Team-building demands greater creativity when purse strings are tight, writes Margaret Harris

The recession's grip on companies' purse strings has even filtered down to team-building exercises.

Coll Macdonald of Invent Hospitality/Challenger World says companies have had to find cheaper ways to motivate their teams without breaking the bank.

"With the economic crisis still uppermost in the minds of most corporate decision-makers, we have seen a definite increase in inquiries for new, more-effective methods to motivate and improve staff performance."

He said smart firms have looked for ways to still invest in their people, but on a budget. "All too often, companies make the mistake of not investing in performance during downturns in the economy.

"More than ever, companies should be investing in performance-enhancement programmes, especially when the going is tough and morale starts to suffer."

Macdonald said there was still a place for evenings out and weekend breaks, but these kinds of activities usually have limited benefits.

"The camaraderie that one sees on these occasions often arises from alcohol, so is unlikely to translate into any tangible benefit once people are back in the office."

Invent Hospitality/Challenger World organises the Sanlam Investment Management SA Challenge, a team-building event in which corporate teams compete in a series of physical, mental and strategic challenges that are geared towards changing the way management, colleagues and employees view their future, their teams and strategic business intent.

"Traditional team-building typically has short-term benefits and all too often are one-off interventions, whereas focused team development initiatives not only have proven results over a long period of time, but also engage the entire company."

Macdonald says that an initiative like the SIM SA Challenge is a good way for teams to re-energise themselves after the World Cup.

"As wonderful as the World Cup was, there is the inevitable hangover, which manifests itself in lethargy and a general lack of motivation after all the hype."

Sean Hettema, a consultant at Mindcor Consulting, said connecting staff with their company's strategy was often more effective than only using "fun" networking or team-building activities.

"People have an innate need to understand how what they do has meaning for the business or what should they be doing differently to add value," he said.

"If one feels that what you do is of value this automatically increases engagement. A lot of the work we do with executive and leadership teams is around refining the purpose of the business in the current operating context and building on this to align the team to the key strategic initiatives required. The process concludes with the team and individuals being clear on how they will be measured - their scorecard."

Hettema said the challenge was an ongoing process. There are multiple sessions during which the teams' achievement is reviewed. "During these team coaching sessions the leadership and team's practices or way of playing are reviewed and improved. The thinking is that a team that shares and connects to the game plan ... will be more successful and more engaged."

Moving away from alcohol-fuelled "team activities" has numerous spin-offs, including the obvious health benefits. Hettema says more health-conscious workers would rather spend the time taking part in physical activities such as mountain-biking, kayaking and surfing.

"Culturally, in a country as diverse as South Africa, these sessions are also proving to be more and more popular in bringing teams together."