The Benefits of Long-Term Team Building Activities vs. One Day Events

You are planning the yearly team building activity for your company. It must be engaging, exciting, and worth all the money you are putting into bringing someone in to lead the exercise. But is it really worth it? Do the effects of one-off team building activities stand the test of time? Is your team made better by a one-day event? Should your company look into more long-term team building activities? 

Research shows that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill to a professional level. However, Josh Kaufman, a best-selling author and business owner, points out that not every skill needs this level of mastery. To master a skill to a satisfactory level for daily life, people need 20 hours. That is for one person learning one skill. You are looking to help a team of people work on building a variety of skills. It takes 20 hours for each skill you are working on. If your aim to help your team reach a satisfactory level in the skills you are trying to improve, it seems that one day will not get you there.

Core Skills in Team Building Activities

According to Indeed.com, the skills that effective team building activities seek to enhance are communication and collaboration, while also encouraging participants in the areas of trust and motivation. These skills and goals are not going to be mastered in an 8-hour event as convenient as that would be. Such complicated skills and feelings build over the long term. They must be regularly worked on over the course of time. Doing communication and collaboration exercises on 1 day out of 365 leaves 364 days of frustration for a team struggling in such areas, causing frustration for the team as well as management. Teams need support and reinforcement more frequently to build the skills than a one-time event can offer. 

Superior Long-Term Team Building Qualities

So, now what? Now you are realizing that although a one-time team building event may begin to work on skills your team needs, long-term team building activities are necessary for sufficient mastery of those skills. What should you look for in a long-term team building activities? The Indeed Editorial Team says you need an activity that offers opportunities for communication, for collaboration over competition, for building trust, and for increasing and maintaining motivation. It needs to be an activity with clear expectations that builds on previous knowledge and experience. It should also provide opportunities for feedback as well as promote socialization and networking, creativity, and leadership skills. That is a pretty large order when searching for long-term team building activities. What if there were a team building activity that encompasses all of those things? Not possible, you say. Inconceivable, you say. Well, Vizzini, get ready to become a believer.                   

Superior Long-Term Team Building Activity

So, you are now convinced of the benefits and qualities of a superior long- term team building activities and are looking for one all-inclusive activity that is exactly what your company or team needs. Look no further. Your long-term team building dreams can now be realized. What one long-term corporate training offers opportunities for communication and collaboration, builds trust, increases and maintains motivation, has clear expectations, builds on previous knowledge or experience, promotes socialization and networking, encourages creativity, and improves leadership skills with opportunities for feedback? Corporate Language Training.

Here at CORE Languages we offer superior long-term team building activities through second language instruction. Our instructors can conduct sessions remotely or in person. They can meet at a coffee shop or at your workplace. They offer individual and group sessions in the language of your choice. CORE instructors promote a safe learning environment that promotes trust, respect, as well as communication and collaboration. Our instructors offer engaging activities with clear expectations that promote high levels of motivation, build on previous knowledge and experience, promote socialization and networking, that also encourage creativity. Language students are given opportunities to improve leadership skills as well as provide feedback to CORE about their corporate language training experience. Ask our clients from Bosch, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Google about their experience with our long-term team building activities. Experience all the team building benefits that corporate language training offers today! 

For ideas for other out-of-the-box team building activities, read one of our past blog articles here.