Teamwork is Not Built in a Workshop

As the economy begins to breathe again companies will focus on improving the teamwork in their organizations.

It's important to remember that teamwork is never, ever established in a one-day seminar. Seminars and workshops are useful for improving understanding of a topic and for seeing what needs to happen and why it needs to happen. This can include interactive activities that might feel like teamwork, but they are actually just a mechanism for explaining what needs to happen in order to have true teamwork.

Teamwork occurs when a group of people support one another toward fulfilling a meaningful purpose. All parts of that statement are important in the final actualization of a team. In the end, five key questions need to be answered:

• Which individuals will constitute the group?
• What is the purpose that the group is working to fulfill?
• What can the individuals do to support one another on the road to fulfilling that purpose?
• Do the individuals actually step forward and provide that support for one another?
• Is there real progress being made toward fulfilling the desired, agreed-upon purpose?

These questions are answered over time, not in an excercise during a workshop. The workshop can help the attendees understand what questions need to be answered and possibly spur the individuals into action after it is over with. But the real work of teamwork happens back at the work site, not in the hotel ballroom.