I can’t iterate enough how important it is for you and your team to get outside the office and experience the world together. And I don’t just mean going out to lunch as a team.
If you read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (and I highly recommend that you do), the first dysfunction is absence of trust. In this book, trust is defined as the ability to communicate authentically with another teammate without fear of any negative consequences like ridicule, gossiping, or backstabbing.
To build trust, the author, Patrick Lencioni, says, “requires shared experiences over time, multiple instances of follow-through and credibility, and an in-depth understanding of the unique attributes of team members.”
I think that’s why it’s so important to do fun things together as a team.
Ever been axe throwing? Yeah, we hadn’t either. So it was super fun to experience something new that none of us had ever done before. It was fascinating to watch each team member receiving coaching from the instructor about how to throw the axe to get it to stick in the target. We had a lot of fun taking photos and video of each other and celebrating each other’s success when the axe sticks to the target. (It’s not as easy as it looks!)
Admittedly we had a lot of fun with the selfie station too!
Team experiences like these help you work better and more efficiently. When you hang out with someone, your thoughts and emotions about your teammates say you like these people, they are fun to be around, and you genuinely care about these people. When all those things are in place, working together is so much easier.
It also gives the team something to look forward to. We all pretty much know what to expect in a real estate transaction. There’s really no surprises. But when you experience something new with your team, it’s exciting! Our entire team had been looking forward to this Friday afternoon of axe throwing all week. And now we have these super fun and silly photos to remind us that we like hanging out with each other.
Ideas for Team Experiences
- travel to a seminar or event that requires an overnight stay
- ziplining
- bowling
- axe throwing
- checking out a hip new bar for happy hour
- Top Golf or golf in general
- scavenger hunt
- charity fun run
- escape room
- sports events
- concerts
- martial arts or yoga class
- theme park
- weekend lake house rental
- shooting range
I highly recommend that the lead agent pay for the entire outing. Really, it’s an investment in your people. I know not all teams can offer things the corporations can like health insurance benefits, so this is one the benefits the team can offer: an afternoon off work doing something fun and entertaining. Most of these ideas (depending on the number of people) are $500 or less. Axe throwing was $80 for all four of us.
If you’ve experiences outings with your team, tell us what you did in the comments.