It's rare in my company - usually it'll be surprise pizza. One PM I worked with on a larger project is a bit of a car guy and invited the team to a "thank you!" event at a nearby indoor karting place. It was fun.
It's rare in my company - usually it'll be surprise pizza. One PM I worked with on a larger project is a bit of a car guy and invited the team to a "thank you!" event at a nearby indoor karting place. It was fun.
Toyman! said:In reply to Duke :
Agreed. That's basically what we do. We will take a shop day every month or two and take care of housekeeping duties in the morning. Then break out the grill for burgers or steaks and then head home early. We will also head out to lunch as a company several times a year. I only have 5 employees though so it's going to be a different atmosphere than it would be with a large corporation.
The 3/4 large companies I have worked for (one was purchased by another) have all had an annual entertainment or employee expense budget of some sort specifically for this stuff, managed at the team level. So while the grilling burgers after housekeeping part is different, the rest of it surprisingly isn't. The small company I worked for, which was awful in more ways than one, took us out for lunch 3 times as a team in the 6 months I worked there, and also handed out some bottles of wine... But the idea of going home early, even on Christmas Eve, was unheard of for anyone except the boss and his kid.
ProDarwin said:Weird. I am an engineer, my direct reports are engineers and my work friends are engineers.
I asked all my friends in our chat to make sure I wasn't crazy but universally everyone one of them said I don't want to do work activities of any kind after work hours.
In reply to Torkel :
PTO or money instead of a group thing. Otherwise I would not have suggested it.
Team celebrations are a hollow thing to me.
In reply to mtn :
I'm a little different. We frequently go home early because it's Tuesday, or the sun is out, or it's raining. If work is caught up, they can sit around at home as easily as they can sit around staring at me. I guarantee them 40 hours either way. By the same token, on occasion, I need them to work late for overtime. They don't have a problem when that time comes because I'm not an shiny happy person.
Edit, Any Friday before a holiday weekend we are clearing out early if at all possible. If the schedule doesn't allow it then I stick it out with everyone else.
Is everybody in an office, and in the same office? I am in a different office than most of the folks I work with day to day, so things like lunches and ball games don't apply to me. And I'm sure as heck not reporting to the Scranton branch for a trip to Pour Richard's Pub.
Time is universal, and we can all use more of it.
If you're bringing in lunch don't cheap out too badly. I was in a staff meeting where the manager brought pizza from 7-11. In Manhattan where he had to pass several actual pizzerias to get it. He's lucky no one called HR.
Toyman! said:In reply to mtn :
I'm a little different. We frequently go home early because it's Tuesday, or the sun is out, or it's raining. If work is caught up, they can sit around at home as easily as they can sit around staring at me. I guarantee them 40 hours either way. By the same token, on occasion, I need them to work late for overtime. They don't have a problem when that time comes because I'm not an shiny happy person.
Edit, Any Friday before a holiday weekend we are clearing out early if at all possible. If the schedule doesn't allow it then I stick it out with everyone else.
This is quite similar to most of the teams I've been on at big corporations. Definitely true for the last 5 managers I've had.
I get a 'Fringe Benefit' budget for my department. I try to spread it out throughout the year. Below is an 'average' year:
While not a hard and fast rule, we are encouraged not to use the money for gift cards. Partly because we're supposed to do something tangible with the money, also because while we don't officially do holiday bonuses, the company always gives out Amazon gift cards with Christmas/holiday cards. Additionally they use them as door prizes etc. at company parties. The company always does a holiday party between thanksgiving and Christmas, and normally 2-3 company wide lunch time BBQ's during the summer, door prizes etc. can happen at these as well.
Additional 'zero' out of pocket things I do for my team.
In reply to Torkel :
Just because somebody is an extrovert, doesn't mean that "team dinners, after work, and team building" inherently makes them feel rewarded and valued for their contributions and efforts. It's still more about how (and when) you do it, than it is about what you do. So that's a pretty important part of any such discussion.
93EXCivic said:ProDarwin said:Weird. I am an engineer, my direct reports are engineers and my work friends are engineers.
I asked all my friends in our chat to make sure I wasn't crazy but universally everyone one of them said I don't want to do work activities of any kind after work hours.
