Teambuilding in a "Down Economy"

With the spectre 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.

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.

In conclusion, 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!

Making a Case for Corporate Teambuilding

September 1, 2008

I am a teambuilding provider for organizations in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. I make a living (I’m not rich, but I can still pay for gas - no small feat nowadays!) by giving small and large groups an opportunity to get out of the office, into an unfamiliar setting, and engage in traditional teambuilding activities with their co-workers. Prior to the program, I spend a little time getting to know the group - who they are, what they are about, and what they believe to be the goal of their teambuilding event. Many groups have vague goals - “We want to get to know each other better,” “We want to build trust,” “We want to have fun.” These programs are fun to plan for, and although they may seem trivial to some, can hold hidden rewards for the participants who engage in them.

Occasionally the group might ask for something more specific - “There is tension between the new-hires and the management team, we want to improve our communication,” “We are combining two departments into one, and we want to bond these people together.” “The year has been tough, we’ve had a lot of employee turnover, and we really need to reinvigorate the staff and jump-start their creativity to get back in the game…” These programs are not only more challenging to plan for, but offer lasting benefit to those participants who give them selves up to the process.

Either way, there is benefit to engaging in a well-designed, professionally implemented teambuilding program. The activity itself has merit - people are open to learning when they are engaged in a fun and challenging activity. The openness that comes out of the shared experience of the activity enables participants to engage in sometimes lively discussions following the activity - facilitators call this discussion “debriefing the activity.” During this crucial follow-up discussion, teams are encouraged to relate the activity back to real-life. My particular facilitation-style is to float a question and allow the group to answer in their own words, their own way. When we drill down deeper into their answers, we often come up with kernels of wisdom that resonate among individuals in the group, and this resonance is what feeds the learning.

The thing that many clients miss, and many of the higher-quality teambuilding companies know, is that the wisdom gleaned from a teambuilding ‘event’ is similar to opening the door just a crack. The free flow of ideas and positive energy that occured in your off-site is often completely lost once your team returns to the dysfunctions of the office.

The full benefit of a good teambuilding program is realized in the short and long-term follow-up. Without follow-up, be it a quarterly re-energizer or an ongoing meeting facilitation and consultation, the benefits of a teambuilding program can be short-lived and un-quantifiable. Building a strong team requires long-term commitment, both from the client and from the teambuilding provider. Building a strong team is like any other relationship. You must nurture the trust and improve the communication over time. If you neglect this relationship, you run the risk of losing whatever you have gained in the initial teambuilder.

Where Does 'The Process' Come From?

Most people don't give much thought to the how's and why's of where things come from - which is completely the opposite of what a critical thinker should be - so I thought I'd give everyone a chance to look into the inner workings of how this teambuilding idea got started...

First, I run a teambuilding and adventure instruction company - GO-AdventureSports - which offers ropes challenge courses, portable team challenges, soapbox derby races, community service construction projects, and adventure instruction programs (rock climbing, caving, mountain biking, wilderness skills). These types of experiential education programs have shown time and time again that people learn best when engaged in fun, challenging activities - as opposed to lecture-style programming. In order to achieve maximum effect, we typically precede activities with a "frame-up" and follow activities with a "debrief" discussion period. This free-form discussion enables team members to draw correlations from the activity, back to "real life."

The shared adventure aspect of traditional teambuilding programs is a great way of engaging people, and makes an excellent first step in building a high performing team. Traditional teambuilding programs are like opening a door, allowing those who have the desire and the commitment, to walk into a completely new place. All too often, however, the ropes course or portable teambuilding program is the only opportunity people have for engaging one another in this 'learning environment.' Once the program is over, people go back to their normal lives, sometimes talking about the fun they had, but rarely utilizing the teamwork tools they learned during the event. The ropes course becomes a colorful memory, rather than a jump-off point into a brilliant future.

Armed with this knowledge of human tendencies, I began researching a good deal of the literature on the subject of leadership, team dynamics, personal development and success - mostly from the perspective of people in the business community. Trying to sift through the myriad of different books and audiobooks available, I came up with a list that I felt was most useful for building a successful team:

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
Work Like daVinci
The Power of an Hour
The Emotional Intelligence Quickbook
The Ten Faces of Innovation
Leadership and Self-Deception
Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Eat That Frog!
What Got You Here Won't Get You There
The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People

Granted, this is a long list, and much of the information found within any one book is similar to that found in many others. However, each of these books had some kernel of truth that I felt teams needed to master in order to become a 'learning organization,' capable of innovating to meet the future head-on.

