Teambuilding and Training With the Most Impact

By Hank Moore, Corporate Strategist

If training is thought of as band-aid surgery to fix problems, then it will fail. Managers who have this “fix those people” mindset are, in fact, the ones who need training.           

Teambuilding must be part of the corporate vision first, not as a series of exercises delegated to trainers.

I conduct Executive Think Tanks first for corporate management. The success of this enables trainers with the “rank-and-file employees” to be optimally successful. Organizations of all sizes must have the Think Tank, which delineates future operations, including education and training.

Training is unfairly blamed and scapegoated for pieces of the organizational mosaic that strategic planning and cohesive corporate vision should have addressed early on. Trainers cannot reconstruct organizational structure, nor can other niche consultants.                                   

Companies owe it to themselves to think and plan...before launching piecemeal training programs. After carefully articulating and understanding direction, then training needs (including teambuilding and empowerment) will stand a chance of being successful.

I recommend that teambuilding be conducted as part of a company strategic plan, with top management participating. Companies must plan...predicting (rather than reacting to) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Professional development must be offered to every employee, including mentoring for top executives and up-and-coming young people. Education should show decision-makers all phases of the organization and what it takes to succeed and grow, personally and as a team.

I recommend the following topics be taught to executives who wish to achieve longevity in business and success for their companies:

• Marketplace factors outside your company, how they can hurt or help your business.
• Generational work ethics and why young people need executive mentoring to “go the distance” in their careers, offering value to the company and profession.
• Understanding the value of conducting independent company assessments, other than the “bean counter” approach.
• Workplace literacy. Much of the workforce does not have basic skills or reasoning abilities. They embrace technology, rather than ideas and concepts.
• Understand and celebrate diversity. This is a blessing, not a mandate.
• Accept and embrace change. Research shows change is 90 percent beneficial. So why do people fight what is best for them?
• What business the company is really in...why...where they are headed...with what resources-knowledge-skills...on what timeline...who plays a part in growth...and how (the process known as visioning).            

A regular contributor to www.trainingmag.com,Hank Moore has advised 5,000-plus client organizations, including 100 of the Fortune 500, public sector agencies, small businesses and nonprofit organizations. He has advised two U.S. Presidents and spoke at five Economic Summits. Moore advises companies about growth strategies, visioning, strategic planning, executive leadership development, Futurism, and Big Picture issues that profoundly affect the business climate. He conducts company evaluations and performance reviews. He creates the big ideas, mentors the board members, reorganizes the corporate culture and anchors the enterprise to its next tier. The Business Tree is Moore’s trademarked approach (and the title of his current book published by Career Press) to growing, strengthening, and evolving business, while mastering change. For more information, visit http://www.hankmoore.com.