Team Building: A Leadership Tool to Drive Company Growth

Most people in manufacturing leadership positions have not participated in a team building program. Yet these programs offer significant long-term benefits when leaders collaborate with teams to achieve their business goals. It is important for leaders to get out of their silos to work with their teams so they can address substantive issues that are preventing their businesses from moving forward.

At Catalyst Connection, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit and part of the MEP National Network™, we’ve worked with leadership teams at small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) that rarely meet. When they do meet, discussions often focus on financial updates or meeting production goals.

These teams are overlooking a significant opportunity to leverage team building as a powerful tool for driving business growth. During our Employer of Choice assessments – a deep, two-hour discovery process with company leadership and HR – we frequently ask about their team-building practices. When we refer to “team building,” we are not talking about the traditional trust falls, pizza parties, or going to a ball game. We are talking about substantive interactions in which the team members learn more about themselves and each other and how to better work with each other. The top leaders often respond with: “We need that.”

This is why we launched a team building program around The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team model and the Everything DiSC personality assessment to help build trust and accountability. The program provides information through a survey of the company staff and individual personality assessments for leaders. The program includes a two-day workshop where participants share personal histories and vulnerabilities, which breaks down barriers. It helps participants understand their teammates so they can provide more effective leadership for common goals and strategic initiatives. Teams using Five Behaviors training often see a 20-30 percent productivity boost due to reduced conflicts and better role alignment.

Why Team Building Is a Powerful Approach for Manufacturers

Team building is an effective strategic approach that can significantly impact your business. By fostering trust, improving communication, and enhancing collaboration, team building can lead to a more engaged, productive, and successful workforce.

In our experience, we have seen companies emerge from team building to become more productive and resilient in almost every area. Team building can have a significant impact on strategic initiatives. Individuals often have personal agendas in strategic planning sessions. But once a company has participated in team building, we see that the strategic planning exercises are much more cohesive. Team building can be a great launching point for a new employer branding initiative, such as crafting your employee value proposition.

Outcomes from a team building initiative often include:

Improved Company Culture: Change in culture starts at the top of any organization.
Improved Conflict Resolution: Conflicts are inevitable in any workplace. When you equip participants with the skills to manage and resolve conflicts constructively, they can turn potential roadblocks into opportunities for growth.
Improved Engagement and Morale: Employees who feel part of a cohesive team are more likely to be engaged in their work. When team members feel valued, respected, and connected, morale improves.
Increased Productivity: A strong team can achieve more together than individuals working alone.
Enhanced Problem-Solving: Collaborative problem-solving is a key skill fostered through team building.
Reduced Employee Turnover: A positive and supportive work environment can help retain top talent.

How a Team Building Program Works

Once a company has committed to the team building process, we conduct an employee survey that indicates the team’s Five Behaviors strengths and development opportunities. The Five Behaviors model, created by Patrick Lencioni, is a validated, research-based assessment that measures performance through:

Trust
Conflict
Commitment
Accountability
Results

Participants in the team building complete the DiSC assessments and are given a report that contains both their individual data and survey data. This rich information is the basis for the two-day workshop, which is designed for seven or eight participants.

In the workshop, we discuss how the team fares in the Five Behaviors. In almost every case, the survey reveals that the staff views a lack of accountability as the biggest issue.

One of the goals is to build trust and we often achieve this through questions and storytelling where participants can be open and vulnerable. Team members share personal histories and discuss the DiSC breakdowns. The team also discusses how they engage in conflict and agree on behaviors that need to change to have productive conflict.

The deliverables from this two-day program vary with each company’s goals, but we often are asked to facilitate developing common goals across departments. We sometimes are asked to help them draft a team charter, which articulates areas such as the company’s purpose, values, opportunities, and risks. It includes formal and informal rules and expectations.

After completing leadership team building, some companies take the team building a level down to various departments. Some companies have done team building throughout the entire organization. This helps create a common language and common expectations around effective teams.

When Team Building Is a Transformational Force

Team building requires sharing. Generally speaking, as humans, we are hesitant to share sensitive information about ourselves because anything we share can be used against us, and we are afraid of being judged. But showing vulnerability is easier when someone else has done it. When participants share their vulnerabilities through personal histories, team building can be transformational.

Sometimes people share deeply personal experiences, such as growing up in a difficult situation: struggling with poverty, or overcoming addiction. By being open and honest, we can create a stronger sense of connection. These shared experiences can help build trust and belonging, which are essential for forming meaningful relationships. In our workshops, we often find that people have more in common than they initially realize. This is a key part of how team building can lead to authentic and lasting connections.

In our conflict resolution session, we often deal with the issue of not letting go of grudges, which comes up in the survey and assessments. It often leads to an intense discussion between two teammates, but that resolution is a key achievement for moving the team forward.

By the end of the workshop, team members begin to understand each other’s behaviors, and can move from judging to respecting to then valuing those differences. The sharing of personal histories and vulnerabilities makes work-related challenges less intimidating. The team comes out stronger with confidence for the next initiative.

How Team Building Leads to Sustainable Improvements

The team building workshops are just the first steps to substantial business improvements. At Catalyst Connection, we return to our manufacturing client companies once a month for the next year as an accountability partner to hear updates on goals and team interactions. During these consultations, we compile and deliver a progress report one year after the initial workshop.

For example, some of our clients have implemented metrics to compare their company performance before and after our team building sessions, including:

Revenue per employee
Turnover rate for personnel
Overall costs per employee (labor, materials, energy, overhead)
Employee satisfaction

Your local MEP Center can help you with team building to create meaningful and genuine relationships among your leadership and staff as well as leadership development or other workforce training needs. Contact us to get the conversation started.

About the Author

David Rea

David Rea is the Managing Director of Organizational Development for Catalyst Connection, part of the MEP National Network. He specializes in helping manufacturers optimize employees through hiring, development, and retention best practices.