Page 169 - The McKinsey Mind

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144 The McKinsey Mind

That said, when you do plan bonding events, be strategic.
Focus on something that everyone will enjoy, and include signifi-
cant others when possible.

LESSONS LEARNED AND IMPLEMENTATION
ILLUSTRATIONS
More often than not, our alumni suggest that bonding is not the
norm in their post-McKinsey positions. So rather than jump right
in with the idea that retreats, fancy dinners, and family fun events
are the way to go, they suggested a more conservative approach
that still aims to increase performance through team bonding. This
boiled down to two lessons:

• Spend time together (but not too much).
• Reward well.

Spend time together (but not too much). Dan Veto brought a
high level of energy and new ideas for bonding to his new posi-
tion as the head of the strategy group of Conseco:

I am a believer in the need for team events, as we called them
at McKinsey. This company and many others are less
accustomed to that idea. It doesn’t have to be that expensive.
Even taking a dozen people out to dinner is relatively cheap
in terms of the cost/benefit when you consider the impact
on productivity and the morale boost of getting to know
each other better. I believe in this so much that there have
been instances when I have paid for events out of my own
pocket.
People take pictures at these things and put them up on
their desks, which helps us build our own group identity.
Some other departments are following suit but probably not
enough of them.