Team building in companies: a postmodern evolution between sport and human resources management
This article seeks to understand how team building services are structured and what the main factors influencing them are. We first identified changes in values associated with sport and its use in postmodern society. We conducted four semi-structured interviews with professionals from a company that provides team building activities. The results of this qualitative survey show that team building seems to follow trends associated with postmodern sport. Thus, the pursuit of pleasure, fun, and well-being appear to be central concepts in team building offerings. Changes in human resources management, particularly participatory management, also seem to contribute to the evolution of team building in terms of its forms and objectives. There is a desire to involve employees and create bonds between them through collaborative activities aimed at bringing them together.
Team building is a practice that revolves around various components: the company, sports, and human resources management. It is therefore influenced by developments in these different areas and the interactions that take place between them.
To define it, according to Vernazobres (2012), team building is a practice similar to coaching: more specifically, it involves collective support. It is based on the definition established by Syntec Conseil in 2006: "a concentrated effort over a short period of time and used on an ad hoc basis [...] to build an effective team dynamic."
However, team building has undergone many changes since its inception and earliest forms. Initially, corporate sports became more widespread after World War II: they were mainly corporate and driven by the involvement of works councils. Then, during the 1980s, corporate sports evolved and took the form of inter- and intra-company sports competitions such as the Cross du Figaro, the Challenge du Lys, and the Cross des Violettes in Toulouse (Barbusse, 2009).
At the same time, sports activities that are practiced outside of competition are gradually emerging: it is in this context that outdoor training courses are emerging as the first form of non-competitive sporting events and activities within companies. Combining the values of challenge, extreme sports, and adventure, these courses were quickly criticized in the 1990s and seen as a sneaky way to evaluate and select employees by undermining their physical and psychological integrity (Julien Pierre and Tribou, 2013). This led to the emergence of new terms, widely used today and with a more promotional purpose: incentive and team-building (Burlot and Pichot, 2004).
Furthermore, beyond sports and their place within organizations, the internal functioning of companies has also changed. Looking back, the modern era placed the individual at the center of society and work, particularly in order to meet performance requirements (division of labor, individual objectives). However, individualism no longer seems to correspond to the new ways in which companies operate and to new human relationships (Lacan, 2016).
New managerial practices are gradually emerging, based on a change in hierarchical relationships and interpersonal relations among workers. The term "participatory" is thus used in new methods of management and the exercise of authority (Ehrenberg, 1999). From a postmodern perspective, management is equated with the ability of managers to adapt to their team, tinkering with their tools to improve a situation, satisfy everyone's interests, and ensure the company's performance (Lacan, 2016). Furthermore, the managerial practices of the modern period are now obsolete due to the abandonment of the myth of progress in the consciousness of individuals (Ibid.). It is no longer a question of succeeding in one's career at all costs in order to succeed in life. The sacrifices and efforts required at work in order to progress within the company no longer seem sufficient for employees' fulfillment. Thus, since the 2000s, we have seen the emergence of a new concern for business leaders: well-being at work. Here we find the notion of hedonism, central to postmodernity, even in the professional environment. This is reflected, on the one hand, in changes in hierarchical relationships (moving towards a more horizontal, peer-to-peer relationship) and, on the other hand, in the adoption of a managerial approach focused on kindness, listening, and understanding employees (Ibid.). The concern for quality of life at work will therefore prove fundamental in postmodernity, and team building, by providing a shared emotional experience for a group of employees, could help to improve collaboration among members of the company and create a sense of belonging. Indeed, for a person to feel that they belong to a group or collective, the community dimension cannot arise on its own; it must be organized. Lacan (2016) therefore identifies the manager as responsible for leading their team. In postmodernity, the manager-facilitator must themselves create the conditions for cooperation among their team members, for example by carrying out a joint project that takes everyone's interests into account (Ibid.). Here, we can think of team building and its collaborative activities, where everyone's involvement and skills are necessary to achieve a common goal.