Ditto. Its a forced voluntary thing. No thanks.
Once we had a Houston employee come to Chicago and he stayed 2 weeks straight and worked on a QC issue the whole time. The branch manager was excited it went well and on Thursday afternoon he suggested the small team go to a White Sox game to relax and wind down.
We walk across the parking lot and the branch manager (only guy w/company credit card) goes to the box office to check on tickets and he comes back with one ticket he bought himself.
He then tells us what section to purchase our tickets in.......
bobzilla said:In reply to bmw88rider :
the age thing is important as well. Our team ranged in age from 21 to 58. there's not a lot of overlap in that range.
That's a great point. 25yo me loved the Christmas party, the picnic, etc. All us 20-somethings hung out already because our friend groups in the area originated at the office. 52yo me has E36 M3 to do and friends/family to do it with.
bobzilla said:93EXCivic said:ProDarwin said:Weird. I am an engineer, my direct reports are engineers and my work friends are engineers.
I asked all my friends in our chat to make sure I wasn't crazy but universally everyone one of them said I don't want to do work activities of any kind after work hours.
Ditto. Its a forced voluntary thing. No thanks.
Oh I dont want to do anything forced, but I really enjoy hitting up the local brewery with my coworkers once in a while.
In reply to ProDarwin :
Sure. I have done that with coworkers before. But that imo it is different then an organized company thing.
There is also a gender difference.
Im pretty sure every person who has responded is male, and the vast majority seem to hate contrived "team building" events after hours.
Im in a male dominated field. We just got a new HR director (who is female). She is really excited about the upcoming Superintendent "Retreat" she is planning.
Me? I'm really pissed about it. It's a 4.5 hour drive each way, starts on a Friday evening, and lasts all weekend. Retreat my ass. It's not relaxing, and it's not desired. It's theft of time from my family and friends, and of my money (we are all salaried, so the expectation that we give them a weekend angers me).
I think your original tiered ideas are fine, but for God's sake make sure they happen during paid working hours.
Oh, and then the CEO sends out a company wide email reinforcing how "important" the "retreat" is.
BullE36 M3. It's both contrived AND coerced.
Datsun310Guy said:Once we had a Houston employee come to Chicago and he stayed 2 weeks straight and worked on a QC issue the whole time. The branch manager was excited it went well and on Thursday afternoon he suggested the small team go to a White Sox game to relax and wind down.
We walk across the parking lot and the branch manager (only guy w/company credit card) goes to the box office to check on tickets and he comes back with one ticket he bought himself.
He then tells us what section to purchase our tickets in.......
Wow. That's just, wow.
My last hospital CEO- now fired- would do similar on bad days at the hospital, like if we were super busy with appointments and procedures. They'd get 30+ boxes of say, Rasin' Canes fried chicken and it would be stacked high in the break room, but then would act surprised when the nurses wouldn't drop everything to get food because that's not how nursing is. If you're getting food for nurses on a bad day, it's gotta be finger stuff they can nosh on in a few seconds because we've got enoxapril injections to do.
And worst of all, Cane's arguably has the worst fries. I swear if you get them to go they're cold the instant they hit the styrofoam.
In reply to Torkel :
Frankly it's pretty difficult to come up with appropriate awards for a group of individuals since everyone's tastes and wants can be so varied. Frankly, I'd just ask them directly as an open discussion.
In reply to z31maniac :
He never said the company would cover anything. It was more like a guy asking his buddies if they wanted to grab a game.
It was at the ticket booth I realized the situation and that's how it was going down. I bought my ticket and moved on.
Just thought it was funny.
mfennell said:That's a great point. 25yo me loved the Christmas party, the picnic, etc. All us 20-somethings hung out already because our friend groups in the area originated at the office. 52yo me has E36 M3 to do and friends/family to do it with.
Yeah, I came here to say this. For a small company made up mostly of 20-somethings, the social group and the work group are likely to overlap a lot. For big companies or folks who are parents/etc that's very much not the case. I suspect the cash rewards thing is also something that's age-differentiated in terms of how much people appreciate/notice it, with younger folks more likely to use a bonus to buy something specific that they can then remember it, and older folks just dumping it into the "slush fund".
