The business case for Team Building

Is 2026 the year to invest properly in team building?

Over the past few years, business has become a tougher place. Hybrid working, rising expectations, squeezed budgets, increasing tax burdens, price rises, global uncertainty and the relentless demand to do more with less have put pressure on teams like never before. When people are under pressure, the frustrations and cracks show through in the form of communication break downs, relationship issues, silos, dis-engagement and lower performance and such like.

In this environment, leaders often focus on tech, process or cost cutting, in part because its easier, less personal. Sadly one thing that is consistently overlooked is teams and team work. The effectiveness of your people, how well they communicate, collaborate, problem solve, trust each other and work together is still the single biggest variable in whether a business thrives or struggles. Note McConnon ‘its people who drive a business forwards, slow it down or even put it in reverse’

McKinsey research shows that high performing teams outperform average ones by up to 50% or more, and Gallup has long reported that strong teams lead to dramatically higher productivity, retention and wellbeing. Human beings are social creatures and we work better when we feel connected, valued and part of something that matters. And as per for cliché (or truism), when teams work, business works.

Yet too many organisations still treat team building as a tick box day out, an optional ‘nice to have and a cost rather than investment.

It isn’t because in 2026, team performance is likely to be a strategic advantage.

Hybrid working has changed everything

A team that meets once a week on Zoom is not a team, it’s more akin to a group of individuals working in parallel. What we’ve gained in flexibility since covid, we’ve lost in cohesion.

I often hear from leaders and managers that…

• People feel disconnected.

• Communication seems harder.

• We’ve lost some spark.

• We don’t challenge each other as well.

• Things fall through the cracks.

Are they right? Remote, hybrid working or work from anywhere require new skills including deeper communication, clearer alignment and more intentional collaboration. These need to be designed, developed and nurtured because no matter how much you hope, they don’t happen by accident.

A well designed team building event, team development programme or facilitated session can (start to) rebuild the glue that holds people together. It can help to reconnect people to their vision or purpose, their colleagues and the business itself.

Why team building now?

When times are good, teams can hide dysfunction, they can ignore issues and financially they cover costs and losses of poor leaders and such like.

When times are tough, it becomes very visible, very quickly and there is not the financial fat available to cover up or carry poor team work, leaders, culture and rthe like.

In 2026, businesses will be navigating:

• Increased tax burdens, inc NI increases in UK

• Higher operating costs

• Increased customer expectations

• Continuous market disruption

• Productivity stagnation

• A workforce that wants meaning, connection, training, opportunities and purpose

This environment demands better performance from teams, more understanding, connection and collaboration, not simply harder or more work.

High(er) performing teams demonstrate and are proven to be more productive, resilient, accountable, engaged (in the right things) and innovative, they are better and quicker at problem solving and decision making.

Interesting, and perhaps crucially in this day and age, these higher performing teams cost less to run because cohesive, aligned teams wastes less time, energy and emotional bandwidth, they drop less balls are better placed to take advantage of opportunities.

Not investing in your team is like not maintaining or servicing your car. Sooner or later, something breaks and the cost of a break down is far higher than regular care or maintenance would have been.

Not all team building is the same

One of the biggest problems in this industry is that everything gets labelled as team building, from inflatable games to deep strategic facilitation. They are not the same and leaders who treat them as interchangeable waste time, money and opportunity, frustrate employees and wont get the desired results.

Here’s three levels of team intervention to consider -

1. Team Bonding – Fun, energy and connection

Can be great for morale, likely to create good memories. Team bonding helps people relax, laugh and spend time together outside the normal pressures of work.

Activities might include:

• Outdoor challenges

• Drumming workshops

• Inflatable fun

• Light problem solving tasks

• Shared experiences, food, sport or play

These events are not designed to fix deeper issues and that’s fine. Their purpose is a day out together, fun and connection which is not to be ignored.

These activities won’t magically improve communication, accountability or performance, and should not be sold or bought as such.

