The Value of Team Building

Building strong relationships at work, better known as team building, is important. Team building in a small, fast paced, high-pressure software company is critical; it helps provide a foundation to create a sustainable, high-performing company. Last week I participated in my first Nomadesk team-building event with our European office and once again, I was convinced that the value of such events far outweighs the minimal investment.

The team building exercise (organized by Lesley, our superstar Office Manager) consisted of a Vespa tour (every employee riding their own Vespa) from Brugge, Belgium to the coast, a mussel lunch (we were served a bucket of mussels each and most of us ate them all!), sailcarting on the beach, and a great dinner.  It was an entire day and we smiled, laughed, and competed with each other in a social setting away from the office.

There is something about scooting on a Vespa or navigating a sailcart that triggers a permanent smile. The sailcarts added risk and uncertainty as flying across the beach at 50kph seems very fast, especially when you must turn on a dime and hope you don’t flip your cart.  I did come in first in the final sailcart race (since I was allowed to ride with the instructor, a former professional racer, so it wasn’t quite fair).

My quick review of the sailcart experience…

For the record, I was initially paired with Lesley (before joining forces with the instructor) and learned a quick lesson.  Do not let someone learn how to steer a sailcart while going 50kph, as we switched duties (me to rope and Lesley to steering), and it resulted in running through 4 feet of ocean water. We got soaked and laughed so hard we had to stop just to catch our breath! I still have a hard time believing Steven and Kenny (two of our super Developers) got wet on purpose, as they claim, and yes, I was a little jealous that Dustin (product UX and Designer) got the fast Vespa.  Kenneth (our newest employee, Developer) gets points for being the only one to try sail-carting alone, and Daisy (Inside Sales) was wise to abandon John’s (SVP of Marketing) crazed need for speed.  Filip (founder, GM EMEA) and Peter (founder, COO) made for a very fast team that obviously knows how to work well together, and Nico and Bart (two more of our super Developers) win most improved as they went from slowest to quite speedy. The main lesson from sail carting for me – ‘stealing wind’ – as you could easily witness the difference of gaining access to the wind before others.

I expect the bonds formed while on the Vespa’s and in the sale carts will transfer to a stronger, more trusting team in the office. These events are too frequently overlooked as frivolous and without a measurable ROI. That view is shortsighted and flawed.  Real “people” time is invaluable.  It allows for the development or strengthening of relationships and trust.  I believe this is the foundation of high performing teams.

I constantly focus on improving the overall quality and teamwork of the Nomadesk company.  This has been a great year for Nomadesk thanks to the years of hard work put in by an exceptional group of people. Our success makes it especially timely to get out of the office and use the time to recharge and share a few laughs.  As I’m apparently known for being demanding, the pressure can sometimes create tension amongst employees, so these events can help the team recognize that in the end, we all want to work for a successful company with people we enjoy.

My take – we had a great time and memories we will surely keep with us for a long time.  It gave us time with our team that was worth every penny.  Next outing is a ski trip tied to 2011 performance, we can’t wait…