Peak Team Performance should be the goal of every organization.  There are hundreds of books, tools and other resources dedicated to the pursuit of this outcome.

Over the years, and through working with hundreds of clients, we have come up with a working list of Team Essentials.  The list is by no means complete, and the unique qualities and goals of individual teams will add to or detract from this list – however, this list provides a framework around which a team can achieve.

• Vision – without a common vision, it is difficult to achieve results from members of a team.  The foundation of any team should be a shared vision for what the team is there to accomplish.
• Effective Communication – in order for a team to get the most from its members, it is imperative that everyone makes an effort to communicate openly, honestly, and without reservation.  Often, the biggest stumbling block to a successful project is that team members simply misinterpret the ideas, opinions, and emotions of others in the group.
• Focus – the best use of a team’s time and energy is on a completely focused goal.  Defining exactly what is expected from the team, and fervently sticking to “the plan” can be one of the best ways to accomplish a goal, both on time, and with complete support from the members of the team.
• Involvement – teams that expect, support, and value the input of every member of the group will accomplish much more than those whose members are rarely held accountable.
• Self-Direction – micro-managing a team project is rarely appreciated, and often stands in the way of team performance.  Typically, a team that is given a goal and allowed to work unsupervised will achieve greater results and enjoy greater job satisfaction.
• Quality Check – teams that review their work regularly will learn from the experience.  “Debriefing” the project gives teams a chance to celebrate the successes and dissect the mistakes.  In this way, teams are able to build upon the previous project and improve their overall performance.

Every team is different, and every team project has its unique qualities.  However, these “Team Essentials” provide a good foundation for creating team success.

When selecting a team building service provider for your organization, it is important to know what you are expecting to get out of the activity. If you know your goals going into the program, you are more likely to make the right choice in who you contract with for the event and what type of activities you plan for your team.

Here are a few simple questions to ask yourself prior to booking your provider:

• What is the main purpose for the event? Is this a recreational day out of the office, with a general goal of fun and camaraderie – or is this a purpose-driven foray into the dynamics of your group, with a goal of increased productivity, enhanced communication, and foundational trust?

• What is the time-frame for your event? Is this a one-off, one-to-six-hour event – or are you seeking long-term, multi-day programming?

• Who are the key players? Which team members are being included in this program – and is there anything significant we should know about them prior to the event?

• Where will the team builder be held? Is this an on-site, meeting-room program – or did you want to move to an off-site location, such as a conference center, park, or other team building facility?

• What is your budget? Typical team building programs can run from $55 per person for a recreational team building event, to upwards of $1,000 per person for a high-end multi-day team development program.

If you know the answers to these questions prior to beginning your search, it is more likely that you will find a good fit for your team building service provider. Once you have narrowed down the field a little, you will be off to a good start!

Learn more about Team Building…

If you don’t know what is broken, how will you know what to fix? Clarity is the first key to building a better team.

Traditional Team Building vs Team Building DIY

Let’s face it – not every group is looking for a deep and penetrating reworking of their team dynamics. Not everyone wants to learn how to trust their co-workers on a deeper and richer level. Sometimes, you want to simply have some fun, in a novel setting, with people who you normally only see in meetings, at lunch, or at the occasional holiday office party.

Major differences between “Traditional” teambuilding and “Do It Yourself” teambuilding:

Traditional Teambuilding
Facilitated Teambuilding events are appropriate for the group that is interested in team development and performance.

• Focused on goals such as: improving cohesion, building trust, achieving participant buy-in, and more.

• Facilitator-led: trainer will set-up the activity, sequence appropriately, and generally follow up with a debrief to relate the experience back to the goals of the group.

• Sequenced: generally starts with a getting-to-know you exercise, fun warm-up games, problem-solving activities, and trust builders.

• Best with follow-up: groups retain lasting benefit when teambuilding is an ongoing process and experiences are built upon in follow-up discussion or experiences.

For groups who have definite goals, a more flexible budget, at least four to six hours of time, plenty of space, and a desire for improved communication and commitment.

“Do it Yourself” Teambuilding
Self-Led Rotational Teambuilding is appropriate for the group that desires the short-term benefits of a traditional teambuilding experience, with a less intense recreational-style of event.

• Can be themed events, or geared toward ‘friendly-competition.’

• Require less facilitation, which translates to less expense.

• Can be set up on-site or off-site, depending on the needs of the group.

• Emphasize healthy risk-taking with very little actual risk.

• Can be of any duration – from one hour to all day.

• Provide an excellent “energizer” with minimal commitment from participants.

• Focus on fun rather than specific goals.

• And more…

Self-Led Rotational Teambuilding provides a high-energy alternative for groups interested in having fun, getting to know one another in a new way, sharing a challenging activity, and still learning about working together as a team.

