As long as I can remember, sports have been a part of my life. I’ve had the privilege of playing on some great teams and attending some exhilarating sporting events over the years. What I like most about sports is how one can apply what they’ve learned to everyday life. Whether it is the ability to remain calm while reading a long birdie putt or the steadfast determination required to come back and score a touchdown with 60 seconds left in the 4th quarter.
What one takes away from fields of play is much greater than the effort given that day. True winners take with them a commitment to teamwork, dedication, compassion, and tenacity.
This brings me to an opportunity I faced last year. I was looking for creative ways to bring together two different companies Radiant had acquired over the past few years as well as open communication within those companies. These companies were diverse in nature and located miles apart from each other. While we had been doing our best to come together using the typical medium of conference calls, all company meetings, and email I felt we needed something more.
What was missing was teamwork. We needed to be a team of individuals who come together for one common purpose – And what better way to build teamwork than forming a good old-fashioned company softball team!
Needless to say that forming a company team doesn’t solve all communication challenges nor does it bring together two different companies overnight. However, it sure gets people talking and engaged. (It turned out to be one of the ingredients we needed to come together – that being the ingredient of fun.) And as we’ve learned along the way having fun together is one of the best and easiest ways to improve communication.
In many of the meetings I attend these days some part of that week’s game inevitably gets brought up. When you discuss important and serious topics all the time it’s great to have a subject you can go to quickly that eases tension across the room.
Brian, great article and annology. It’s so much easier to call upon a co worker who you have raised a glass with than someone you don’t really know. I believe it was HP that use to have Friday afternoon happy hours at their offices just to promote this type of relationship between their employees.
In tough economic times, cost cutting limits these types of exchanges…especially between differnt offices in different states. Our challenge is to continue to use fun and informal communications to develop deeper relationships and teamwork even in tough economic times.