Now, as I begin fine-tuning 'The Process,' I am building a mind-map (brainstorming tool that allows you to get everything down on paper, and then draw correlations between your ideas) of "kernels of truth" and combining them with powerful traditional teambuilding exercises. This combination of experiential and theoretical education will yield the best results.

I'll keep you posted!

Update on The NEXTeams Process

I recently finished a course in Professional Facilitation Techniques (flip charts, dealing with dysfunction, group dynamics, etc...) and I am very excited to use these new techniques in the delivery of 'The NEXTeams Process'. I think that the combination of traditional teambuilding exercises - de-inhibitizing games, problem-solving activities, and trust-building exercises - and "table-top" facilitation techniques - flip-charting, brainstorming, listing, mind-mapping, etc... - will create an atmosphere of enhanced creativity and group cooperation. What better place to bring a team that needs to get something accomplished?!? Stay tuned as I get ready to roll out a new and improved teambuilding event... Coming soon!

The NEXTeams Five-Step Process...

• Step One — challenge participants to get to the root of their 'organizational identity' and learn new ways to enhance that self-conception. The goal is to get everyone on the same page about purpose - the Real Mission of the organization.
• Step Two — invite participants to explore their role within the organization - not only their job title and responsibilities, but the potential benefits that they can offer to the organization as a whole – the Personal Identities within the organization
• Step Three — give participants a task to accomplish - exemplified through traditional 'teambuilding challenges.' The goal is to show through tangible experience the interdependence of the group – the TEAM within the organization.
• Step Four — focus on transferring the lessons learned in the initial program, back to the 'real world' of their day-to-day organizational function. Simple steps the leadership can take to encourage cross-communication, innovation, an environment of openness in the team – the TEAM Environment within the organization.

• Step Five — Following the initial four-step process, NEXTeams will be available for follow-up consultations and recurring “FLUX Re-Energizers.” – a chance to get together in the learning environment and check-in about things that are working and things that need more attention.

NEXTeams - The NEXT Step in Team Development.

NEXTeams Team Development

While technology continues to make the world more interconnected, internal workings of organizations both large and small seem more and more disconnected. This disconnect can be caused by a number of factors - ironically the technology that propels us forward being one of them... The disconnect can have one or multiple causes, from a simple misunderstanding between two employees to a misinterpretation of the overall mission of the organization. Whatever the reasons, and whatever the problems, organizations often benefit from the help of mediation and facilitation. NEXTeams is a company whose mission is to get to the root of an organization's internal and external challenges, identify these barriers to success, working within teams to map out a strategy for overcoming the adversity, and helping the organization implement the plan. Combining goals/needs assessment and personality testing, with expert facilitation and experiential education tools, NEXTeams is the Next Step in Team Development.

Key Components of the NEXTeams Process:

• Initial consultation with your NEXTeams Facilitator will define the perceived challenges and proposed goals of your organizational development strategy.
• Meeting participants (your team and our facilitators) will map out a short-term goals list for completion prior to the 'event.'
• During the scheduled 'event' our facilitation team will utilize personality testing and interest assessment tools to provide insight and clarity into differences and similarities between team member personalities.
• Facilitators will provide experiential training tools that relate directly to the key components of - building trust, effective communication, leadership styles, etc...
• Teams will discuss the training tools and their relationship to the organization's challenges and strategies concepts.
• Following the 'event,' facilitators will periodically check-in with key team leaders, provide consultation, and if necessary return for a second or third event - the key to success is focus and repetition.

Two Rivers Public Charter School - 8/14/08

GO-AdventureSports hosted a teambuilding event for Two Rivers Public Charter School again this year, at Seneca Creek State Park, in Gaithersburg, MD.  This year's goals were to focus on trust between members of the team, and to learn how to ask for help when individuals were in need.  Each activity challenged team members in different ways, and during each event, different leaders and problem solvers emerged.  During debriefs, the teachers discussed how individual experience, educational background, and personality helped to shape the overall character of the team.  As the day progressed, the activities were sequenced in a way that helped build trust and confidence between the members of the team, and by the end of the day, the entire group was ready for the intense 'mouse trap' trust exercise.  A great way to end the day and start the school year!