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Comment by jypepin | Hacker News Reader

I've built such strong relationships through games, with people I've never met, that I can't agree more with that.

The limit is that games will have the same effects as other "offsite" activities. Some people will be into it and it'll work for them, but others will just not be interested (whatever their reasons).

For example the first picture of the article shows basketball. That could be seen as a great team building exercise (for non-remote teams) but some people just don't like basketball or sports.

Unfortunately there are no silver bullets.

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I agree with you!

I also find that team building can be stressful depending on how your work is fluctuating. If it’s under a heavy load, then it feels frustratingly like a waste of time when you could be getting things done. While I think team building is important, I think it’s so hard to get right. Frankly, the best teams I’ve worked in are ones where everyone had a similar work ethic.

> If it’s under a heavy load, then it feels frustratingly like a waste of time when you could be getting things done.

On the other hand, companies/teams shouldn’t force you into such high workloads that being human with your coworkers feels like a waste of time. You’d be surprised how many wasteful discussions, long meetings, bike shedding debates, and managerial overhead melts away when people talk the same language and understand each other’s quirks.

Was that snark or is the person just tired? Are they rude or busy? Are they slacking or dealing with a newborn? So much easier to understand nuance when you know the people you work with.

Unfortunately there are no silver bullets.

Maybe this is a good use for the "shotgun approach", then. Basketball for people who want it, games for people who want it, etc. If you want people join team building events, I don't think the right approach is to mandate one thing, but to give people choices & let people own their team building experience.

I also think the flip side of this is that management also has to understand that it's fine if not every single team member contributes to every team building activity - my team had to give our manager that feedback recently.

definitely, but then you also miss the opportunity to build relationships between someone who loves basketball and someone who does not. So everything is a trade off :)

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