Organizational Success During Times of Economic Stress

With the specter of a looming “economic downturn” upon us, many business leaders are being forced to tighten their belts and rethink their future expenditures. During times like this, off-site retreats and holiday parties are doubtless going to take a lower priority. The irony is now – when things are most challenging for both businesses and their clients – it is even more vital that we motivate staff and create a work environment that fosters healthy risk-taking and creative thinking.  Now is the time for those in charge to plan for change and invest in strategies that foster innovation rather than cutting everything but the bare essentials.

Creating an environment of openness and an opportunity to communicate and share new ideas can be done without spending a great deal of money.  A few simple things can go a long way toward fostering creativity in the workplace.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Create a “suggestion box” that is available to all employees.  The key next step will be to actually follow up on those suggestions and to implement those that are even remotely useful and realistic.  Generate interest in participation by shedding light on the suggestions (both good and bad) at a quarterly staff meeting.  When people feel that their suggestions are being heard, they are more likely to make suggestions and feel appreciated.
• Reward staff with a quarterly “Appreciation Day” in which the successes of individuals within the organization are recognized, appreciated, and rewarded.  Rewards don’t necessarily have to be monetary, but the appreciation should be genuine.
• Maintain an “open-door” policy with regard to staff-manager relationships.  Encourage the staff to give feedback to managers – both negative and positive – whenever this feedback can have benefit.  The next (and incredibly important) step is to encourage the management to truly listen to staff feedback.  Often managers are oblivious to the way their actions are perceived by the people around them.  If people are made aware of how their actions affect others, they can often implement small behavior modifications that make dramatic improvements in employee morale and productivity.
• Encourage creativity and ideation during strategic planning meetings through the use of experiential tools such as “brainstorming,” “mind-mapping,” music, colorful pens or crayons, rolls of butcher paper, etc…  Experience-based meetings give many team members a chance to step out of their normal “comfort zone” and lower the inhibitions that prevent creative thought.
• Plan a quarterly team energizing event, either as an on-site portable team challenge or as an off-site retreat.  The focus should be on fun, and the team should be encouraged to relax with one another and get to know each other in new and unusual situations – not simply the day-to-day work relationship of the office.

This is an exciting time, with great opportunities for the organization that is able to adapt. The most successful companies are those that do not sit back and run on auto-pilot. The best companies find a way to take stock of what is working and what is not working in their organizations, taking time to streamline their processes and create innovation where they can.  Economic downturn spells opportunity for the company that has the foresight to innovate and adapt to an uncertain future. Don’t let fear and uncertainty keep your organization from moving boldly forward!

From time to time, I meet clients who have taken part in some activity that was billed as ‘Team Building.’  The experiences they share can vary widely.  Some found their team building experience “extremely beneficial” while others though it was “a complete waste of time”  Many have commented that team building is nothing more than a pleasant distraction.  The efficacy of a team building endeavor is dependent on a number of things, not the least of which is the skill of the facilitator and the length of the program.

Building an effective team requires commitment.

This statement sums up the bulk of the challenge faced by CEOs, managers, and anyone who is looking for a team development program.  I get dozens of calls a month from organizations who are looking for a team building program, but only have “a half-day” to spend on this endeavor.  Although I am a pretty good facilitator, I can’t deliver lasting and significant change to your team with only 4 hours of time.  These programs will give you a fun, challenging experience that might open lines of communication between people, will increase short term trust and commitment between team members, and might jump-start dialogue around issues that need change within your organization.  A one day team building experience is like opening the door just a crack.  You unlock potential – but need more time to see real results.  An organization needs to commit more to achieve more.

A better option is for a team to engage in team building activities for 4 hours one day, and then come back for 4-8 hours the next day.  This back-to-back team building – with an overnight in between – gives team members a chance to learn new techniques on the first session, and then have a brief incubation time before coming back and building on the lessons learned.  The incubation period is a crucial component in the team development process, as it gives people an opportunity to “contemplate, recreate, and marinate” before coming back into the learning environment.  The growth seen in teams who engage in this “day-and-a-half” type of team building program is exponential, and the results are typically longer lasting and more beneficial in the long run.

An even better option is to meet for a half-day, return the next day, and meet again for a half-day (Friday through Sunday).  With two incubation periods, and plenty of practice and discussion in the new team development skills groups are likely to come away with complete buy-in from their members around their leaders, their mission, and their work groups.  Teams who engage in ‘the long weekend’ program are more likely to take the gains made over their weekend retreat and institute these new behaviors back in their work environment.  It won’t be “business as usual” when these teams return to the office on Monday – but rather “business is unusual.”

We cannot stress enough the importance of commitment with regards to team building and team development.  The more you put in, the more you get out.  If you are truly seeking improvement in your work teams or your organization, then you should be willing to commit more than a day for your team building endeavors.  Incubate = ‘contemplate, recreate, marinate’ for exponential and lasting results.

