Team Building Resources

Have you made some New Year resolutions?  Perhaps a personal fitness goal or revisions to your budget?  Maybe to spend more time with friends or to read a book that’s been waiting on your nightstand?  Don’t forget to extend your New Year resolutions beyond your personal goals and reflect on your work goals as well.  Outside of yearly performance reviews, this is as good of a time as any to really take a good look at your accomplishments over the past calendar year and what you would like to see happen over the next 12 months.

If you are a part of a team, this is a great time to look at team building activities for your organization and get the year started with a meaningful team building event.  After the excitement of the holidays, it’s motivating to come back to work with a fun activity to look forward to over the next couple of months.  It will set a positive tone for your team and hopefully improve team performance.  On the flipside, it can help you to achieve some of your work related resolutions for 2012 too!

The other day I received a hand written thank you note for an event I had completed.  It was such a nice change from the more convenient and current way of thanking people through an email.  It made me reflect on the importance of recognizing individuals for their efforts and how this impacts team building.  Motivation is one of the core fundamentals to team building.  If people feel valued on a team, they are more likely to engage and provide meaningful contributions to the  group.  Whether you are recognizing a volunteer, a colleague or a friend,  it is important to make that person feel valued for their contributions.

Here are 4 different perspectives on how best to “recognize” an individual based on 4 different personality preferences:

1. In front of the group – for the individuals who are the highly competitive, do things quickly and want to move on to the next.
   • a quick team huddle with an acknowledgement of the good work and impact the individual has had will fit the bill
2. Publicly in writing – for the individual who likes structure and order.
   • a congratulatory email or a write up in the office newsletter, acknowledging the achievement will work best
3. One on one- for the individuals who are always asking “why” they like to work independently, looking at the big picture and solving the problems.
   • a face to face acknowledgement with a hand shake will satisfy their need to be recognized
4. Hand written thank you note – for the individual who is always focused on pulling the team together and creating harmony
   • pick up a thank you card and hand write a small message of praise and thanks, the personal connection will go a long way to motivating this individual

Seeing each team member clearly and then adjusting the recognition that best fits their personality type will make your recognition efforts go a lot further in motivating them to continue to perform to the best of their abilities.  The thank you note I received is posted on my bulletin board as a daily reminder of the importance of recognition.

We talk about diversity all of the time.  From our diverse Canadian culture to diverse culinary options to diversity in the work place.  When reflecting on the value of a team, be sure to consider the diversity of its members.  Each team player will bring to the group a wide range of past experiences that are invaluable to success.  The challenge is to ensure that each team member has the opportunity to share their diversity and feels engaged to so.

When considering team building events, look for activities that provide opportunities for your staff to share their diversity and encourage open communication about their past experiences.  You may learn something new and fabulous about a teammate!

What Vancouver companies should look for in a team building offering is quite similar to what we should look for in effective team members:

1. Demonstrates reliability – Conundrum has been in business for over 10 years and delivered thousands of events to companies of all shapes and sizes.
2. Communicates constructively – Conundrum team debrief following any of our adventures will help participants see clear connections between their performance on the adventure and their everyday team environment.
3. Listens actively – Conundrum will discuss your key objectives for the day an incorporate them either into the adventure itself as a customization element or during the team debrief discussion before and after the adventure.
4. Functions as an active participant – Conundrum staff are available through-out the adventure to provide all the elements needed to make it a great team event for all involved.
5. Shares openly and willingly – following the adventure we will provide participants with an opportunity to provide feedback on the adventure, we will consolidate the results on your behalf to ensure you get the most out of the event and understand what your team like about the adventure and potential opportunities for future events.
6. Cooperates and pitches in to help – all aspects of the adventure are managed by conundrum starting with teaser emails to help communicate to participants what’s involved and what to expect, you just need to show up and participate.
7. Exhibits flexibility – we can customize your start and end location and timing of the adventure.
8. Shows commitment to the team – Conundrum staff are available to assist with any event preparation requirements to ensure a fully successful event.
9. Works as a problem-solver- work in partnership with you to deal with any barriers to a fully successful event for example – ensure we include all participants, for example if you have participants that have limited mobility we can include them in the adventure in unique ways that does not require them to walk around during the adventure.
10. Treats others in a respectful and supportive manner – enough said…

http://www.conundrumadventures.com/Vancouver-Team-Building.php

What Calgary companies should look for in a team building offering is quite similar to what we should look for in effective team members:

