8 Reasons to use StrengthsFinder for Team Building

Over the course of the year, there has been a great increase in the number of companies enquiring about our StrengthsFinder Team Building Program. This article was written especially for Team Leaders and those in Human Resource Management, who are always looking out for team building programs that could be beneficial to their teams and organization.

Based on our experience and the feedback of participants of our team building workshops, I list 8 reasons that a StrengthsFinder workshop might just be the ideal Team Building Program for a team or an organization to consider. 

1. It's incredibly uplifting!

How often do people have the opportunity to hear their colleagues affirm them for their strengths?

Leveraging on the Strengths Language, which is derived from the field of positive psychology, the conversations that take place can powerfully build up the morale of the team. These conversations in the StrengthsFinder workshop revolve around what is right with people rather than what is wrong. In many work cultures, affirmation and encouragement are often in deficit. Through the StrengthsFinder workshop, team members receive a much needed morale boost. The overall morale of a team has been observed to be greatly heightened after a StrengthsFinder team building workshop. 

2. A Conversation Can Lead to a New Partnership

"It all begins with a conversation." As cliche as it sounds, new partnerships can be formed through a conversation on how different strengths can complement each other. It is one thing to discover why certain people work well together. It is another to intentionally build partnerships that revolve around different complementary strengths.

3. Knowledge-Based Learning

Most team building activities are interactive and fun in nature and our StrengthsFinder workshops are no different. One thing that stands out about a Strengthsfinder Team building workshop is the extra dimension of knowledge-based learning. This is usually missing from the usual one-off team building bowling sessions or laser quest missions.

A well-facilitated StrengthsFinder workshop empowers and equips participants with practical handles on how to move forward with the knowledge gained. These handles allow the different team members to build on the positive energy gained from the workshop. Feedback from many participants have shown us that the strengths conversations that carry on after the Strengthsfinder workshop usually transmit into greater synergy in the workplace.

4. Increase in An Individual's Self-Confidence and Self-Awareness

A well facilitated StrengthsFinder session is not only fun but participants leave with a greater level of self-awareness. The knowledge gained from understanding their own strengths and the strengths of their colleagues gives people a renewed sense of confidence in themselves and the team.

5. Understand How Strengths Cause Conflicts

A StrengthsFinder team building workshop helps participants understand how certain strengths among team members can clash and turn into potential conflicts. This usually helps people to understand how certain conflicts are non-personal in nature and are really a result of different perspectives. A StrengthsFinder workshop can provide participants with very effective handles on how to manage and resolve conflicts that happen in the team.

6. A Long Term Strategic Investment

A StrengthsFinder team building workshop is a long-term strategic investment for companies compared to one-off bonding sessions. Strategies to manage teams can become more specific and hence more productive. When we know the different strengths of the team members, strategies devised can be more targeted, especially in complex work environments.

It is often observed that after a StrengthsFinder team building workshop, many leaders take up the follow-up recommendation to receive individualized coaching. Often the purpose of the Strengths Coaching session is to learn more about how to leverage the different strengths of the team members to grow team performance. This is one opportunity that can be captured after a StrengthsFinder team building workshop.

7. A Practical Alternative for Large Groups

A StrengthsFinder session provides a strong and practical alternative whenever a team building activity needs to accommodate participants of a wide age range (or with vastly different physical fitness levels). A StrengthsFinder workshop usually takes place indoors. While the activities are interactive and fun, they are not physical in nature and do not require any additional insurance liability coverage. 

8. Understanding Human Relationships

The most common piece of feedback from participants who have attended our StrengthsFinder Team Building Workshops comes down to understanding human relationships. "You learn to withhold your judgement because you now see a person for who they are and you learn to accept them.”

This is immensely transforming for any kind of human relationship!

 Testimonials from Leaders who used StrengthsFinder for team building:

"The StrengthsFinder workshop went down very well with everyone and it struck me that was a near-perfect and flawless session. The session was very balanced, well-paced and well-organized. The session was peppered with personal (and often hilarious) anecdotes that the team found to be very helpful and relevant. Personally, understanding my own strengths and those of my team has helped to make sense of some of the behaviours from my team members and myself and caused me to make adjustments to some of the ways I interact with my team."
Wong Rin Rin | Legal Director & Associate General Counsel, Asia Pacific | Adobe Systems Pte Ltd

"The StrengthsFinder workshop was excellent and the feedback from all the team members was that it was one of the most valuable workshops they have been a part of. The concepts and team exercises certainly helped the teams to grasp the strength-based thinking, as well as enabled the team leads to get a closer view of their team dynamics, diversity and strengths." 
Saurabh Mandal | Head – Supply Chain | VF Brands India Pvt Ltd

"As a leader, I benefitted from understanding the team’s strengths and am glad that the team bonded from the workshop. The team really enjoyed the session. I will recommend this workshop to the other departments. It is beneficial to our personal lives as well as professional lives. Great job!"
Corrine Ee | Head of Distribution | AIA

"The greatest benefit for me was to understand and start appreciating different talents of different individuals. That enables me to work better towards common goals. I find this workshop interactive, comprehensive and lively! I rate this workshop a 10/10!"
Michael Wu | Chief Financial Officer | Remy Cointreau

"This workshop helped me understand the team differences and what makes each person unique and what we have in common. I think this leadership program is a great one and I highly recommend it for leaders & teams."
Richa Goswami | Head of Digital, Asia Pacific | Johnson & Johnson

 

What do our Strengths School workshops look like?

Check Out our corporate video:

 

Fun & Interactive, focusing on participation & engagement

Expressing Strengths Creatively

Genuine & Deep Conversations

Strengths Art Wall™ 

Communicating about our strengths

Teambuilding that goes deep within a department

A picture paints a thousand words

Large & Small Group Discussions

Teambuilding that spreads across different departments

Written by Victor Seet

Activator • Communication • Strategic • Self-Assurance • Command

As a Gallup certified StrengthsFinder coach, Victor is passionate about strengths engagement and now runs his own training company, Strengths School™. He has been actively giving StrengthsFinder leadership and team building workshops to businesses and schools in Singapore as well as Hong Kong, China (Nanjing and Shanghai) and India. He also writes frequently on his blog (victor-seet.com).