Dogs enhance team-building, study concludes.

Christopher Honts and Matthew Christensen conducted a team building study which found that office workers’ morale and general ability to work together as a unit was enhanced by the presence of a dog.

In one team-building experiment, groups of four were made to produce a short advertisement for a fictitious product and afterwards filled in questionnaires about their experience working alongside colleagues.

The response from the teams who were given a dog to roam around the room reported a far greater sense of motivation, co-operation and team-building success than the groups who were without a dog.

Another team building task involved participants playing the role of criminals being coerced by police into making a plea bargain which could save themselves, but land their colleagues in hot water.

Results showed that participants were 30% less likely to betray their colleagues when there was a dog in the vicinity.

The results clearly indicate that a sense of comradeship, solidarity and team-building are more likely to endure in a situation where a dog is present.

Team Building event  expert P.J. Stevens, who runs Leap, a team-building organiser which has worked with footballers and Olympians as well as businesses, said: “We have always known that dogs generally can have a very positive influence on humans in terms of morale and the way in which we interact.

“The idea that this might be transposed into increased success in the workplace in terms of team-building is a very interesting finding.

“Only time will tell whether the idea catches on - I can’t imagine too many office managers being thrilled at the idea to begin with, but it could definitely be fun.” He added.

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