In the past couple decades there are two "offsite" work events that I actually remember as being fun and enjoyable at the time. The first was lunch at a nice french restaurant, non-chain, probably something in the $75-100/person price range. I remember it because this was not the kind of place I went to on a regular basis.
The second was when, after a big release, the company took the entire software team to Disneyland for the day. We were in San Diego so it was a couple hours away, but they rented a bunch of motor coaches for the trip up/back. That was really fun.
I have never succeeded in talking any of my managers into group meetings at a go kart place, they always go with the common denominators of other sports-like things.
Datsun310Guy said:Once we had a Houston employee come to Chicago and he stayed 2 weeks straight and worked on a QC issue the whole time. The branch manager was excited it went well and on Thursday afternoon he suggested the small team go to a White Sox game to relax and wind down.
We walk across the parking lot and the branch manager (only guy w/company credit card) goes to the box office to check on tickets and he comes back with one ticket he bought himself.
He then tells us what section to purchase our tickets in.......
That's pretty funny, as twice a year- once in the cool weather and once in the late summer, our managers organized an event. And to go, we had to pay. I once went to a golf outing, and saw people suck up to managers so very badly- on THEIR dime. That was the only time I went to that.
So Torkel- better make it serious, or people will remember it and know that you are doing for the appearence as opposed to actually recognizing them.
And that's another reason why PTO or money is better even for a group thing.
TL;DR: Understand who you're doing this for, in terms of the teams being made of individuals, with individual preferences and group dynamics. One size does not fit all teams.
I've had lots of fun at teambuilding stuff, and I've had deeply horrible experiences. I've even had both at one company. I generally don't want to feel like I need to do a work thing outside of work hours, but I've even enjoyed some of those, depending on what the group was. I also suspect that other people in some of the same groups would characterize the same activities differently... though I think the "good" days were broadly pretty popular, but I know for certain the bad days were bad.
I think the main thing I'd want to point out is that I *think* you should be trying to apply the same level of personalization you do for individual things to team things. That is, every group has a different dynamic, and you need to figure out which groups want to hang out, and which are effective colleagues who work well together, full stop. Some teams will have some of each, and while I agree it's a tall order, you need to figure out what fits. When in doubt, I'd rather have a heartfelt thank you with a review of what the team did well than a badly-executed or chosen event. Come up with a budget and maybe some suggestions, and present it for selection, being open about the need for it to be a team thing of some kind to avoid the "just write a check" answers? (I'm avoiding weighing in on the money/PTO thing since that doesn't seem up for debate)
You also need to be aware of what's going on; don't get a nice catered lunch on or near a crunch day.
("Bad day" teambuilding exercise: divide into four groups. Each group contains someone from the design team. Each group needs to come up with an image panel that will work as a quadrant of a larger image without knowing what the other three are doing. After completion, paint the whole thing 10' high. In a stairwell. No scaffolding provided. No being excused for having arrived in a suit for the dressed-for-the-holiday competition in the morning. The design process started after lunch, and we weren't supposed to leave until the full size painting was done. At least the teams were unified in the understanding that leadership really was that divorced from reality, and some of the more senior staff were eventually able to talk the owners out of running it to completion...)
SV reX said:There is also a gender difference.
Im pretty sure every person who has responded is male, and the vast majority seem to hate contrived "team building" events after hours.
Im in a male dominated field. We just got a new HR director (who is female). She is really excited about the upcoming Superintendent "Retreat" she is planning.
Me? I'm really pissed about it. It's a 4.5 hour drive each way, starts on a Friday evening, and lasts all weekend. Retreat my ass. It's not relaxing, and it's not desired. It's theft of time from my family and friends, and of my money (we are all salaried, so the expectation that we give them a weekend angers me).
I think your original tiered ideas are fine, but for God's sake make sure they happen during paid working hours.
I know this is a major tangent, but the gender thing brought up a shocking reminder. We did a team building thing once when there was upper management turnover. You know, the typical brainwashing... Anyway, one of the exercises was being blindfolded and going around a human circle. A friend of mine accidentally groped another friend of mine.
So, yea, keep genders in mind when planning. If you even accidentally make someone uncomfortable in the wrong way- it will be a massive mess.
You'll need to log in to post.
