Employers are taking new approaches to team-building activities designed to instill a sense of common purpose among employees, by making these experiences shorter and more intently focused on building relationships.

Team-building events are moving away from programs such as rock climbing, white-water rafting and cave exploring, "which can be physically demanding and high-stress. That type of thing worked for some but not for others," said David Lengyel, managing director of Phoenix-based Venture Up, which conducts team-building activities. "Clients were coming back and saying, 'We have 200 people, not 12, and four hours, not four days," he said.

A Business Purpose

"I'm a big believer in fun," Anne Thornley-Brown, president of Toronto-based Executive Oasis International, said. "A company where nobody ever laughs, plays or has a good time would be a dreary place, and I certainly wouldn't want to work there."

She warned, however, against HR putting time, money and effort into "activities that are strictly recreational and trying to pass them off as team-building."

Among the elements Thornley-Brown said are needed for a successful team-building event are:

• Clear business goals and objectives, such as encouraging innovative thinking and finding better ways to resolve conflicts, or preparing for a move or merger.

• Information on participants' learning styles and expectations for the event, as well as an understanding of their physical capabilities so that everyone can participate in a meaningful way.

• A willingness to invest time and money. "More companies are saying, 'We want two-hour team-building,' " Thornley-Brown said. But "two hours isn't enough, although there are activities you can complete in a half-day format."
   (There are exceptions: Lengyel said a well-organized two- to four-hour team-building activity often fits into a longer event such as a strategic retreat, "so we're reinforcing discussions about showing initiative and finding creative solutions, for instance, or setting the stage for what they'll address later that day or the next morning.")

• A good match in the activity, the site and the size of the group. Teams in a competition generally should be kept to six to eight people. An event such as a map-reading challenge in a forest park might work for a group of 20 that can be split into smaller teams. But holding the same challenge for a group of 100 would likely lead to groups continually bumping into each other.

• A site visit ahead of time to eliminate surprises, such as the discovery that anchor points on zip-line courses are at a fine height for children, but not for adults who haven't been up in a tree for decades.

Thornley-Brown offers additional pointers in her e-book Team Building, Innovation, and ROI: An Executive's Guide to Boosting the Bottom Line.

Everybody Participates

Though the popularity of physically intense activities such as rope courses and climbing walls has waned, some physical activity is still a part of many team-building events. Ross Garner, program assistant at the Peak Adventures Challenge Center in Sacramento, Calif, said that everyone who comes to a team-building activity at the center must participate in some manner.

"If somebody does not have the ability to complete a physical task, they can be the 'director' who is charged with helping others to complete the objective," Garner said. For example, in a competition in which blindfolded participants make their way through an obstacle course, the director gives instructions to guide them.

Thornley-Brown has coordinated horseback riding events and takes a similarly inclusive approach. "For people who are afraid to get on a horse, you can involve them in tacking and grooming and cheering people on," she said.

[SHRM members-only toolkit: Developing and Sustaining High-Performance Work Teams]

Take-Away Lessons

Whatever activities one might choose for team-building, an assessment that ties the event back to business goals is necessary if the time spent is to be worthwhile.

After the activity ends but while still onsite, ask participants to comment on what they did or something they saw, Garner recommended. If it's a climbing competition, for instance, "it's not just the climbing that sticks with people, it's the encouragement climbers received from the rest of the team."

A method Thornley-Brown uses to encourage communication as an activity concludes is to re-configure teams and then have the participants share their insights with one another. "Each new team includes one person from each original team, which means everybody gets to listen and everybody gets to present," she said.

Greg Goth is a freelance health and technology writer based in Oakville, Conn.

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