You are upset by the recent decision of your company to cancel the annual team-building weekend. Write an article highlighting your reasons for disagreeing with the decision, which will be displayed on an internal communications noticeboard.
Team-building or Team breaking?
As everyone in our company should know, there is always a team-building weekend annually in which everyone in the company would take part in all kind of activities to reinforce team spirit. Though, for some reasons, our employer has decided to cancel this year’s team-building weekend. I am disappointed by such decision.
This team-building weekend allows us all to go out on a camp together. Playing ice-breaking games to welcome our new colleagues and gathering around the camp fire during night time to chit chat and enjoy our time definitely pull everyone closer and ultimately enhance our teamwork.
Firstly, as an employee working for this IT company, I realised that our workload is substantially larger than that in other companies. Each of us has an average of 9 hours of work time excluding overtime whereas if we sum it up, the total will be approximately 11.5 hours per day. When compared to our rivals who are only working for around 9.5 hours each day, this is undoubtedly stressing and distressing to the team. Therefore, this team-building weekend is much-needed. It does serve an entertainment purpose and is a means that significantly alleviates our pressure. It would also boost the team’s morale, upping our work performance in both quality and quantity and energizing us to provide our customers with the best service possible. However, if the team-building weekend is cancelled, not only would our stress continue accumulating, but it would also deucedly lower our productivity and even break a team apart as conflicts are likely to occur when team members are under enormous pressure and fail to cope with it properly.
Secondly, there are numerous fresh graduates joining our company and being assigned into different teams every year. Indeed, having new members in the team is fantastic, but due to the immense load of work and projects, we can barely get to know each other during working days. There were times when they were not on the same page as us, ending up in a re-do for the whole project. In previous years, this team-building weekend gave us a way and sufficient time to understand each teammate. Through games, we create a bond within the team and that helps a lot when we are working in cooperation.
I understand that this whole ‘team-building weekend’ idea might be seen as a waste of time and resources in the eyes of the management team. As they might see that the company should be a place to work, but not to play around. And for that, cancelling this annual event seems beneficial to the company. Nevertheless, the management team should put themselves into our shoes. I have received some feedback from colleagues and it seems to me that most of us are in favor of this event. The majority say that this team development activity has always been effective in boosting our confidence and morale, creating an irreplaceable bond in the team and relieving our stress. As employees are more devoted to their company and work, that would in turn be beneficial to the revenue of the company. Wouldn’t it be a pity if the event is cancelled?
No question asked, workplace should never be treated as a playground to joke around, however, this kind of event should be held every now and then to heighten teams’ morale and confidence. Therefore, I sincerely urge for a reconsideration of the decision made – the upcoming annual team-building weekend should not be cancelled.
6A Oscar Fong Ka Long