For our study, we also need to consider team building in light of current HRM practices, which are marked by postmodern values. One of these values is the pursuit of "self-fulfillment and personal development in the moment and the present, experienced in all [its] intensity" (Maffesoli, 2011, p.14). Team building could be likened to a social group in which participants are connected by emotional ties and shared experiences. From a postmodern perspective, the fleeting destiny to which people are collectively subjected is more important than the history that is contractually written with others (Lacan, 2016). We can draw a parallel here with our subject of study, team building, since it takes the form of an activity chosen in advance by the manager, to which a group of employees is subjected for a fixed period of time, most often a few hours. The question here is whether these notions of shared experiences and emotions are fully integrated into the team-building offerings on the market.
Team building, as a management tool that brings individuals together to share experiences, could therefore be influenced by postmodern values (collaboration, hedonism, emotion, experience). This therefore presents a real challenge for professionals in the sector who are seeking to offer programs whose form and content respond both to current sporting tastes and to the forms of HRM and management that prevail today.
This article seeks to explain how developments in sports and human resources management practices, which are trending toward postmodernity, contribute to the structuring of team-building offerings. On the one hand, we are seeing transformations in sports and a different, more postmodern integration of sports into team-building retreat offerings. Next, we will see how
Human resource management practices have changed since the 1990s, and how they also influence the development of team-building programs.
Methodology
We took the perspective of team building professionals and conducted four semi-structured interviews with four employees of a team building service provider. As the interviewees did not wish to remain anonymous, we will refer to them by their first names. The aim was to gather the perspectives of these employees, who all hold different positions within the company: sales representative (Maéva), project manager (Adrien), communications officer (Sarah), and sales manager (Massimo). This allowed us to interview those who design, sell, facilitate, and communicate the team-building programs offered by the company in question.
We chose to interview Maéva because she has been with the group the longest. As such, she has a clear understanding of the changes that have taken place in the requests of the clients she regularly approaches. She is also present in the field, as she leads the team-building activities on the day they take place. This gives us a clear picture of how the activities are carried out on the day and how they are received: emotions, customer feedback, feelings. Adrien, project manager, has been involved in creating several team-building programs that the company has then included in its catalog and marketed to customers. It is therefore important to ask him questions in order to understand how he designs team-building activities and customizes them according to his customers' expectations. We then chose to talk to Sarah, communications manager. She is constantly monitoring the competition in order to understand market requirements and expected developments in terms of team-building activities. We were able to understand what, in her opinion, helps to attract customers and convince them to choose a particular team-building program, and what uses of team building and sport are expected in companies today. Finally, Massimo, sales manager, was an interesting subject because he deals with a more "upscale" and "luxury" clientele. We were interested to see whether the trends in collaborative team-building programs, which are predominantly fun and recreational, also apply to this type of clientele.
The interview method used in this research was semi-structured. It was important to structure the data collection process while providing a flexible framework for the respondents, particularly through the use of an interview guide. Our aim was to guide the interviewees through the main themes of our study using open-ended questions and to let them speak freely in order to gather as much data as possible.
The aim was to highlight the changes that have shaped team building, in terms of its form, objectives, values and, finally, its uses. Our interview guide covered three main topics: team building in general (definition, forms, objectives, values), customer behavior (type of activity desired, concept of experience, feelings), and the team building activities offered specifically by the service provider (the most successful ones, strengths, weaknesses, current trends). It should be noted that, having already worked alongside all of the interviewees, a relationship of trust had already been established with them before we made contact. The interviews took place either in person, at a location chosen by the interviewee, or by videoconference (for one of the subjects). The interviews lasted between 26 minutes and 1 hour, depending on the time each interviewee was able to give us. Sarah was the most pressed for time and gave us a Skype interview during her lunch break, which is why the conversation could not go beyond 26 minutes.
