As a team leader, you want to ensure that your investment in a team building event results in meaningful connections and improved collaboration across your organization.

And while escape rooms and bowling are fun, they don’t create opportunities for intentional focus on increased awareness or stronger trust or better communication skills.

If you want your retreat or off-site to have real positive impact on interactions and inspire a more productive workplace culture, you need a professional facilitator to lead your team through a series of tailored activities and experiences that are proven to deliver the outcomes you want to achieve.

Statistics show that 75% of employees view collaboration as an essential part of their organization. 

So, below are three important reasons why hiring a professional team building facilitator can help improve communication and strengthen coworker connections, leading to increased performance and morale.

1. Objective Facilitation:

Hiring a professional facilitator brings a fresh and objective perspective to the team building event. They can observe and analyze team dynamics, identify areas of improvement, and tailor the event to meet your team’s specific needs.

Research has demonstrated that professional facilitation leads to higher levels of engagement and satisfaction among participants.

Tip: Look for a facilitator with experience working with teams similar to yours. Ask for references and check their credentials to ensure they’re a good fit for your team.

2. Structured Activities:

A professional facilitator can provide structured activities that encourage communication and collaboration among team members. They can design activities that are fun and engaging, while still achieving the desired outcomes. A study found that structured activities improve team performance by enhancing communication and building trust.

Tip: Discuss your team’s goals and needs with the facilitator ahead of time. Ask for a detailed agenda and make sure the activities align with your team’s objectives.

3. Pre-event customization and Follow-Up Support:

Ever wish you had the benefit of someone to help plan and tailor and then reinforce specific take-aways to ensure your team experience was as meaningful as possible?

A professional team building facilitator will have a pre-event conversation with you to discuss areas of concern for your team, and may even offer a custom pre-event team culture survey to collect  

An experienced facilitator will also provide follow-up support to ensure that the team building event has a lasting impact on your team. They can provide leadership and teamwork resources and tools to help your team continue to work together effectively. A 2018 study found that follow-up support is crucial for maintaining the positive effects of team building events.

Tip: Ask the facilitator for resources and tools that your team can use after the event. Schedule a follow-up session to discuss how your team is implementing what they learned.

As a manager or team leader, you know that collaboration is key to achieving team success.

Hiring an experienced team building event facilitator with dozens of positive reviews from past clients is the surest way for you to encourage those collaborative conversations that will increase your team performance and results.

So, just to review, here is a list of the top ten reasons to bring in a facilitator:

10 Motivated Support: With a facilitator guiding the process, group members are more invested in the decisions made, leading to greater motivation and support for the outcomes.

9 Better Results: The collective efforts of a group typically produce better results than individual efforts. A skilled facilitator can bring out the best in each team member to achieve exceptional outcomes.

8 Increased Participation: A facilitator can help increase participation within the group, leading to higher productivity and greater innovation.

7 Utilize Staff Resources: Facilitation allows managers and leaders to draw on their staff as resources, which contributes to the overall success of the organization.

6 A Sense of Belonging: Everyone involved in the process has a chance to contribute and feels like an integral part of the team, creating a sense of belonging and ownership.

5 Responsibility for Implementation: The facilitation process helps people realize and respect that responsibility for implementing decisions lies with everyone on the team.

4 Improved Problem-Solving: Facilitation builds innovation and problem-solving skills, leading to higher-quality decisions and more effective problem-solving.

3 Team-Oriented Thinking: With a facilitator guiding the process, people are encouraged to think and act for the overall benefit of the group, creating a team-oriented mindset.

2 Constructive Conflict Resolution: Facilitation provides a forum for constructively resolving conflicts and clarifying misunderstandings, fostering a positive and productive work environment.

1 Involvement in the Process: With a facilitator guiding the process, everyone is involved in a joint process, leading to greater collaboration and cooperation among team members.

Involvement = Engagement = Commitment!

Hiring a facilitator can make a significant difference in the success of your next business team building event. A professional team building facilitator brings an objective perspective, provide structured activities, and offer follow-up support to ensure lasting results.

Use these tips to find the right facilitator for your team and plan a successful team building event that improves communication, strengthens coworker connections, and increases performance and morale.

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Sean Glaze delivers engaging conference keynotes and interactive team building events that help healthcare and education leaders build more positive and profitable cultures.

Sean is also an author, and each of his four books, The Unexpected Leader, Rapid Teamwork, The 10 Commandments of Winning Teammates, and Staying Coachable, are entertaining parables with powerful take-aways for team growth and leadership! 

What issues are YOU dealing with that would disappear if you could build a team culture that inspired connection, accountability, and a team-first attitude?