The Leadership Vision Podcast
The Leadership Vision Podcast is about helping people better understand who they are as a leader. Our consulting firm has spent 25 years investing in teams so that people are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. Our podcast provides information to help you develop as a leader, build a positive team culture, and grow your organization to match the demands of today’s business landscape. We leverage client experience, research-based leadership models, and reflective conversations to explore personal growth and leadership topics. With over 350,000 downloads from 180+ countries, our podcast shares our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture.
The Leadership Vision Podcast
Are Your Team-Building Efforts Actually Effective?
Have you ever participated in a team-building event that felt like a waste of time? This episode explores how to make team building meaningful—with clear strategy, research-based approaches, and customized solutions. Plus, we update our insights to reflect today’s hybrid work reality and evolving employee expectations.
🎧 Listen in as we discuss:
✔️ The four biggest team-building mistakes
✔️ Why one-off events don’t work
✔️ How to make team investment last
✔️ The role of strategy, research, and customization
💡 Whether you lead a small team or a large organization, these principles will help you build stronger, more connected teams.
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Read the full blog post here!
CONTACT US
- email: connect@leadershipvisionconsulting.com
- Leadership Vision Online
ABOUT
The Leadership Vision Podcast is a weekly show sharing our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture. Contact us to talk to us about helping your team understand the power of Strengths.
At some point we've all been part of a team building activity that felt like a waste of time. Maybe it was a trust fall gone wrong or an awkward escape room, or maybe it was an expensive offsite that led to zero real change but just spent a lot of money. But you know, when done right, investing in your team it can actually create lasting impact. It can build trust, it can just be a lot of fun and actually improve the way that your team works together. That's why we're going to re-release here today an episode from 2022, it's a little over three years old where we actually break down how to make team building meaningful, purposeful and effective and maybe a little fun. The principles that we shared then are just as relevant today Honestly, maybe even a little more so.
Speaker 1:As you're probably aware, and as your organization continues to rethink how it engages and develops their teams, we just thought we'd put this out there as an additional resource. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Freeberg and this is the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture, and, if you stick around to the end of this episode, we'll actually share just some updates and reflections, if you will, on this conversation and some tips about how you can apply these ideas to your team right now. So let's jump in. Brian Linda, happy new year.
Speaker 2:Happy new year.
Speaker 1:How long can you say that hey, we're still happy and it's still happy new year, happy new year. How long can you say that?
Speaker 2:Hey, we're still happy, it's still a new year. Okay, it's still the new year.
Speaker 1:Brian has a cold of some kind.
Speaker 2:I have some kind of head cold. It's not COVID.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you feel the need because I do to like always tell people oh, it's not, covid.
Speaker 3:Yes, I do.
Speaker 1:We had some colds over Christmas.
Speaker 3:It's a very important distinction to make.
Speaker 1:I don't want people getting COVID through the podcast, but I'm glad Brian is. I have a mask on my mic.
Speaker 2:I don't think this wind, sock thing is medical grade.
Speaker 3:Do you know what a wind sock is?
Speaker 1:Yeah, not wind sock. It is not a wind sock. Do you know what?
Speaker 3:a wind sock is, yeah, not windsock. It is not a windsock. Do you know what a windsock is?
Speaker 1:Yeah, like that thing that you put on the top of your barn. No, that's a weather vane.
Speaker 3:No, that's a weather vane.
Speaker 1:All right, we're getting off topic really quick. Here You're getting off topic Team building.
Speaker 2:I am.
Speaker 1:Team building. Don't invest in expensive trust falls. Wait, linda. In Alaska was it Years and years ago.
Speaker 3:I thought it was at some camp.
Speaker 2:I think it was at a camp.
Speaker 3:When were we staying next to a campfire?
Speaker 2:Regardless never joke about doing a trust fall, because Nathan will just fall on you.
Speaker 1:I thought, that we were all on the same page and I just turned around, crossed my arms and my chest and did a trust fall and Linda did not catch me.
Speaker 2:But you landed.
Speaker 1:You work I did.
Speaker 1:I did so. All the examples I gave in that intro uh, we were joking because we've done all of those as different parts of, like, our work at leadership vision. But I really think that the point of this podcast is to talk about, like, how do you, how do you make something like that purposeful, how do you make it meaningful, how do you not make it a waste of everyone's time? Because I've also done all those activities for different non-leadership vision things that I'm like, all right, this is maybe fun, but it's pointless. It's like has nothing to do with anything. We're paying way too much for this. I did this ropes course that I want to tell you where it was not leadership vision, and we spent the majority of the time trying to convince one of the people on the team just to go across the first like low rope thing, and then we went home and like what was the point of that?