For more information about NEXTeams Team Development programs, please contact Eriq Powers – (240) 603-4150 or email:  eriq@nexteams.com

We look forward to serving you and facilitating your team development!

great “To Do List” application! http://icio.us/lyoafn

We don’t often hang out with famous mountain climbers or Hollywood stars, but we had the opportunity to do both recently, while simultaneously doing what we love to do every day: teach people about the importance of teamwork. We recently partnered with The Verizon Foundation and its Educational Resource website – www.thinkfinity.org – to provide a team building challenge course for their annual Educational Technology conference in Washington, DC. Erik Weihenmayer – “The Blind Climber” – and actor Eric Close, from the TV show “Without a Trace,” were presenting at the conference, and we were asked to join them to provide some activities that illustrate the challenges Erik faced while climbing Mt. Everest.

Part of Weihenmayer’s talk focused on the challenge of walking across ladders that spanned huge crevasses at Mt. Everest and the teamwork that it took to get from one side to the other – without the luxury of sight. In order to better illustrate this challenge, Erik had us harness, short-rope, and blindfold three volunteers (one of whom was the actor and fellow keynote speaker Eric Close) and then asked another volunteer to lead the team across a horizontally supported ladder, using only her voice. This team had it a little easier than Erik did in real life because not only did they crawl across the ladder, rather than walk across with crampons, but they also didn’t have a bottomless crevasse to worry about. Even so, the activity still presented a challenge. The “climbers” struggled to follow the leader’s instructions, while the leader found it difficult to give proper direction to people without eyesight. In the end, the volunteers found it a unique experience to take part in an activity that resembled the life-changing trek described by Erik Weihenmayer

Little Brown Bats stricken with White Nose Syndrome

In February 2006 some 40 miles west of Albany, N.Y., a caver photographed hibernating bats with an unusual white substance on their muzzles. He noticed several dead bats. The following winter, bats behaving erratically, bats with white noses and a few hundred dead bats in several caves came to the attention of New York Department of Environmental Conservation biologists, who documented white-nose syndrome in January 2007. Hundreds of thousands of hibernating bats have died since. Biologists with state and federal agencies and organizations across the country are still trying to find the answer to this deadly mystery.

“We have found sick, dying and dead bats in unprecedented numbers in and around caves and mines from Vermont to Virginia. In some hibernaculum, 90 to 100 percent of the bats are dying.”

Spread of "White Nose Syndrome"

While they are in the hibernaculum, affected bats often have white fungus on their muzzles and other parts of their bodies. They may have low body fat. These bats often move to cold parts of the hibernacula, fly during the day and during cold winter weather when the insects they feed upon are not available, and exhibit other uncharacteristic behavior.

Despite the continuing search to find the source of this condition by numerous laboratories and state and federal biologists, the cause of the bat deaths remains unknown. Recent identification of a cold-loving fungus could be a step toward an answer.

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On April 14th, 2009, we were contacted by members of the National Speleological Society in regards to the White Nose Syndrome, and the passage of a moratorium on guided caving excursions until further research can be conducted, and an answer can be found to the question of “What is killing the bats?”  At this point, experts agree that human interactions with the bat population may be part of the problem, and it is not known whether the White Nose Syndrome has negative effects on humans.

In response to the moratorium request, we discontinued caving programs throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia for the next 17 months.  Sadly, we have since learned that many of the other guides and outfitters in the area did not…

We have decided to continue the moratorium until further notice, with the exception of trips to Whiting’s Neck Cave, Martinsburg, WV, which has no bat population.

We hope that scientists will find a cure for the White Nose Syndrome that is killing the bats, and that the bat population will make a speedy recovery.

Thank you for your attention to this unfortunate situation, and we hope to provide service to your group through one of our other team building or adventure instruction activities:

Rock Climbing
Mountain Biking
Wilderness Skills
Multi-sport Adventures
ROPES Challenge Course
Portable Team Challenge
RACE Day

Rock Climbing at Great Falls Park, Virginia

One of the best climbing areas in the DC Metropolitan Area is located along the Potomac River at Great Falls Park, Virginia.  The park itself has plenty of places to picnic and hike, with scenic overlooks of the gorgeous Potomac River.  Numerous climbing routes and places for a good long rappel give opportunities for climbers from novice to expert.

Climbing at Great Falls

Getting to Great Falls Park, Virginia:

Great Falls Park is located on both the Virginia and the Maryland side of the Potomac River, but the developed climbing areas are on the Virginia side near the historic Village of Great Falls.  If you use an online map tool, your destination will be:

9200 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, VA  22102

When climbers arrive at Great Falls Park, they should pay at the gate ($5 per vehicle) and turn right down the hill towards the Climber’s Parking Lot.  From here, a short hike upriver will take you to the climbs.

Your guide will be driving a black Jeep Liberty.  Give Eriq Powers a call at (240) 603-4150 if you have any trouble.