1. Demonstrates reliability – Conundrum has been in business for over 10 years and delivered thousands of events to companies of all shapes and sizes.
2. Communicates constructively – Conundrum team debrief following any of our adventures will help participants see clear connections between their performance on the adventure and their everyday team environment.
3. Listens actively – Conundrum will discuss your key objectives for the day an incorporate them either into the adventure itself as a customization element or during the team debrief discussion before and after the adventure.
4. Functions as an active participant – Conundrum staff are available through-out the adventure to provide all the elements needed to make it a great team event for all involved.
5. Shares openly and willingly – following the adventure we will provide participants with an opportunity to provide feedback on the adventure, we will consolidate the results on your behalf to ensure you get the most out of the event and understand what your team like about the adventure and potential opportunities for future events.
6. Cooperates and pitches in to help – all aspects of the adventure are managed by conundrum starting with teaser emails to help communicate to participants what’s involved and what to expect, you just need to show up and participate.
7. Exhibits flexibility – we can customize your start and end location and timing of the adventure.
8. Shows commitment to the team – Conundrum staff are available to assist with any event preparation requirements to ensure a fully successful event.
9. Works as a problem-solver- work in partnership with you to deal with any barriers to a fully successful event for example – ensure we include all participants, for example if you have participants that have limited mobility we can include them in the adventure in unique ways that does not require them to walk around during the adventure.
10. Treats others in a respectful and supportive manner – enough said…

http://www.conundrumadventures.com/Calgary-Teambuilding.php

We believe the number one benefit of a Conundrum adventure delivered in Downtown Vancouver is the opportunity to truly experience that a team can deliver better results than each individual working alone.  Each of our Vancouver conundrums utilize the existing treasures in a unique way to help team members build on each others ideals to solve interesting yet challenging conundrums.  Check out our Vancouver adventure today!

http://www.conundrumadventures.com/Vancouver-Team-Building.php

We have just launched our indoor team building offering in Calgary to compliment our current outdoor adventure. The indoor adventure is set at the Glenbow Museum. Check it out, its a great offering.

http://www.conundrumadventures.com/Calgary-Indoor-Team-Building.php

I recently read an article about a “30 Day E-mail Detox” and found it quite insightful on a personal level.  I’m very much addicted to my blackberry and check email continuously through-out the day and evening.  The challenge was to give it up for 30 days and then return to a more normal level or at least make a conscious choice to utilize email instead of a robotic connection.  I must admit it didn’t convince me to take the challenge but it did get me thinking about the impact of email on team dynamics. 

With Trust being on of the fundamental elements of successful teams, when teams rely on email as the number one source of communication it can leave lots of room to impact trust development.  Some things to keep in mind as it relates to email and your team:

1. The written word, even electronic is much more permanent than the spoken word so if in doubt about if you should have a conversation face to face or via email, err on the side of face to face. 
2. You lose the benefit of non verbal cues when communicating through email so if the subject is sensitive at all, again err on the side of face to face or at a minimum on the phone at least you do get to gauge response right away and clarify if needed based on a verbal response.
3. Quantity can detract from quality – its so easy to fire off quick emails, quick responses, ensure that you don’t rely on it as the sole source of communication with team members, “social” bonds are critical to team development so make sure you take time to foster them directly.

Lynn

Team Enthusiast

We have just launched our team building services in Ottawa Ontario at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.  The museum is a fantastic venue for teams to explore and our new adventure allows them to see it in a unique and fun way. 

Lynn

Team Enthusiast

One of my favourite blogs is one called “Chief Happiness Officer“, the author Alexander Kjerulf provides great reading on a regular basis.  A recent post is a video, an 18 minute video which seems like an eternity in terms of web videos but its worth every minute.  I’m sure I don’t need to draw the lines for you on how important happiness at work can be to achieve successful team dynamics.  This video has some really key insights, which although not rocket science, its presented in a way that make it very engaging and useful to reset our thinking and improve our “happiness factor”.

http://positivesharing.com/2010/01/srikumar-s-rao-at-our-2009-conference/

The video is a speech delivered by Dr. Rao at the 2009 conference on happiness at work.  Dr. Rao is the man behind the pioneering course Creativity and Personal Mastery. This is the only business school course that has its own alumni association and it has been extensively covered in the media including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the London Times, the Independent, Time, the Financial Times, Fortune, the Guardian, Business Week and dozens of other publications.

Here are his key points distilled but its worth the 18 minute time investment to hear it directly.

1. We are born happy, we learn to be unhappy.
2. What makes us unhappy is the mental models we are taught
   •  If we do “something” we will get “something” that will then make us happy.
     • The problem is once we have the “something” we were seeking the mental models we have learned is to want ”something” else. In addition often the “something” we want, the OUTCOME is completely out of our control.
3. To truly increase our happiness we need to become less focused on the OUTCOME and the mental, if, then model and focus more on the process, which is really the only thing under our control.
4. Its OK to think about a specific outcome that we would like, to ensure we are committed to the right process, but once we have determined the right process we commit fully to the process, invest in the process not the outcome.  This improves our likely hood of happiness as it is under our control and if we pick the right process the outcome we hoped for will likely come to fruition.

You can apply this new mode of thinking to many things, including how to improve team dynamics.  Think of the outcome you would like to achieve and then decide on the right process to be followed to achieve that outcome and then commit fully to the process alone.

Lynn

Team Enthusiast