Some companies go to extraordinary lengths to build a collaborative workforce. For example, Seagate Technology organized a 40 kilometre adventure race through New Zealand in their extreme bout of team building.
But most companies have more moderate approaches, like the old favourite: the annual Christmas party. Meant to encourage people to enjoy the company of their colleagues, this often turns into an opportunity to tell it like it really is. Sometimes it all falls to pieces before the Christmas pudding arrives.
It seems though, that the new trend for facilitating collaboration comes from fire fighters and it’s all around sharing meals together. How simple is that?
When researchers looked into best practice collaboration, they looked around the world at different practices. Some companies used psychologists to study the office space design and create a more collaborative environment. Some companies organized team events throughout the year. Others created the opportunity for collaboration through team oriented business tasks.
But it was the humble firefighter who caught the eye of a research team.
The team identified significant positive correlations between eating together and team performance. Co-operative behaviour was twice as high amongst team members who ate with one another than amongst those that didn’t.
Many large employers provide on-site cafeterias and some companies, like Google, go much further and offer free, high quality and varied meals for their employees. Free food can entice employees to stay in the office environment. It can result in greater productivity because employees aren’t travelling in their lunch hour.
We don’t all work in a large company with these sorts of facilities, but we can still use the firefighting collaborative approach to build a better performing team. Pepperoni Pizza with extra cheese to share please!
To hire marketers who will make a solid contribution to your collaborative projects and fit in with your team’s culture, contact Melvin Day, at mday@marketingmoves.com.