As part of our study, we chose to conduct a thematic analysis by reducing the data. By recording each interview with a dictaphone, we were able to transcribe all of the data collected. From the verbatim transcripts, we identified three themes that encompassed the comments collected: team-building programs and their specific characteristics, the postmodern values associated with them (emotions, experiences, collaboration), and the values of modern sport (competition, challenge). The qualitative data obtained provides a better understanding of the structure of team-building offerings and the changes that have taken place according to our respondents. Postmodern values and the evolution of management methods in companies have enabled us to better understand the challenges of this HRM tool.
Team building influenced by changes in sports practices
Postmodern sport: a search for emotions, sensations, experiences
Sport in the workplace has evolved in line with the transition from a modern society to one with so-called "postmodern" values. Thus, it is the hedonistic values of well-being, self-fulfillment, and a taste for leisure that seem to be at the heart of our postmodern democratic society (Roederer and Filser, 2015). Sport is therefore no longer a competitive activity but must, above all, satisfy a hedonistic quest that combines play and pleasure (Lacassagne et al., 2006 ).
The literature identifies "modern" sport—focused on performance, challenge, and victory—as being out of step with the concerns and expectations of the public in the late 1970s. The needs of the individual in the postmodern era are associated with notions of playfulness, emotions, and sensations (Corneloup, 2011). Today, team-building professionals are designing and marketing more programs that provide enjoyment and fun without constraints. Maéva tells us, "We want to move towards something else, activities that are more fun and enjoyable." "You have team building, and now it's more about pleasure, fun, and playfulness, where we get them to participate in a convivial moment that they wouldn't normally experience otherwise," explains Massimo, sales manager. This reflects a characteristic of postmodern sport: quick access to thrills, complete autonomy with few constraints, in contrast to the federal approach (Gaubert, 2012) that predominates in modern society. Companies specializing in team building seem to be following these trends by offering "original, playful, fun" activities that guarantee employees a good time. All of our subjects, whether they are responsible for designing team-building programs, marketing them, communicating about them, or facilitating them during events, say they create programs based on fun and playfulness. "It's true that we are also asked for activities without too many constraints; with this aspect, they want to have fun and enjoy themselves. In open, it's free access, always with a common thread, but free access," says Adrien, Project Manager.
"Today, we are receiving more and more requests for activities that don't involve any kind of challenge, simply to bring teams together, reward them, and just share a moment of relaxation and fun," adds Sarah, communications manager.
In postmodernity, sport is a means of experiencing a multitude of physical, spatial, temporal, and social experiences through "practices described as hedonistic, playful, aesthetic, and individual" (Lacassagne et al., 2004, p.99). Our interviews show that these concepts are fundamental for team-building professionals, who largely base their thinking and program design on experience. "You come back from team building and say to your kid: 'Dad ate a scorpion' or 'they had a good laugh playing giant foosball [...] they took photos in front of it, it's huge, it's 8 meters long, it's memorable stuff,'" reveals Adrien, a project manager. But also, "Something out of the ordinary can be, for example, simply a seminar in an iconic location... The last time we did an extraordinary seminar for them, for example, you left Marseille to go to Degbay Island because it's a magical place that you can privatize, and so that's it, it's the location that's extraordinary in principle," (Maéva, sales representative).
According to the literature on experiential consumption, consumers "seek immersive experiences in themed settings rather than simply encountering finished products" (Cova and Cova, 2004, p.5). This characteristic came up repeatedly in the comments of our respondents, who emphasized the importance of the experience gained during team building. This can be reflected, for example, in the location of the activity: the natural environment, exceptional landscapes, immersion in a particular universe. The term "world" refers to all the scenery, activities, and props used during a team-building activity to "immerse clients in a world" using strong themes. The qualities of the facilitators in the field during team-building days also contribute to the creation of this universe. Indeed, one of the respondents emphasizes the importance of the "human" aspect in the ability to bring an experience to life for the customer: they will remember above all the person who brought their team-building activity to life and the moment they experienced thanks to them.
