Plan regular activities away from work for the team to practice being a team.

Team-building is enriched by placing members in an environment other than the work setting to develop the emotional, social, physical, and intellectual parts of the team.

The work environment is usually very sterile. We only experience each other in a one-dimensional way; so many aspects of our personality are never displayed in the office. Take your team members off on retreat to climb a mountain, row a boat, play a game of ball, or camp out, or lead them to take on a benevolence project or other extra-office activity. In doing so, you will give them a chance to see other sides of who they are and to use that information constructively in the workplace. The history and experiences we build in a relationship help us to work through problem solving, communication, and conflict resolution in a time of crisis.