Team building: "If you don’t invest in it, you’ll still pay"

The helmets are on, the gloves are on and the route is carefully inspected. At the “Art of Cart“Race last weekend, company bosses and their employees raced through the Ottakringer brewery and fought in their karting teams for the trophy (an anatomically correct golden heart). It is a networking and team building event beyond compare. “Where else do you get to know colleagues or even customers with so much adrenaline and emotion?” asks the organizer Marcus Poscharnig. After all, for three days you see yourself in a certain exceptional state: sweaty, ambitious and almost euphoric.

That’s exactly what literally brings people together – and is one of the reasons why the event works, he says. “At a time when it is so difficult to find and retain employees, moments like these are worth a lot.” You can also see how employees react in demanding moments, what roles they take on and what dynamics arise.

But what advantages does team building really bring? Or is it overrated?

Less emails, more closeness

The Austrian wellness company Biogen was represented in the kart race with its own team. “We were a mixture of cooperation partners and colleagues,” says Julia HoffmannManaging Director of Biogena, who generally focuses on team building. “This strengthens cohesion and promotes collaboration,” she is convinced. Her entire team also comes together once a year at a resort for alpaca hikes, lasso classes, group yoga, and mocktail and cocktail workshops.

How do such events work? According to Julia Hoffmann, communication is changing: “There are significantly fewer emails being written. People immediately pick up the phone or go to their colleagues’ desks.” In her opinion, such direct communication channels alone are worth the effort. This makes you much more efficient and more goal-oriented in projects.

What brings cohesion

What brings Team building? Coach and consultant Christine Hoffmann-Schütz answers with a counter question: What is the point of a functioning team?

According to your observations, team building measures vary in effectiveness. In any case, team activities done right bring a boost to performance and innovation, she says. “Teams that have better cohesion have been proven to work much more efficiently. They have more psychological resilience.” This means that employees have higher job satisfaction and their stress is lower.

“If a team has strong cohesion, it can also deal better with difficult emotions because there is a clear group understanding, trust and psychological safety.”

If team building is successful, relationships could also be deepened and real friendships could develop. According to Gallup surveys, this leads to higher engagement and lower turnover. “We know each other’s strengths and dare to express criticism and ideas. This inspires creativity,” says the expert. On paper, good team building has unmistakable advantages. However, the key word here is “good team building,” she emphasizes.

When team building fails

In order for team building to be successful, the employer must first think about what it should achieve. “For example, if it’s about getting to know each other better and promoting communication, a brunch is actually enough. If it’s about creating meaning, it would be good to do something for a good cause as a team. And if you want to increase problem-solving skills, then an escape room is a good idea,” advises Christine Hoffmann-Schütz.

What she wouldn’t recommend are individual sports where everyone plays against everyone else. This promotes competition, but leaves little room for loyalty. “Unlike when you have to solve problems together in an escape room or row to the beat in a boat.” She would also advise against activities that involve alcohol. This leads to disinhibition, which in turn increases the risk of conflicts and border crossings. Poorly chosen measures can do more harm than good.

According to Hoffmann-Schütz, doing nothing at all is not a solution. “Companies that don’t invest in team building still pay – just somewhere else,” says the expert. Team building is not only a cost center, but also insurance against the most expensive source of conflict of all: ten to fifteen percent of working time in every company is spent on conflicts. For managers it should even be 30 to 50 percent of the working time.

Ideally, you organize two events a year. The expert dares to question whether a Christmas party can be considered team building: “Shared experiences bring you closer than just eating together. If you combine emotions with adrenaline, for example, it creates a stronger bond.”