Speaker 3:It was not it was not very much.
Speaker 1:Do you guys have experience Obviously not leadership vision of just like team building stuff that you're like? Why are we doing this? Why do we spend money on this?
Speaker 2:Well, oftentimes, no matter what it is, if it hasn't been set up well, it hasn't been framed, if you don't know the objective or the purpose of it, then it just becomes this activity that you could do with. Maybe people you like a lot more Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right Like family or whatever else. Totally, completely, and I think that's, that's what it's a point, a point of frustration for me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for me, the one team building event that I was at that is this horror story. Memory of mine is it was a winter team building retreat in northern Minnesota and it was absolutely freezing. It was by one of the major lakes here. I hated every minute of it and my takeaway memory was I went running on the lake and fell in oh my gosh Up to my waist in ice water.
Speaker 1:Okay, as part of the team building, or was that your own little no?
Speaker 3:that was my own little team building, but most of the team building was spent at really bad diners eating food.
Speaker 1:So it was all food based. It just seems pointless. And kind of on the flip side is, sometimes I've done team building activities that have been actually awesome. They've been a lot of fun, it's been meaningful, and it feels like we're all rah, rah, gung ho, ready to go back and, you know, conquer the world, and then get back to the office on Monday and it's almost like nothing at all has happened and that feels equally as pointless. So where do we go from here? Brian?
Speaker 3:Well, one of the things that I'd like for us to briefly talk about is some of the fears and concerns that I think anybody is facing when they're contemplating whether or not they should do some team building. And over the years that we've been doing this, we hear these all the time, and I think that if we just mention a few of these, maybe our listeners can identify or connect with some of those fears themselves.
Speaker 1:So, briefly, we've got these four things we've identified. One is just, it's a waste of time. The second one is that people like don't even know where to start. Maybe they're like team issues are so complex and just multi-layered they just don't know what to do. The third one is around accountability, and so there's no real way to keep people accountable to some of the stuff they're doing. And then the fourth one is around like actually making change stick and making kind of lasting long term cultural transformation beyond some sort of you know rah rah experience. So the first one here is wasting time, which I think we know is everyone's first thought when they hear the word team building or, you know, team offsite. Talk more about that.
Speaker 3:Brian, wasting time is everyone's concern. You have the person who is creating this opportunity and they're wondering to themselves am I wasting people's time? And I'm going to guarantee you that everybody who gets the invite in their calendar that there's a team building day coming up is thinking to themselves this better not be a waste of time, so I can think of all the ways to use my time differently than going to do some team building. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Unless there's been a proven, you know, activity that hasn't been a waste of time. But I think that's how people evaluate. Is this will this waste my time or will this lead to something else?
Speaker 3:And it's hard to know. It's hard to know how much time to spend, whether you should spend an hour, six hours and virtually what is the capacity. Time is really a difficult challenge.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a very valuable commodity. Which brings us to our second one, that leaders. I've talked to a lot of leaders that they don't even know where to start. Like their team's, issues, problems, whatever you want to call it are just so complex. They just feel even before they get to the idea about wasting time. Linda, unpack that one a little bit more.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I think when you don't know where to begin, you say, okay, how do we get a trust ball in here? And sometimes knowing where to start is getting clear with the purpose of what the team building exercise or event or conference will be. And so sometimes knowing where to start is getting that purpose statement, getting clear about the objective or what you actually want from a takeaway, and then reverse engineering it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then the third hurdle or issue is around accountability. I mean, kind of like my example, how many of us have gone to stuff and then you get back and nothing changes. So what is the, I guess, the crux of this issue?
Speaker 3:I think accountability is someone's fear that the person organizing this is going to have to do all the work to keep the change going. And there's oftentimes few people that are thinking through how the change is actually going to last, because the ongoing change, that level of accountability, is internal. So how do you keep the change sustained? That's a person's real big concern.
Speaker 1:Which then leads us right to the fourth hurdle is needing that change to six. So you know, if I think about I want to do a team building activity that's going to lead to transformation, beyond this kind of temporary mountaintop rah-rah thing, I'm like, oh man, that seems like too much work, that's not going to happen. I don't even start. So how do you address that, Linda?