Furthermore, we must consider the relationship with competition. For the authors, recreational sport, although a source of well-being, pleasure, and excitement for individuals, is not necessarily detached from competition in French society, which then takes on a more hedonistic dimension. Thus, we can note that "in its postmodern aspect, sport incorporates training and competition as a source of pleasure and relaxation" (Lacassage et al., 2004 , p.106). Similarly, as mentioned by our subjects, participants in team building activities may themselves compete in certain cases. We note that when a group of salespeople from the same company is present, the competitive aspect will take precedence over the desire to have fun. Here, the challenge is to win the event or earn the most points at the end of the day. With this particular audience, team building programs will include an awards ceremony at the end of the activity, with a podium and a prize for the winning team.
We can see that developments in team-building offerings in terms of form and associated values can be similar to what has happened with sport itself. The offering is therefore largely built around the postmodern values of pleasure, fun, and experience, but it remains difficult to standardize for all types of customers and situations. Thus, changes in the way people practice sports alone are not enough to explain the breadth of what is available on the team-building market today.
The use of sport in the workplace and its values
According to the literature, companies integrate sport to meet multiple objectives. Through sports, companies primarily seek to help employees adapt to the competitive environment of the company, its pace, and its organization. In this way, through sports competition and the pursuit of performance, managers seek to prepare for "economic competition" (Barbusse, 2002, p. 20). For his part, Pierre (2011) highlights the values inspired by the competitive aspect of sport, namely: surpassing oneself, dedication, self-sacrifice and courage, all of which tend to encourage employees to improve their performance. We can quote the words of a company director that he includes in one of his works: "In the month following [a team-building activity], teams manage to exceed their targets by 50%" (Pierre, 2011, p. 49). There would therefore appear to be a clear link between team building and the productivity of employees when they return to the company.
However, we have seen previously that a certain change has taken place in the values associated with sport: victory, ranking, and hierarchy (Corneloup, 2011) are concepts associated with traditional modern sports. On the other hand, postmodern sport aims to be closer to the concepts of leisure and pleasure. In light of our study, it is interesting to note that this change also seems to apply to team building and how it is used by managers. Sport should be viewed here as a tool for cohesion: employees would thus be more involved and more mentally and physically energized (Barbusse, 2002). According to the results of our survey and the comments of our respondents, most organizations today define team building as a means of uniting their employees, bringing them together, and creating bonds. We are therefore faced with new challenges that modern competitive sport has so far ignored. "What they expect from team building, because that's the only word that keeps coming up, is really to rebuild bonds [...] to unite teams and bring employees together" (Maéva, sales representative). In fact, team-building providers are sometimes themselves involved in this cohesion by "creating the teams themselves." This has the effect of mixing all individuals and encouraging sharing and interaction between all members.
Sport is recognized for its ability to motivate employees in their work by offering them high-performance sporting activities as a reward (Pierre et al., 2010). During our survey, although the subjects mentioned these reward activities as a way of motivating employees, they were all activities without any notion of challenge or performance. They talked about fun activities designed to please and reward deserving employees. Sport is seen as a source of motivation that is also used in team building, but in different forms, with the pursuit of pleasure and fun that we recognize in postmodernity. Let's take the comments of one of our respondents as an example: "For the incentive aspect, we offer employees catamaran trips or kayaking trips, but these are more like activities where there is no notion of challenge at all," according to Maéva, a sales representative. A second respondent confirms this idea when discussing a reward activity for a company's top salespeople. Adrien, a project manager, explains:
"In this case, we're talking more about incentives, and we're going to go with perhaps a catamaran trip along the coast with a small barbecue on board and an open bar ." Here again, while these activities are intended to further motivate salespeople, they seem to be based solely on relaxation and leisure.
