Team-Building Exercise

Team-Building Exercise

A Process Problem at the Workplace

Our workplace experiences several communication issues that affect the process of work. Many counts of delayed information and misrepresentation of data have affected the employees’ performance. For example, failure in communication about the venue and location of a meeting translated to low attendance. Consequently, the absence of a quorum for the meeting caused its rescheduling and inability to meet the deadlines. Various procedures at the workplace also rely on the dissemination of information from different departments. Lapses in communication cause delays. For instance, last month, the financing department delayed communicating the budgetary amendments to the marketing department.

Specific tendencies and attitudes in the workplace contribute to the communication challenges in the institution. Some workers’ attitudes towards communication hinder interaction. For example, some members override the opinions of others during meetings and personal conversations. Passive listening is also a common phenomenon in the organization. Several people at the workplace listen to respond as opposed to understanding the context of the information. Others still have low skills in written communication. The content in some messages leaves more questions than answers. This challenge also creates an additional need for seeking clarification. The effect is the disruption of processes and the late completion of tasks, which is a great issue.

A Task-Oriented Problem at the Workplace

Delegation of responsibilities is also a significant problem affecting our organization. Several activities at the workplace require employees to perform specific roles that culminate in a larger project. The manager assigns duties to employees based on their job descriptions and expertise. However, some workers are usually unable to finish their tasks on time. Sometimes, the manager is overconfident about the ability of junior workers. He, therefore, delegates functions that pose a problem to the implementers. Other times, employees feel undervalued after being assigned unfavorable duties. Such differences affect the workers’ morale and the completion of tasks.

The lack of control measures during delegation also affects the assessment of performance during assignment (Pussewalage & Oleshchuk, 2017). Employees at our workplace sometimes abuse the absence of guidelines and supervision to avoid the early completion of responsibilities. Some workers are also opposed to delegation due to the fear of making mistakes. The lack of moral support and guidance from senior staff further aggravates the problem. New tasks pose a challenge to the personnel as employees who are assigned such responsibilities feel alienated from others. Delegation thus remains a significant issue at the workplace, and it affects productivity.

Team-Building Exercises

Team building is necessary for establishing cohesive groups. According to Bravo, Catalán, and Pina (2019), team building develops trust, cohesiveness, and participation among members of an organization. Team building activities also resolve communication issues in the workplace. The positive effects of team building could enhance productivity. Thus, team-building activities must cater to the specific needs of employees in the organization. Consequently, I have developed original team-building activities to resolve communication and delegation problems.

Dress-a-Mannequin Challenge

In the dress-a-mannequin challenge, workers will coordinate to dress a mannequin in the exact way as another. This activity will happen in four rooms. Room 1 will have a fully dressed mannequin with several accessories, including shirts, pants, shoes, and a hat. One employee will observe the mannequin from room 1 to master its dressing. The worker will then convey information about the dressing to an employee in room 2. The employees in room 2 will then convey this information to another worker in room 3. The worker in room 3 will then convey this information to the person in room 4.

The individual in room 4 is responsible for dressing up the second mannequin. Room 4 will comprise different clothes and accessories on a hanger. The fourth individual will use information from the third person to dress up the dummy. Any miscommunication between the four participants will result in the wrong dressing. The fourth participant is expected to coordinate and communicate effectively to dress up the mannequin. The activity is timed, and each team has five minutes to finish dressing up the dummy. In addition, communication between two participants is limited to three times.

In the end, the participants from rooms 1 and 2 will reveal their mannequins. The expected result is that the dressing on both mannequins is identical. The levels of similarities between the two mannequins will reveal the effectiveness of communication. The challenge will involve teams of employees who work in processes at the workplace. The activity is designed to test the quality of verbal communication among the participants. At the end of the competition, participants will deliberate on their achievements or shortcomings. The team-building activity will, therefore, resolve communication issues at the workplace.