2. Team Building – Skills, communication and collaboration

This level introduces facilitated discussion, structured activities (many of which can be from the fun section, such as Escape Rooms, Bridge Building…) and deeper reflection.

Good team building helps people to explore….

• How they communicate

• How they solve problems

• How they organise themselves

• Their strengths, preferences and differences

• How they handle frustrations or pressure

• How they work as a group and how they want to

This is where people start noticing their ‘hits and hurdles’ of what’s working and what’s getting in the way. These sessions can practical, useful and often eye opening.

But even this type of structured session is different from…

3. Team Development – business facilitation, development , real issues and results

This is the higher level where the transformation and value sits. Team development focuses on the real work of the team and relates to their needs, challenges and opportunities specifically, these include, but are not limited to…. 

• Strategy

• Culture

• Performance

• Decision making

• Conflict, stages of conflict and conflict resolution

• Communication on subjects that actually matter (inc coaching or difficult conversations)

• Problem solving around real business challenges and opportunities

• Behaviours and mindset

• Accountability, ownership and alignment

This requires a skilled and experience facilitator not someone just running activities, but someone able to decode dynamics, draw out the truth or reality, challenge constructively and help create psychological safety for useful conversations to happen more effectively.

Team development can be transformational, at all levels of the business and especially for leadership teams. I’ve delivered sessions for SLTs, directors and boards across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the Far East and a few in USA. These sessions change clarity, behaviour, communication and ultimately business results for good.

A fun activity might talk about the importance of communication, but a well facilitated session will help people communicate about the things that they never normally talk about – and often want to – like the difficult stuff, the hidden stuff and the really valuable stuff that can transform people, performance, teams, fortune and success.

The business case -  better teams = better business

Team building is an investment, indeed it may be the best invest you make, it makes great business sense for all concerned. Better teams and team work directly impact many KPIs and metrics that businesses want, and some of these will be on the P&L:

• Productivity

• Retention

• Customer satisfaction

• Innovation

• Profit

• Culture

• Trust

• Psychological safety

• Accountability

• Speed of problem solving

Dysfunctional teams that we come across tend to create

• Silos

• Misunderstanding

• Conflict

• Low morale

• Wasted time

• Rework

• Frustration

• Slow decisions

• Poor execution

The cost of not investing in your team(s) is higher than ever and businesses can no longer afford to cover this up with spare resources or cash.

Choose your team provider carefully

Too many companies sell what they want to deliver, a package they have or a van full of kit that’s convenient, tried and tests, but not what you actually need. The simplest advice I can give leaders is: Start with the need, not the activity.

What does your business require right now?What does your team hope for, struggle with, fear or require?What will make the biggest difference to performance?

Then choose a provider who can deliver that, please do not pick the cheapest, not the closest, not the quickest nor he one that’s a cheap venue with free ‘two course’ lunch as an incentive to book .

The right investment in people always pays back.

Why work with me, PJ Stevens?

I bring three decades of experience across industries, countries and cultures, helping leaders and teams to:

• Improve performance

• Build trust

• Break silos

• Develop leaders and leadership

• Strengthen culture

• Solve problems

• Communicate honestly

• Align around mission and purpose

• Deliver results more efficiently

I’ve facilitated team events, conferences and workshops in the UK, Europe, Middle East, USA, Far East and North Africa across all levels of teams from warehouse, call centre and retail to senior leadership teams, C-Suite and board level. Whether you need energy and creativity or deep, serious strategic work, I bring clarity, challenge, humour and a commitment to helping you build a better team and better business.

2026 is the year to invest in teams

Because the world isn’t getting easier, people need connection and performance matters more, because teams are the engine of your business.

Without investment, frustrations don’t just disappear and things won’t magically improve.

If you want stronger relationships, better communication, more alignment and a team capable of delivering high(er) performance, then plan your team building and team development sessions with care and attention.