How the Top Companies Take On Team Building

Few corporate-culture business phrases are as potentially groan-inducing as “team building.” Visions of cheesy performances and “inspiring” activities like coal walking and trust falls immediately spring to mind. But using the smarts that helped them get where they are, the top companies (and many medium and small companies) have figured out team building is about people, and people like things that aren’t lame. From lavish trips to community service, here are a few of the ways some of the perennial Fortune 500-ers go about employee bonding.

• Volunteering:

  Some of the biggest companies in the world, like Exxon Mobil and Nike, have recognized that they can kill two birds with one stone by team building through giving back to the community (and if a third bird of increased public goodwill should happen to buy the farm, they won’t complain). Dedicated weeks of team volunteering are common among the top companies, as in Ford’s Global Week of Caring and teamGM Cares’ Volunteer Week. IBM encourages team volunteering by pledging up to $7,500 in equipment to nonprofits and schools when employees volunteer together. Kohl’s and Verizon have similar grant programs designed to facilitate team volunteering.

• Gaming:

  The Go Game is the closest thing to a real-life version of The Game (rent it — it’s awesome) there is. For years, all the Silicon Valley majors (and a few other groups) have turned to the game for team-building fun, from Google to Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Zynga, and EA Games. The concept is “textured scavenger hunting,” where players traverse a designated area in teams interacting with hired actors and fulfilling missions, using cell phones to get clues and photographing everything for shared reminiscing afterward. Other Fortune 500 companies have used different apps and scavenger hunt providers like ShoWizard and Stray Boots.

• Field tripping:

  Hauling the staff off to an interesting locale for the day is a route many big companies take. Sometimes trips can have relevancy to business training, as in AT&T’s trip to Gettysburg (as a lesson in strategic thinking), but more often these trips are breezy getaways to wineries, cooking classes, food tours … really anything with food is always a crowd-pleaser. For something a little more active (more on this later), rock wall climbing is a cool outing General Mills, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and other major names have tried out.

• Build-A-Bike:

  This is another form of volunteering, but so many of the top companies do “the original bicycle team building event” it merits mention on its own. Chevron, UPS, Walgreen’s, Microsoft, Intuit, Nationwide, Merck, Electronic Arts, JetBlue, and Boeing have all participated in this event where a company has its employees build bikes for needy children.

• Company picnics:

  Like a navy blazer, the company picnic is a classic that never goes out of style. Amazon is one huge company that continues to host an annual picnic for employees and their families, complete with bouncy houses, petting zoos, and airbrush tattoo stations. Branches and divisions of UPS, Costco, Boeing, GE, USSA, Prudential Financial, Lockheed Martin, and Mattel have also all thrown company picnics in recent years.

• Making a habit of it:

  Southwest Airlines and online retailer Zappos are famous for having corporate cultures that are specifically designed to foster team building. Two of the three tenets of “Living the Southwest Way” (the airline’s gospel) — having a servant’s heart and a fun-LUVing (sic) attitude — involve “embracing the SWA family” and being “a passionate team player.” Southwest prompts the fun with parties, casual dress, and a laid-back atmosphere. Zappos core values also trumpet fun (and a little weirdness) and “building a positive team and family spirit.” The company is very well-known for its off-the-wall office environment and for paying dissatisfied team members $2,000 to quit.

• Inspiring speakers:

  Another old standby of corporate team building that top companies continue to fall back on is bringing in inspirational and motivational people. For example, American Express and Southwest Airlines recently engaged Robert X. Fogarty to speak to employees about his work with a natural disaster relief volunteer organization he helped start. HP, Johnson & Johnson, and Marriott have been clients of at least one motivational speaker, as have State Farm, Time Warner, Kraft, and Northwestern Mutual, and Rite Aid, Google, and Walmart.

• Exercising:

  Some companies figure if you’re going to build a team, you should build a healthy one. General Electric promotes team building with its softball leagues, runs and walks, and even some friendly kickboxing at the Singapore office. Many top companies have accepted JPMorgan Chase’s Corporate Challenge and formed teams to run in the footraces held across the country, including Fortune 500 companies Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, State Street, Goldman Sachs, Google, Bank of America, Lockheed Martin, Wells Fargo, and American Express (which won the participation award at the 2012 Central Park race with 1,300 runners).

• Personality tests:

  Instead of simply hoping group activities teach employees about one another so that they work better together, many top companies have turned to personality tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to break down how each person likes to work and be treated. In fact, recent research found 80% of Fortune 500 companies use some kind of personality assessment to improve teamwork.

• Hiring comedy troupes:

  Yes, this still goes on. Fortune 500 companies still try to harness the power of laughter by bringing in “professional,” Pfizer suspender-clad improv and comedy teams to ostensibly unite employees under a shared hatred of improv comedy. Stroll through the client lists of virtually any of these groups and you’ll find players like Wells Fargo, Ernst & Young, Walt Disney, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Sprint, Home Depot, Southwest Airlines, and more.