Planning a Team Building Event
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? ... [Read More...]
Traditional Facilitated Team Development vs Do It Yourself Teambuilding
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”... [Read More...]
Recreational Team Building Vs Team Development
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... [Read More...]
Team Building Takes Time
One of the reasons that “team building” has a dubious reputation is the proliferation of recreational experience providers that bill themselves as team building programs. Team building activities can take the shape of any number of experiences, but it is the facilitated discussion during the event that changes the activity from recreation to something more. Without discussion of the activity and its relationship to real-life, very... [Read More...]
Let’s Not Call It Team Building
As a provider of team building, retreat facilitation, and experiential training for organizational improvement, I make a point of researching the trends in my industry. With no shortage of information available on the internet, I am painfully aware of the confusion and the negative feedback that surrounds the ideas and the execution of activities under the umbrella of “team building”. There are many companies that promote themselves... [Read More...]
Team Building Gets a Bad Rap
I just read another blog posting about how useless team building exercises are with regards to effective work teams. You know, the kind of article that starts out with a cliche about some ‘touchy-feely’ ice-breaker and what a waste of time it was. And have you seen the Geico commercial that shows the CEO taking a trust fall with the Gecko? Yikes! Team building really gets a bad rap! It is unfortunate that there are so many poorly facilitated... [Read More...]
Teams Benefit from Slowing Economy
A Slow Economy is Time for Business Process Improvement You’re probably thinking “How could anyone benefit from a slowing economy?” Well, this statement certainly needs clarification. Not every team will benefit from economic hardship. In fact, many teams will shrink (labor statistics are a blatant example of this sad reality) and many benefits will be cut. Managers and business owners are ‘tightening their belts.’ For... [Read More...]
Making the Case for Team Building
Mouse Trap Trust Exercise Over the years I have had the good fortune of working with groups from a wide variety of fields and populations – from youth camps, schools and Scouts to NGO’s, small businesses and government agencies. The individuals who contact me to secure a team building program usually have a general idea of team building and often have a general goal of getting to know each other, enhancing interpersonal communication... [Read More...]