Speaker 2:I start to think about the levels of engagement between people. And so if people in a team building event are saying, okay, well, I need to get to know my colleagues and I'm going to let them get to know me, we've seen people come to us and say I need this to be sustainable. And what they're saying is I want something that will transcend the actual day or moment when we're together, so that people just don't ride a high, people don't just rely on the facilitator, but rather they take the components that they've learned and can make it applicable right away. And so if you just want to feel good event, that's one thing and maybe that is an objective for some people, but if you want some lasting change, there's some maybe different questions or different objectives to tackle and to name.
Speaker 3:Oftentimes a person's fear isn't around. Can we sustain the change it's if the change is too big, and sometimes the ability for a person to really understand how change is going to stick is also going to be determined by their ability to break that change down into smaller steps that can be accomplished in shorter periods of time.
Speaker 2:People rely on something or some external event or project that just by doing it like having a dinner together, will promote some kind of investment in the team. But if you haven't seated people appropriately, you haven't given them a topic to think about, to talk about, to interact with, or given them roles and responsibilities. A lot of times this just becomes an effort that people forget or are frustrated by.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's very true. And what I want to do with the rest of our time, and spend most of our time here talking about, is the three things that I think we have found that make team building activity, that make, you know, real change, that make accountability, all that actually stick. And we're going to talk, obviously, about leadership vision, but these are really things that I think, whatever sort of team building you do, if it's you know, find a book at the bookstore, find a different consultant, like sort of independent from us, but I also think we do a really really good job at it. Those the three things are clear strategy. You got to have a clear strategy. You know what you're doing. Going in. It's got to be based in research and it has to be customized to meet the needs of your team. So, linda, I see that hand, you want to go first.
Speaker 2:Yes, I do, cause this clear strategy is at the heart of everything and it, linda, I see that hand. You want to go first. Yes, I do, because this clear strategy is at the heart of everything and it's what I've been saying as we've started, and that is how do you engage your team around some specific content and how is it not just a one-shot deal, but it's consistent over time and the activities lead to teams aligning more on purpose, teams really getting to know each other, and sometimes the strategy emerges and sometimes it is just following a map. What would you say about clear strategy?
Speaker 3:I'm thinking of many levels here.
Speaker 2:Okay, go for it.
Speaker 3:Team development isn't a strategy. Team development or team building is part of a larger strategy, and so when you think about strategy, lean back and look at the whole board, Look at the entire playing field. What's actually going on and how does team development fit within that larger strategy? Development fit within that larger strategy, Because many people don't understand how the team development is going to fit in, because it may have just been on their calendar or we're going to do 14 development days in this next calendar year, one per quarter, but it isn't tied in anywhere and there's no greater shortcuts of failure than team development. That's not cut into the larger strategy of the organization.
Speaker 3:I was just talking to one of our clients this morning about the strategy that we're creating for them for the next two years and it's and our work is clearly cut into the strata of the larger organizational strategy. So we know where it fits, we know how it fits, we know how it's part of their organizational change. And that's where the clarity comes from, Because sometimes I believe that we're looking into the teen development for the clarity itself and I'm asking us to step back and say where does a teen development fit into the larger organizational strategy? Because teen development is going to last if it's part of a larger fabric. It's not the golden thread that people are looking for that's going to lead them to this golden end. That's just not how this works.
Speaker 2:Well, and in a lot of our work, our strategy is that it is helping people over time. So stretching out eight hours over the course of a month or two months so that people dip back into the content. Two months so that people dip back into the content, they dip back into the cadence of learning how to interact and talk with each other.
Speaker 3:Because when you understand all that, where it fits in the larger strategy and how to cut it in, then you can begin to think about what specifically needs to happen within the teen development. Because we're not downplaying the importance of karaoke or any kind of like ropes course or anything like that. That is very tactile. We're not downplaying that. But what we are saying is let's think into how those activities can fit into the larger strategy and then that will determine how we're going to make the applications within any team building event because when we hear people say what's the point of this?
Speaker 2:we better, better have an answer.
Speaker 3:We have to have an answer.
Speaker 2:Yep, and a lot of times it's. Maybe it's this part is just the relational part or this part is the intentional part. This part links back to a goal of you just getting to know each other better, so that you are talking about conflict in the absence of conflict and not when you know the pressure is on.
Speaker 3:It's just a great question to ask when does this and by this I mean where does what we are doing today or what we're planning on? How does that fit into the larger strategy of either my area, my department, my company? How does it fit?
