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    Make A Team - More Like Break A Team+ Confusing Words

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    Zorana Orlic
    The document discusses how a team-building day organized by a manager had the opposite effect and instead broke the team apart. The day involved awkward dancing lessons, a chaotic collaborative lunch-making exercise, and an uncomfortable group meditation session. It ended with an activity that required team members to tell each other things they disliked about each other. As a result, the team has become reluctant to communicate and has been broken by the supposed team-building day.

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    Make A Team - More Like Break A Team+ Confusing Words

    Uploaded by

    Zorana Orlic
    39 views2 pages
    The document discusses how a team-building day organized by a manager had the opposite effect and instead broke the team apart. The day involved awkward dancing lessons, a chaotic collaborative lunch-making exercise, and an uncomfortable group meditation session. It ended with an activity that required team members to tell each other things they disliked about each other. As a result, the team has become reluctant to communicate and has been broken by the supposed team-building day.

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    Make a Team- More Like Break a Team+ Confusing Words

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    The document discusses how a team-building day organized by a manager had the opposite effect and instead broke the team apart. The day involved awkward dancing lessons, a chaotic collaborative lunch-making exercise, and an uncomfortable group meditation session. It ended with an activity that required team members to tell each other things they disliked about each other. As a result, the team has become reluctant to communicate and has been broken by the supposed team-building day.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    39 views2 pages

    Make A Team - More Like Break A Team+ Confusing Words

    Uploaded by

    Zorana Orlic
    The document discusses how a team-building day organized by a manager had the opposite effect and instead broke the team apart. The day involved awkward dancing lessons, a chaotic collaborative lunch-making exercise, and an uncomfortable group meditation session. It ended with an activity that required team members to tell each other things they disliked about each other. As a result, the team has become reluctant to communicate and has been broken by the supposed team-building day.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    MAKE A TEAM?

    MORE LIKE BREAK A TEAM


    Dear Managers everywhere,
    I know that managing a team isn't straightforward and you're endeavouring to do the
    best you can. Your team can sometimes be unaccommodating, fall out over the most
    trivial of things or just plain refuse to cooperate. When that happens, you definitely
    need to step in and take action. But let me tell you something – nothing, and I mean
    NOTHING, can break a team more than a team-building day. And here's why.

    Last month, my team manager decided my co-workers and I lacked cohesion as a


    team, so she organised a team-building day. It got off to a flying start with coffee and
    doughnuts at a high-class hotel. 1However, it was soon transformed into our worst
    nightmare. The first part of the day was dedicated to acquiring a new skill. For some
    reason known only to herself, our manager had decided that dancing would be that
    skill. As someone completely lacking in any sense of rhythm, my heart literally stopped
    at the prospect. Except for a few obligatory and extremely awkward moves on the
    dance floor at weddings, I'd never actually danced in public before. Not only that, but I
    was paired with the most naturally gifted dancer ever to grace the dance floor. Lucky
    me.

    For hours and hours, I slipped and stumbled through the routines, breaking all my
    partner's toes in the process and 2apologising a million times. I felt like we'd got on
    before the team-building day. Now I felt sure we'd never speak again.

    Lunch was a welcome respite. I was both parched and ravenous. However, we were
    led to the kitchen and instructed to conjure up our own meal in some kind of
    collaborative exercise. Let me tell you that it was less collaboration and more like a free
    for all for starving animals. I ended up with a few wilted lettuce leaves and one tomato.

    My body ached where I didn't know I even had muscles, so I was glad to hear that the
    afternoon activity would involve sitting down. That delight didn't last long. For 90
    interminable minutes, we sat cross legged on the floor in a circle, holding hands as part
    of a group meditation activity. The room was sweltering at around two hundred degrees
    and 3sweat dripped from our hands like a leaking tap. Nice. Within the first three
    seconds, my legs had died and I could no longer feel below my knee. Relaxation?
    More like torture.

    The final activity was the icing on the cake. We all had to tell each other something we
    didn't like about them. That's right – didn't like. I refused to participate, 4earning me a
    look from my boss so fiery that I thought I'd combust on the spot. Of course, I did
    get to hear about all the things that my colleagues loathe about me so that was great
    fun!

    So, what was the effect of our team-building day? We've basically gone from a team
    which used to get on to a decent degree, to one that reluctantly communicates through
    email when only absolutely essential. It's literally broken our team. So, managers, think
    about that the next time the words team and building go through your head at the same
    time.

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