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Efficacy of outdoor team building exercises [OB Digest - 25 Oct 2009 to 26 Oct 2009 ]

  • 1.  Efficacy of outdoor team building exercises [OB Digest - 25 Oct 2009 to 26 Oct 2009 ]

    Posted 10-27-2009 09:30
    Hi Olga -
    I've used experiential outdoor team exercises (high & low "ropes", challenge courses, etc) as both a trainer in my former life and in college classrooms and have found their value to be correlated with their fit with strategy, extent of planning, appropriate facilitation, and follow up.

    First and foremost, student groups, like managers, should use team building opportunities in a manner which fits their unit's purpose, in line with strategy, etc. Essentially this demands that a training needs assessment be conducted, taking into account the group purpose, norms, members, resources, stage of development, and so on. At the most basic level, some groups might benefit from an emphasis on problem-solving, others need a stiff challenge, and in some situations the group may benefit from simple recreation (which assumes the members will see this as something 'fun').

    Facilitators chosen for their particular expertise consult with the manager (or course instructors) in advance, then conduct the experience in line with the preset goals. Managers/ instructors must be prepared to appropriately follow up in multiple ways over a planned period.

    Good empirical research on the efficacy of team-building is hard to come by, considering the embedded nature of the teams and difficulty in measuring. However, you might check the Association of Experiential Education (& its journal), the Journal of Management Education, or similar sources.

    On the practical level, there is a 2006 HBR article ("Offsites That Work" by Frisch & Chandler) that outlines some of the planning process. For an example of planning an exercise series in line with strategy, I'm attaching an article published with colleagues in JABE:
     Gove et al (2005). Experiencing strategy: A multi-exercise program. Journal of the Academy of Business Education, 6(2): 90-110.
     
    Best of luck in your search!



    Mark Clark, Assoc. Professor
    Kogod School of Business, American University
    Washington, D.C. (202) 885-1873
    www.american.edu/kogod/faculty/maclark.cfm

    -----Organizational Behavior Division Listserv <OB@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU> wrote: -----
    > ----- Message from Olga Clark <OClark@HARTFORD.EDU> on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:32:31 -0400 -----
    >
    > Subject: Efficacy of outdoor team building exercises
    >Dear Colleagues,
    >Has anyone had experience implementing Outdoor/experiential/adventure training or has references on the
    >efficacy of outdoor team building exercises (or the lack of it)? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
    >
    >Regards, Olga Clark
    >Assistant Professor/ Director,
    >Master of Organizational Psychology Program,
    >University of Hartford Phone: 860.768.4045
    >http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/PSYCH/PROGRAMS/org/