Our survey showed that team-building programs were based on collaborative activities in which each individual was required to participate. Providers created programs that did not involve earning points or one team of employees dominating another, but rather activities that required reflection and construction, in which everyone had to work together to achieve a common goal with their entire team. According to Massimo, a sales manager, "[...] a team-building exercise for around 100 people, where everyone works on a part of the process, and at the end we link all the workshops together, creating a participatory event that builds bonds between everyone. This notion of team challenges is becoming less and less common, in favor of collaborative work on part of a common project. " But also, "we are getting more and more briefings that are geared towards collaboration rather than challenge [...] we are increasingly being asked not to do this in a confrontational way, but in a collaborative way [...] The aim of the game is for them to work towards a common goal" (Adrien, project manager).
To better understand the differences between a team-building program based on competition and one that is more collaborative, we can examine two product descriptions from the service provider's commercial brochure . The first program, "Les aventuriers d'Anahita" (The Adventurers of Anahita) (see illustration 1), lasts half a day and is classified as a sports and adventure activity. Employees are divided into teams and compete in various games (skill, strength, speed, strategy) to earn the most points. The team building event concludes with a final between the three best teams, with a medal and prize awarded to the winning team. Here we see the values associated with modern sport, challenge and competition.
The second program, the "Building Party" (see illustration 2), is structured around several activity hubs, which teams of employees choose to visit based on their skills. There are also different types of games, but the goal is to collect as many Kapla blocks as possible (rather than points) to build the tallest tower at the end of the activity. Everyone is therefore responsible for achieving the common goal, and the teams do not compete directly with each other. At the end of the team building event, all participants receive a medal or prize chosen by the company. The idea is not to impose anything on the participants: they choose which activities they want to take part in and must make the most of each other's strengths to achieve the goal.
Apart from the values associated with sports and the expected effects thereof, other findings have contributed to our study and improved our understanding of team building.
Human resources management and team building procedures
More participatory management
Sport in the workplace was initially used to achieve managerial objectives in response to emerging economic, social, and psychological challenges. One example is the widespread use of teamwork in companies since the 1990s (Egley et al., 2005 ). All the individuals who make up a team have different ages, professional cultures, and values, and are forced to interact in a very specific space: the workplace. There is therefore a significant risk of conflicts developing (Brunet, 2006).
Here we see the need to rethink traditional management methods. This is the emergence of participatory management and the gradual abandonment of discipline as the main means used to manage employees and drive them to efficiency (Ehrenberg, 1999). The idea is to "transform workers into entrepreneurs of their own tasks" (Ehrenberg, 1999, p. 224) in favor of involvement and greater autonomy. "Participative management, as a management method and mode of exercising authority, is the focus of managers' concerns today" (Ibid., p. 223). Team-building programs can be seen as an expression of this form of participative management. Indeed, they offer a different source of motivation for employees by making them active participants in the activity. As an example, the subjects discuss the case of a group of salespeople who take part in an electric Mehari or catamaran trip. These are activities that the company studied includes in its commercial offering for its business customers. Here, the aim of these activities is to motivate the company's best salespeople by rewarding them without any notion of challenge. They will enjoy an activity based entirely on relaxation and leisure, but this time away from their daily work routine may help to motivate the employees who have been offered the activity in question. In this context, team building and sport are seen as ways of accepting unpredictability in entertainment and a response to the search for economic efficiency and staff motivation (Ibid.). For one of the professionals in the sector interviewed (Adrien), the motivation gained from team building remains linked to performance objectives: "if we can combine relaxation with the concepts of group performance, it's always a win-win situation for managers."
Participatory management, which introduces the concept of responsibility, setting aside the obedience of previous management models, is facilitated by sport and the values it conveys (Barbusse, 2002). Team building activities could therefore be designed to promote the sharing of values between the company and its employees, as well as to create a common experience and background for them. Sport itself promotes values such as cohesion, community, team spirit, solidarity, and integration (Pierre, 2011). The use of sport therefore seems to be a good way to manage individuals in a new society and to convey to them what the company wants them to internalize. In this regard, we mentioned above the creation of bonds between employees, the unifying dimension of team building, and its ability to improve cohesion between individuals: dimensions that were raised by all our respondents. Team building therefore seems relevant for developing a sense of belonging to the company.
