Team building workshops are organized training sessions that emphasize learning skills that will enable a group to work together despite differences, cultivate an atmosphere of acceptance and promote performance goals. Every group can participate in team building workshops, from Boy Scouts to an entire company.

A team is defined as a group that is organized for the purpose of working together towards a common goal. Team building workshops first began in the 1920s, when Elton Mayo (human relations expert) studied the relationship between people int he workplace and identified certain personality traits and feelings that enabled workers to be more productive, such as self-respect and recognition/self-worth. The next 20 years resulted in studies by other groups that supported the fact that team effectiveness improved productivity and Abraham Maslow's famous "hierarchy of needs" became common knowledge. Industry giant General Foods was one of the first to promote team building training in the 1950s and the early workshops proved successful. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, companies such as Saab, Xerox and Pratt & Whitney continued to perfect the formula for effective team building workshops. Today's team building workshops are a mainstream in modern corporate America, and they are even used to forge stronger bonds with non-corporate groups, such as individual families and teen organizations.

To build an effective team through team building workshops, the first step is to learn about each person in the team. It involves identifying team members as distinct individuals with basic needs as well as learning a little about both their personal and business backgrounds. The second step is to build relationships through trust. Many workshops organize games or friendly competitions that encourage participants to rely on each other or require each team member to contribute to the greater whole. Then, the workshop generally focuses on the team goals, both long- and short-term. Other factors in team building workshops include identifying resources, establishing rules and guidelines and perfecting communication skills.

Team building workshops prevent unproductive behaviors in a group and can address any issues or roadblocks to a cohesive team. For example, if someone on the team is dominating, he can learn how to back down and respect the ideas and opinions of others. The rest of the team can learn how to encourage open communication from the dominant one. If a boss has difficulty communicating ideas to her employees, they can all learn better communication techniques to transfer ideas from one to another. Team building workshops can also instruct people on how to handle different kinds of conflicts, whether they are on the offensive or defensive.

One of the most effective techniques from team building workshops is the idea of providing recognition to individuals as well as the team. Its widely known that people wish to get recognition for hard work, creative efforts or dependability in the workplace. When leaders give a team recognition, it boosts morale, forges stronger team bonds and creates an atmosphere of positivity. Studies show that even public verbal "thank yous" are often enough to boost the morale of employees. Formal recognition for efforts goes a long way towards promoting a cohesive atmosphere in which employees feel proud and valued.

Team building workshops will only work when all members choose to participate. If an employee is refusing to engage in the various activities in the workshop, it automatically separates her from the group and causes an immediate divide in the team.