Team Building Exercise

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Team Building Exercise

Introduction

Our team held a Zoom team-building activity that lasted for 25 minutes. Each member of our team (Madison, Gianna, Kierra, Nicolas, Christian and I) attended the Zoom meeting and participated in an icebreaker activity. The activity allowed us to ask each other a variety of questions that were personal, academic, and professional. The goal of this activity was to help us learn a little about one anothers backgrounds, interests, goals, and abilities. From this activity, our team was able to connect on a more personal level, rather than having to just talk or work on our team project. This experience gave us an opportunity to gain trust and set a tone moving forward with our team project.

Team Building

Team-building exercises are important because they help establish trust and open communication, which are essential for effective collaboration. Deszca, Ingols, and Cawsey (2020) emphasize that strong relationships support engagement and readiness for change. By participating in this activity, our team was able to connect on a personal level, which helped create a more comfortable and supportive working environment.

This exercise was valuable because it allowed us to understand each others strengths, goals, and working styles early in the project. Building this foundation helped reduce uncertainty, especially in a virtual setting, and set clear expectations for collaboration. These same principles apply in professional environments, where trust and communication are critical for teams navigating change.

Teamwork

Team projects in academic settings share many similarities with teamwork in organizational environments, particularly in the areas of communication, accountability, and collaboration. In both contexts, individuals must work with diverse perspectives while coordinating efforts toward a shared goal. Deszca, Ingols, and Cawsey (2020) note that effective teamwork is especially important during periods of change, as teams must remain adaptable and aligned.

While academic teams often operate under structured deadlines and instructor guidance, workplace teams typically face greater uncertainty and real-world consequences. Despite these differences, academic team projects provide valuable opportunities to practice collaboration and shared responsibility. This experience helped our team develop teamwork skills that will transfer directly to professional and organizational settings.

Team Building and Course Material

This team-building exercise aligns with Lewins Three-Stage Model of Change presented by Deszca, Ingols, and Cawsey (2020). The activity supported the unfreezing stage by helping reduce uncertainty and build trust among team members before beginning the project. Through open discussion about backgrounds, goals, and strengths, team members became more comfortable with one another, increasing openness and readiness to collaborate.

The exercise also helped prepare the team for the change stage by establishing clear communication and shared expectations early on. As the project progresses, the trust and relationships developed during this activity will help reinforce the refreezing stage through consistent collaboration and accountability. Overall, this experience demonstrated how relationship-building can support each stage of the change process and reinforced key course concepts by applying them in a practical team setting.

Conclusion

This team-building activity helped prepare our team for success on the TSI project by establishing trust, open communication, and a collaborative mindset early in the process. Taking time to connect outside of class allowed our team to work more effectively together by improving how we communicate, divide responsibilities, and support one another throughout the project. This experience also reinforced the importance of relationship-building during periods of change, a key theme from the course. The skills developed through this activitysuch as adaptability, accountability, and clear communicationwill transfer to both future coursework and professional settings, demonstrating that successful teamwork and change depend not only on structure and planning, but also on strong interpersonal connections.