I'm not a fan of the typical team building. Geoff Crane wrote a great post that resonated with me.
My first question to anyone suggesting team building is If we have a team, who's our opponent?
I personally prefer to have the "building" of the team take place while performing the work of the team. This means we start the project with some prologue activities that contribute to the project. These can be pre-chartering, sorting out the framework of the project, doing something that produces value to the project and at the same time forces the team members to start engaging each other.
But the typical team building - bowling parties, geo-cache cashing around the county, rope courses, are all pretty much a waste of time from my experience - as far as team building goes.
Having "built" teams, here's some guidance that has served me well, paraphrased from Jon Katzenbach.
A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold each other mutually accountable.
If we start with the shared outcomes, then move to mutually accountable, you got almost everything you need for a successful team.