Constructing a Secret Puzzle

Since delegation is a major challenge in the organization, the next team-building activity requires one participant to exercise the assignment of duties. The activity will occur in an open field. One participant, the group leader, will complete a hidden puzzle behind a bush by requesting specific pieces from his or her teammates. The teammates will deliver specific pieces upon the group leader’s request. The group leader will give specific instructions to guide the participants in search of pieces. Notably, the group leader must give unique instructions to every participant. These tasks should not be a case of two teammates looking for the same piece of the puzzle.

The activity will happen in groups of four, and each team will appoint a team leader to delegate duties. The other teammates will collect puzzles from one rubble. They will seek through the rubble to obtain the pieces requested by the group leader. The group leader is responsible for providing clarifications about the specific pieces. The team leader will then use these pieces to complete the puzzle without the help of teammates. The leader will reveal the puzzle after its completion. The team to complete the puzzle the fastest will win this challenge.

The puzzle in this team-building activity reflects the leader’s objectives. The pieces represent the specific tasks that employees fulfill to achieve the organization’s goals. The leader, therefore, delegates duties to his or her subordinates to realize an undisclosed objective. This team-building activity offers lessons about sharing objectives during delegation. In addition, it helps a leader to communicate clear responsibilities during delegation. The game also raises the importance of identifying the appropriate staff for implementing specific duties in an organization. Leaders who fail to coordinate their teams through delegation and communication are likely to fail this task.

A Single Picture by Different Painters

This team-building activity seeks to develop communication and delegation skills among the employees. Teams of six members will paint individual photos that will be combined into a single picture. The team-building activity comprises a single picture that is divided into six detachable parts. The team will first look at the picture before the team leader detaches it. The team leader will then assign teammates pieces of the picture to paint. The teammates will have thirty minimizes to draw pictures that resemble the pieces of the image. The drawings must also match the proportions of the image.

This activity attracts specific rules. First, a subordinate employee must lead each group. This process ensures the distribution of power in the organization. Second, the team leader is responsible for communication during this activity. The members are not allowed to consult during the task. Third, all the participants must submit their individual paintings after the stipulated time. Early or late submission is a violation of the rules. The group leaders will then collect and connect the different images to form the complete picture at the end of the exercise. Groups will then compare the original picture to those they made.

Different from the previous exercise on puzzles, the participants are aware of the group’s collective objective. The participants also understand their individual responsibilities and the effect on the overall group performance. Consequently, each participant tries the best to achieve the main objective of the group. Furthermore, the team leader can identify the individuals whose paintings delayed the achievements of the bigger picture. The task tests the participants’ ability to work in autonomy. It also challenges the group leaders’ communication abilities.

Factors that Encourage or Discourage the Execution of the Exercises

Several factors within organizations can make the execution process easy. The small size of groups at the workplace makes coordination easy. The small size of groups means that most participants will engage in the activities. Our organizational culture also encourages fun and work-life balance. Most of the employees are therefore used to recreation and outdoor activities. Consequently, most group members can support the team-building activities that involve the outdoors. Our company exists in a community that had a recreation park. The accessibility of the recreation park will enable the execution of the above activities. Most employees are also used to the park, which will create a relaxing environment. Executives at the organization are also keen to encourage new ideas. The thought of team-building activities is likely to receive support from the firm’s top members.

However, challenges that may sabotage the execution of team-building activities should be resolved. First, our workplace had the problem of groupthink. This issue causes people to follow similar directions without evaluating the consequences (Kaitlyn & Edward, 2019). Some participants are thus likely to agree to the team-building activities due to the conviction of their colleagues. Communication challenges can also affect the execution of team-building activities. A breakdown in communication can lead to confusion about the nature and intention of the team-building activities. Each activity also requires strong communication skills, and the absence of these skills can cause frustrations and conflicts. The lack of knowledge of the importance of team-building can also dissuade some workers from participating in the activities. These shortcomings can complicate the process of organizing and implementing the team-building activities. Solving such challenges ensures that employees acquire essential skills to embrace teamwork and achieve organizational goals.