Team building: a leadership tool to stimulate company growth

Most people in management positions in manufacturing have not participated in a team building program. However, these programs offer significant long-term benefits when leaders collaborate with teams to achieve their business goals. It’s important for leaders to break out of their silos and start working with their teams so they can solve the significant problems that are holding their business back from moving forward.

At Catalyst Connection, a nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh and part of the National MEP™ Network, we have worked with executives from small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) that are rare. When they meet, discussions often focus on financial news or achieving production goals.

These teams are missing an important opportunity to use team building as a powerful tool to drive business growth. During our Top Employer assessment—an in-depth, two-hour process of getting to know a company’s leadership and HR department—we often ask about their team-building methods. When we talk about “team building,” we’re not talking about the traditional confidence falls, pizza parties, or trips to the ball game. It’s about meaningful interactions in which team members learn more about themselves and each other, and how to work better with each other. Senior leaders often respond, “We need it.”

That’s why we launched a team building program based on the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team model and the Everything DiSC personality assessment to help build trust and accountability. The program provides information through a survey of company employees and individual personality assessments of managers. The program includes a two-day workshop where participants share personal stories and vulnerabilities, breaking down barriers. This helps members understand their teammates so they can provide more effective leadership to achieve shared goals and strategic initiatives. Teams using Five Behaviors training often see a 20 to 30 percent increase in productivity due to reduced conflict and better distribution of roles.

Why team building is a powerful approach for manufacturers

Team building is an effective strategic approach that can make a significant impact on your business. By building trust, improving communication, and increasing collaboration, team building can lead to a more engaged, productive, and successful workforce.

In our experience, we have seen companies become more productive and resilient in almost every area after building a team. Team building can have a significant impact on strategic initiatives. People often have personal agendas in strategic planning meetings. But once a company engages in team building, we will see strategic planning exercises become much more cohesive. Building a team can be a great starting point for a new employer branding initiative, such as developing an employee value proposition.

Results of a team building initiative often include:

• Improving corporate culture. Change in culture begins at the top level of any organization.

• Improved conflict resolution. Conflict is inevitable in any workplace. When you equip participants with constructive management and conflict resolution skills, they can turn potential obstacles into opportunities for growth.

• Improved engagement and morale. Employees who feel part of a cohesive team are more likely to be engaged in their work. When team members feel valued, respected and connected, morale improves.

• Increased productivity. A strong team can achieve more together than individuals working alone.

• Improved problem solving. Collaborative problem solving is a key skill developed during team building.

• Reduced staff turnover. A positive and supportive work environment can help retain top talent.

How does a team building program work?

Once a company has committed to building a team, we conduct an employee survey that identifies the team’s strengths and development opportunities. The Five Behaviors Model, created by Patrick Lencioni, is a proven, research-based assessment that measures performance by:

1. Trust

2. Conflict

3. Commitment

4. Accountability

5. Results

Team building participants complete DiSC assessments and receive a report that contains both their individual and survey data. This wealth of information formed the basis of a two-day workshop for seven to eight participants.

In the workshop, we discuss how the team deals with the Five Behaviors. In almost every case, surveys show that employees view lack of accountability as their biggest problem.

One of the goals is to build trust, and we often achieve this through questions and storytelling where participants can be open and vulnerable. Team members share personal stories and discuss DiSC failures. The team also discusses how they engage in conflict and agree on behaviors that need to change for the conflict to be productive.

The results of this two-day program vary depending on each company’s goals, but we are often asked to help develop common goals for all departments. Sometimes we are asked to help them create a team charter that outlines areas such as the company’s purpose, values, opportunities and risks. It includes formal and informal rules and expectations.

Once leadership team building is complete, some companies take the team building process down a level, spanning different departments. Some companies have created a team throughout the organization. This helps create a common language and shared expectations for effective teams.

When team building is a transformative force

Team building requires sharing. Generally speaking, we humans are hesitant to share sensitive information about ourselves because anything we share can be used against us and we are afraid of being judged. But it’s easier to show vulnerability when someone else has done it. When participants share their vulnerabilities through personal stories, team building can lead to transformation.

Sometimes people share deeply personal experiences, such as growing up in a difficult situation: struggling with poverty or overcoming addiction. By being open and honest, we can create a stronger sense of connection. These shared experiences can help build trust and belonging, which are necessary to form meaningful relationships. In our workshops, we often discover that people have more in common than they initially think. This is a key part of how team bonding can lead to genuine and lasting connections.

In a conflict resolution session, we often encounter the issue of not letting go of grievances that comes up in surveys and assessments. This often leads to an intense discussion between the two teammates, but this decision is a key achievement for moving the team forward.

By the end of the workshop, team members begin to understand each other’s behavior and can move from judgment to respect and then to appreciation of these differences. Sharing personal stories and vulnerabilities makes work-related challenges less daunting. The team becomes stronger and more confident in the next initiative.

How Team Building Leads to Sustainable Improvement

Team building seminars are just the first steps towards significant business improvement. At Catalyst Connection, we return to our manufacturing client companies once a month over the next year as an accountability partner to hear updates on goals and team collaboration. During these consultations, we compile and provide a progress report one year after the first workshop.

For example, some of our clients have implemented metrics to compare their company’s performance before and after our team building sessions, including:

• Revenue per employee

• Staff turnover

• Total costs per employee (labor, materials, energy, overhead)

• Employee satisfaction

Your local MEP center can help you with team building to create meaningful and authentic relationships between your management and staff, as well as with leadership development or other staff training needs. Contact us to start a conversation.

About the author

David Rea

David Rea is Managing Director of Organizational Development at Catalyst Connection, part of the national MEP network. He specializes in helping manufacturers optimize their workforce through best practices in recruiting, developing and retaining employees.