The transformative power of team challenges

One of the key features of Teamtonic is the ability to set and track team challenges.

If we believe so strongly in the power of challenges, it is because taking on a team challenge puts us directly into action while being accompanied by our peers. Indeed, neuroscience has taught us that the brain:

• benefits greatly from social interaction
• needs to make connections between short-term and long-term memory in order to consolidate learning and testing is an excellent technique for making these connections.

Having tested it with over 180 cohorts, we can assure you that team challenges are powerful gas pedals of learning and development.
But what makes a good challenge and how do you challenge yourself? That’s what we’ll cover today.

What is a team challenge?

Have you ever said, “If only we were better at… the impact of our team would be increased tenfold”? Do you believe that the strengths of your team could be better leveraged to help develop its members?

In a typical scenario, teams set improvement or development goals, implement an action plan, and schedule follow-up actions only to find out a few months later that they have made little or no progress. Déjà vu?

A team challenge makes the exercise more stimulating. We roll up our sleeves as a team, in the short term, in order to achieve concrete and satisfying results! And by doing so, we encourage the team’s autonomy and responsibility for its professional development! One stone, two blows.

How to target a good team challenge?

The first step in setting a team challenge is to choose the right one.

A good team challenge focuses on an important element on which the team would like to surpass itself. This can be the result of a brainstorming session, or it can be linked to the organization’s strategic orientations.

Looking for inspiration? Here are some examples of team challenges:

• Creating a team code as a team
• Identify new team rituals that make us different and proud to be part of our team
• Becoming the best at sharing feedback and recognition
• Create an environment where everyone can voice their opinions

If you’re looking for more, we’ve also put together a list of 28 team challenge ideas to explore for the coming year.

A good team challenge mobilizes and energizes teamwork. The more team members are involved in choosing the challenge, the better the mobilization!

What are the ingredients of a good team challenge?

To make the team challenge work, a good practice is to mention the individual strengths that will make the challenge successful and the derailers that may, instead, get in the way of the team.

Naming them makes it possible to be individually aware of them and to put in place an action plan to activate these strengths and mitigate the derailers. By sharing them, we also encourage mutual aid and each person is able to support the other in his or her efforts and difficulties while highlighting the good things that have been done.

Obviously, this sharing requires a certain climate of trust, collaboration and psychological security within the team. Paradoxically, the challenge also encourages the establishment of winning conditions. The first few shares may be discreet and a little less meaningful, but the further we go, the more we test our beliefs, the closer we get to the most transformative challenges as trust is built.

Finally, in order for a team challenge to be complete, it must be defined in time, follow-ups must be scheduled, and celebrations must be planned to give each other the desire to do it again!