Team Building with TILIT

Team building is crucial for fostering strong connections and achieving your organization’s goals with a shared vision. Much like a good uniform, committing to time for your team to connect ultimately leads to higher levels of collaboration, productivity, and overall success. Here are some tips for creating a meaningful team building experience.

Put connection building at the center

• It’s easy to put goal setting at the forefront during these experiences, but without your team members feeling connected to you and each other, you won’t get very far after this day has wrapped.
• Allow for space for your team to get to know each other beyond their role in your organization. Think of activities that encourage storytelling – as simplistic as asking everyone to share their dream last meal to playing Two Truths & a Lie.
• Create at least one opportunity to break bread – can be breakfast, lunch, a snack break, or dinner. This gives everyone both a chance to relax and chat more casually

Prepare!

• Spend time thinking about the “why” – why you’re setting aside this time with your team – and have this written down so you can clearly articulate it to everyone in attendance.
• Map out what you’re hoping to accomplish in the coming weeks, months, or years ahead. What goals do you need to make sure the team is on board to support you in achieving? Ideally, these should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Cultivate psychological safety & respect.

• It’s important that everyone who’s participating feels comfortable sharing their ideas and thoughts. 
• One way to do this is by establishing shared ground rules for behavior, such as “technology aside except during breaks”, “everything that’s discussed stays within the room”, or “be cognizant of not talking over others”. 
• You might also have everyone take a personality test like PrinciplesYou in advance of the experience and give everyone the opportunity to share what they’ve learned about themselves and how that relates to their role and their team. This both creates connection and builds respect around each other’s strengths, areas of opportunity and, ultimately, their humanity.

Co-create next steps and takeaways

• To have this experience extend beyond the hours you’ve scheduled it for, make sure there are clear next steps and takeaways. The value in these co-created with the participants is gaining their buy-in and commitment.
• Return to the goals you initially presented and start with creating collective commitments: “What will you need to do as a team to get to where you want to go? How will you need to show up? What might get in your way?”
• Then have each person set individual commitments. Have each person share aloud so that the individuals feel a real sense of ownership and their peers can support them.

Together, let us strive for excellence, foster resilience, and cultivate a spirit of camaraderie that defines our community. Here's to a future filled with prosperity, growth, and unwavering dedication to our shared passion for hospitality.

To connect with Sam, please feel free to do so directly at hi@samappel.com, @samappel on Instagram, or her website  (www.samappel.com).