Speaker 1:Right, because, I mean, I think about how many times we've been contacted by someone said, hey, we want to do team building. It's like, okay, well, what's what's the point? Yeah, why? Versus hey, we want to have a team that embodies you know XYZ characteristics and then you build you know a team building strategy out of those things. Out of those things? I was recently listening to a podcast with author James Clear talking about habits, and rather than saying you know, I want a fitness goal, so I'm going to do X, y, z, it's like, well, what would the type of person that I want to become? What would they do? Well, they would probably eat this way or move this way, or whatever, and not just this way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, thank you. I appreciate that, brian.
Speaker 1:But you're right. I like what you said, brian, because team building is not an end in itself. It has to fit as a part of a larger organizational strategy. The consistently over time piece of it, too, I find interesting because, much like habits, for whatever your end goal is, you're not going to do a team building Again I'm using a lot of air quotes for those listening and then be done and you're solved right. You're not going to have a 30 day fitness goal and then just be done and be fit for the rest of your life. You have to. You know the end date is forever, which which can be daunting. But how do you, how do you get people into that mindset?
Speaker 2:It is introducing new habits and you don't just keep doing the same habits. That's why it's just our brains even want to take us back to that point that makes us feel comfortable. This is just what I do, and it's almost like you have to give people a compelling reason to get beyond it, to say I want a habit that will lead me to be that fit person or whoever I'm imagining.
Speaker 1:Or the trusting team member, the clear communicator, the patient, you know, coworker.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so good, so something that we've done. So number two is is research based. Your team development efforts need to be based in some sort of research. I don't remember the number, it was in the quintillions.
Speaker 1:If you Google team building, if you Google team, building there's a lot of research and I research might be loose, because some of the stuff I found was not research, but it came up into that. We've worked with a team or two over the years, and what is some of the research that we've found? Or well, let me back up. Why is it important to be research-based in your team building efforts and strategies?
Speaker 3:I want to address two different things here, nathan.
Speaker 3:I'm not sure how it's going to fit, but on this topic of research-based, there are two things I like for us to talk about.
Speaker 3:One is our approach to being research-based and also our client, because with our client, I ask questions about what do they know about their own circumstance, and so the research is focused on themselves. What do you know to be true? How long has this challenge been going on? What do you know about your individuals? What do you know about how a team responds to time-oriented change? How much do you know about your own context? Because that's only going to be helpful information for yourself as to know what type of team building or team development you actually need. It's also going to help orientate us to the types of team building activities or the depth to which a client might go based upon your own research. Many times, people look to us and ask us the questions about what do we know about them? Well, we don't know anything about you. That's the kind of research or learning or curiosity-based questions that we'll be asking you to have the answers for.
Speaker 2:When I look at all the teams that we have worked with, as teams have been configured and then reconfigured, it's thousands of teams that we've worked with, actually, because every time there's a new person, or every time someone leaves, there's a new team dynamic new person. Or every time someone leaves, there's a new team dynamic. And the research that we do with our clients is we gather all these different data points and we keep track of them and we start to notice some of the themes that are emerging with teams, and some of it is. Maybe it's a really emotionally charged culture, Maybe facts and pieces of data are really important for this group to make decisions. So we start to pay attention to what we're picking up from all these different teams and then we're saying, hey, you know what you sound like, a different team that we worked with, wow, and we start to pay attention to that.
Speaker 2:So we have this dearth of research that we have done, and then I think you know, brian, and I, nathan, you too like we are always reading, paying attention to what are the new trends, what are the pieces of research that other professionals research scientists, people that are practitioners, what they are seeing in the world. And then it's what Brian was saying too. It's the have you done research on your own organization, on your own team, on your own family, to know what is it that you need, and does that fit into, maybe, a category that we have seen and identified and addressed in our history at Leadership Vision?
Speaker 1:And I think that flows into the third one here, this idea of creating custom solutions, because you're right, we do research on our clients before we say, oh, this is what we suggest you use. You know if anyone's had, like you know, custom cabinets built or some sort of custom something built and you get to, you know, design it to your specifications in the way that you actually use the thing. A number of years ago my wife and I were going to redo our basement and we presented like here's what we want to do, and then a designer came in and totally customized it for us and realized, oh, wow, cause he like sat down and was like, well, what do you want to do here? What are your goals? How are you going to be living in this space? And so many times we'll look at each other and be like I cannot believe we thought that this wall should have been here.
Speaker 1:Blah, blah, blah. So we didn't know what we didn't know. But had he not researched our family, talked with us, asked us all these questions and then brought his education and his experience, and I think we do a great job of that. So maybe talk a little bit about that, from both how we do it. But then also, if you're going to kind of do your own thing, how do you find a custom solution for your team? Linda?
