What Should Leaders Do During a Team Building Workshop?

We love when leaders reach out directly to The Leadership Laboratory about organizing an event for their team!  Historically, we have found that the teams who proactively schedule opportunities for team connection and learning have the tools necessary to navigate ambiguity, positively challenge one another during times of conflict, and have the strengthened relationships needed to promote psychological safety.

As the leader of the team, it’s easy to wonder what your role should be during the workshop.  Many leaders feel their presence might skew the conversation, or that they should be prominently featured as a co-facilitator to showcase their knowledge.  At The Leadership Laboratory, we believe that everyone is a leader, regardless of title, and we work to create an experience where each participant has the opportunity to sit and engage as a learner, regardless of the role they play on the team.  As such, the leader is free to be a participant, just like everyone else.

To help set the session up for success, here are our top tips for leaders to leverage in to maximize the experience for all during a team building workshop:

At The Leadership Laboratory, we love when the senior leader on the team helps to set the tone by introducing the session.  This is an opportunity for everyone to be reminded of why the full team was gathered, and the thought process behind the content that was selected.  As one of our core beliefs is the usage of positive psychology, this is a time to remind the team of the strengths they are already contributing, and that the intention of the workshop is to help hone those skills as we progress to the next level.  The idea is to remind everyone to be present, engaged, and ask the questions that come to mind.  Take some time to identify key connection points that might already be top of mind on how and where the content will apply to current or future team projects and initiatives.

As a leader, you expect that your team members are fully invested in the learning process.  This means closing laptops, removing phone distractions, and using the time to engage with the content in a focused manner.  As such, you must also role model that behavior.  Yes, there are always emails and meeting requests and unexpected fires, and tackling all of them directly in front of your direct reports has the risk to highlight mixed signals about your work and time vs. their work and time.  Walk the walk by showcasing the exact behavior you are looking to see from your direct reports when attending a team development experience.

In meetings and conversations where our leaders are present, it’s easy to defer to the most senior individual in the room to get their thoughts and opinions.  Oftentimes, in brainstorming conversations, this can lead to “group think”, as we agree with our senior leadership as a way of getting in their good graces.  In any type of team building education, feel free to take a step back and let others on the team step up.  Here, it’s all about honoring the tenure and diversity of experience in the room – whether you’ve been on the team for two weeks, or twenty years, every single person has a story to share and insight to contribute.  As a leader, taking a step back can allow others to voice their thoughts in new ways, and inspire that behavior for future conversations.

At The Leadership Laboratory, we love facilitating workshops for teams, as it creates an opportunity to forge connections in different ways.  Especially for hybrid or virtual teams, we are used to connecting only for work-related inquiries or assignments, with more limited opportunities for casual relationship building.  Team workshops provide opportunities to build and spark connection on work adjacent topics, which can inspire new touchpoints of connection for deeper personal relationships.  As a leader, use this as an opportunity to connect directly with someone on the team you wouldn’t traditionally get a chance to collaborate with.  This may spark a new connection for future collaboration, or simply increase that individual’s engagement by feeling seen by their senior leader.

As a leader, you are very much used to being in service of others.  This is your time to step back and be on the receiving end of care, as you get to be a true participant alongside everyone else on the team.  While it’s important to allow other team members to step up, it’s vital that you share your thoughts and input throughout the workshop as well.  You’ve already done the intentional work by selecting the workshop topic that most closely aligns to the current and future needs of the team, and your participation will help to draw some real-time connections for individuals as to how this content can best apply to departmental specific projects and initiatives.

The magic of any workshop is what comes after the session has concluded.  At The Leadership Laboratory, we provide protected time for reflection and action planning to ensure every participant has the opportunity to know exactly how they can connect the content to the way they lead their work, their projects, their people, and themselves.  So often, we are used to running from task to task, and that time for reflection is critical to ensure we make the necessary enhancements to our day to day responsibilities.  To help bring this to life, make sure you are developing an action plan of next steps.  Plan to spend at least a few minutes during the next two full-team meetings discussing takeaways from the workshop, and allow time for team members to highlight the changes they noticed in themselves and others.  Be sure to block time during upcoming one-on-ones to discuss the workshop in greater detail with your direct reports.  Plan to assign accountability partners for team members to continue the conversation on a peer-to-peer basis.  As a leader, take on the responsibility of continuing the lessons to help inspire the full team to work towards getting to the next level.