New management methods, particularly the introduction of participatory management, are influencing the team building market and the services offered within it. Team building programs must incorporate these new challenges by offering relaxing and enjoyable activities that will motivate employees, encourage them to embrace a vision, and more generally, the company culture. When employees feel closer to their managers and their organization, they will be more involved and motivated in their work.
Focus on employee well-being
Since Mayo's Human Relations Theory (1939), it has been accepted that employees who feel valued by their company and who feel emotionally connected to it will be more effective in their work because they are more satisfied. Employees now appear to be more receptive to an approach based on feelings than on the pursuit of ever-increasing economic profitability, which is of no interest to their satisfaction or motivation.
Our postmodern society is known to cause physical problems (musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease) and mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and the risk of burnout (Barbusse, 2002).
The issue of well-being is also raised by postmodern society, in which people seek physical and mental balance through sport (Lacassagne et al., 2006 ). This concept also allows companies to show that they care about their employees and their well-being.
Massimo, sales manager, explains, "I've noticed a shift towards well-being in the workplace, with companies organizing yoga sessions, gentle wake-up sessions, and perhaps even massages. These values are becoming increasingly popular, in my experience." Sarah, communications manager, emphasizes, "Shared values and relationships between employees are important factors in their well-being and their commitment to the company."
For the company, it is also an effective way to minimize absenteeism and staff fatigue, which can be counterproductive (Barbusse, 2002) and could result from these conditions. The changes undergone by society and new management methods, particularly participatory management, which highlights employees' feelings and satisfaction, as well as the benefits of sport (a vehicle for values, commitment, and well-being), make team-building management a new and effective tool that is becoming increasingly widespread among HRM practices. These new concerns are playing a major role in shaping the team-building offering.
Conclusion
Our survey has revealed certain developments in team building. These developments appear to be driven by changing values associated with sport. We have observed a rise in leisure activities and a search for fun and enjoyment, which seems to be reflected in our field of study. The concepts of experience and emotions are also important in team building activities, as they can enable employees to create shared experiences and forge bonds that will continue once they return to the workplace. With postmodernity, team building seems to be undergoing the same changes as sport, moving away from the pursuit of performance and competition towards fun activities based on enjoyment. Furthermore, emotions experienced together, in the present and in a given place (for example, during a team-building day), predominate in postmodernity.
In addition to a change in the use of sport and its values, postmodernity has also seen the emergence of new management methods. We now talk about manager-facilitators, who are responsible for encouraging cooperation among their team members, for example through the completion of a joint project (Lacan, 2016). The term "collaboration" has come up several times in the comments of professionals who note that clients are requesting team-building activities that allow participants to get involved in order to work toward a "common project" (Massimo) or "a common goal" (Adrien). Corporate management is also influenced by the importance placed on well-being. It seems that companies are beginning to understand that employees want to take care of themselves and wish to contribute, through their practices, to their fulfillment in the professional sphere (Lacan, 2016).
With regard to today's forms of team building, our study suggests more "collaborative" activities that allow people to enjoy experiences and emotions, mirroring the shift in sports toward more hedonistic values of pleasure and well-being. We are therefore considering activities that encourage interaction and discussion between individuals, and where everyone's skills are essential to achieving a common goal. Based on our study, creative and construction programs with freely accessible multi-activity workshops seem to be in line with postmodern trends. In this form, team building would address an important concern for managers: bringing employees together and improving their relationships within the company.
Finally, based on this survey, we could consider a new avenue of research. With regard to today's forms of team building, our study suggests more "collaborative" activities that allow people to enjoy experiences and emotions, mirroring the shift in sports toward more hedonistic values of pleasure and well-being. In this way, we are thinking of activities that promote exchanges between individuals and discussions, and where everyone's skills are essential to achieving a common goal. Based on our study, creative and construction programs with freely accessible multi-activity workshops seem to be in line with postmodern trends. In this form, team building would address an important concern for managers: bringing employees together and improving their relationships within the company.
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