Speaker 2:Well, I start to think about yeah, we have a strategy and after we, you know, talk to our clients, we name that strategy and it's based on the research we are able to draw from our work on all these teams and the 50,000 individuals that we've had conversations with and all of a sudden, we realized sometimes they need a custom solution and sometimes they need us to be adaptive in some ways. Like everything is changing now what can you do? Oh, like we were all in person. Now we're all remote, so what can you do? Virtually, and there's oftentimes ways that we will present and provide custom solutions that are just they're minor adaptations and they still link to the strategy, but they don't necessarily look the same.
Speaker 3:And, like in your example, nathan, that's a great one with remodeling, because that is the exact approach that we take. We are not advocating that we bring the custom solution. We are arriving at the custom solution based upon your desire, based upon your dream, what your outcome is. We spend so much of our time asking clients to be clear with themselves on what it is that they want to accomplish, what their expectations are, and then we can help design something to become custom to what it is that they want to accomplish, what their expectations are, and then we can help design something to become custom to what it is that they specifically need.
Speaker 2:I remember talking to a client that we had, that we'd done work with, and then she was doing some reflection and I said I know it kind of feels like we're reactive sometime and she said, linda, you are not reactive, you are responsive, and so, exactly so you're giving us what you need. And so oftentimes it's like we have all the tools, we have all the data, we have everything that we need, we have the strategy, the objectives, but then the point in time of, okay, what is it that you really need? What does this group really need to achieve the goals?
Speaker 3:this group really need to achieve the goals. We want the people that ask us for help to dream into the best possible solution that they can dream up, and we want to be a collaborator in helping make that dream a reality. That's part of what I really enjoy about our work is some of those first conversations with a client when we're just dreaming into what a solution could possibly look like, because we know that that's one of the things that we excel in is the ability to create something unique and specific just for that individual client, built on a platform that we've tried and tested for years now.
Speaker 1:And, you know, if you think about the title of this podcast or I think it's going to be wondering if your team investment efforts are effective. You know, I'm sure we can all think about that time in our life when we have, you know, wanted to make a purchase of something and we just go with the off the shelf option that really doesn't meet our needs. You know, maybe for a time it was great. You know, we buy the cheapest computer and then realize, oh, I actually needed more hard drive space. Or we get the custom cabinets from, you know, or Ikea or whatever, and realize, oh, I've got this huge gap now in the kitchen.
Speaker 1:And sometimes I think, if we just sit down and think through all of these things, while it might be more of an investment initially, ultimately it gets to where you want to be and I think if I could help encourage people or challenge people or thinking about, you know, so it's the beginning of 2022, we want to invest in our team, but like, what is your ultimate outcome? And then kind of plan around that. Sometimes it drives me crazy when someone we talk to someone and they're like I have this much money, what can I get for that? It's like well, you might be better off spent just buying donuts in the break room because you know you haven't even thought through how you want to use that in any meaningful or productive way. Don't just burn through it to burn through it. So I don't know if that's helpful or even whatever, but I have donuts on the mind, apparently it. So I don't know if that's helpful or even whatever, but I have donuts on the mind, apparently.
Speaker 2:Go get some donuts, we'll send you some donuts after this, I hear that and I also you know, I think that there are so many pressures right now in business and on organizations that they don't have the creative energy because they're just trying to do all these other things that this is sometimes investment in people feels like an afterthought or feels like all right, what can I do with that? So here's the money and we'll do that. And I think that's where we, where we excel, where we can say, okay, well, what is it that you want to see? And you start dreaming about that and we'll do all the back end work to bring about donuts with a purpose or what your strengths based application.
Speaker 1:I read something recently that here in Oregon, for every seven unemployed people, there are 10 jobs available.
Speaker 3:I thought you're gonna say 10 donuts.
Speaker 1:Oh, 10 donuts no.
Speaker 3:I mean, donuts are big here, yeah, and there's a. I don't want to get into this too much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's a. I don't want to get into this too much, but there's a million reasons why, why that is. But I can't help but wonder if you know employers and team leaders spent more time investing in the people in you know ways that were purposeful, would be more inclined to take jobs, would be happier, would be more fulfilled, would have a greater sense of meaning in what they're doing.
Speaker 2:And I think sometimes they have to be given the appetite for it or help remind people that their best resource is their people. So start with them, make the investment there and see what great things can come from that.
Speaker 1:All right. So, as we revisited this conversation back from January of 2022, it's very obvious, it's clear, that the core principles of effective team building they remain the same it needs to be intentional, it needs to be research-based and it needs to be integrated into a larger strategy. But you know, in the little over three years since we first recorded this, the way that teams work together has continued to evolve. So here's just a couple of updates, some reflections on what's changed and what still holds true today. I would love to know if you agree with this, if you don't agree, or maybe what did we forget from this list? So, the first thing is just the idea of hybrid and remote work. In 2022, as you may remember, maybe this applied to your team directly, but so many teams were still trying to figure out this whole post-pandemic return to office thing with vaccines. And do we experiment with a little hybrid work here? Maybe two days at home, three days in the office, fully remote. What do we do? Well, today, largely the organizations have figured this out. Hybrid work isn't just an experiment, it's kind of the norm for many, many organizations and the shift means that team building if you do that at all, which you should be. It must be more flexible and intentional. You know that random virtual happy hour that's just not going to cut it. Leaders, you have to create meaningful ways for people to connect. You know whether that's in the same room or across time zones. I talked to a woman recently who said she was at her former job for three years and never once met her team members Some of them they worked in the same town. So the need for asynchronous team building efforts like structured reflection, shared learning experiences and digital collaboration. That has grown significantly since 2022.
Speaker 1:The second reflection here is that people expect more from their workplaces. We've seen a major shift in how people approach work. Employees today are well. They're more focused on purpose, belonging and well-being, and they want that from their jobs. Team building isn't just about fun activities. It's about creating an environment where people feel valued, connected and aligned with the organization's mission. So if your team building efforts aren't addressing psychological safety, communication and shared goals, well, you might be missing something.
Speaker 1:The third reflection here is that team building needs to be more than an event. One of the biggest takeaways, I think, from the original conversation with Brian and Linda is that team building isn't a one-time event. It's an ongoing process. This is actually something that we've been talking about since we started the podcast back in 2017. The best teams don't just quote, unquote do team building once a year. They embed it into their everyday interactions. Leaders that can prioritize consistent check-ins, structured team discussions and opportunities for ongoing growth and fun. Well, they create stronger, more resilient teams.
Speaker 1:The fourth and final reflection here is that investing in your team, that's a retention strategy. Right? We've probably all seen the articles and podcasts that just the job market has continued to shift and organizations that fail to invest in their people, they risk losing them, and that's a lot of money out the door when you think about rehiring and all kinds of stuff that goes into that. Employees, they risk losing them and that's a lot of money out the door when you think about rehiring and all kinds of stuff that goes into that. Employees. They stay where they feel supported and connected. Team building you know when we do it well, it contributes to better retention, higher engagement, better job satisfaction, a stronger sense of loyalty and the employees they just feel more connected and often some research is showing that not often, quite often their home life, their personal life, is better as a result of it. So this is not just an expense team building, it's a competitive advantage.
Speaker 1:So, okay, what does this mean for you, whether you're a team leader, whether you are a 25-year-old, you know, recent college grad, as you think about your own team building efforts here in 2025, or maybe three years into the future, here's just a couple of key takeaways or things to consider. Maybe ask yourself these things, or ask your supervisor, manager, boss, these things as you think about team building efforts. So, number one, are you creating consistent opportunities for connection and development rather than just relying on one-off events? Number two, are your team building efforts aligned with your organization's larger strategy and goals? Number three, are you adapting your approach to fit the realities of this new hybrid or remote work or whatever that looks like? And the fourth one is just this idea of investing in team culture and relationships as a way to improve retention. What does that look like in your organization? Now? We believe that team building, when done with purpose, it has the power to transform the way people work together. So, whether you're leading a team of five or 500, now right now and I'm recording this at the end of February 2025, that is the perfect time to revisit your approach and ensure that your investment is truly making an impact. Let's build better teams together.
Speaker 1:If you have questions about this or anything related to team building, we would love to help you, so reach out to us. You can send an email to connect at leadershipvisionconsultingcom or visit us on the web, leadershipvisionconsultingcom. Thanks so much for listening. This is the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. If you found value from this episode or any of our other material, we would appreciate it if you would follow us on the socials, leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts, or just pass this on to someone that you think could benefit from hearing this information as well. You can learn more about us from the link in the show notes. I'm Nathan Friberg.
Speaker 2:I'm Linda Schubring.
Speaker 1:And I'm Brian Schubring and on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening, thanks for listening. I think we need to spend a little more time team building.
Speaker 2:A little bit of Barry White, that's good, that's good, that's good.
Speaker 1:Camera stop.