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August 2018

The Search for Team Perfection

August 29, 2018
John Ingram
Business Think Tank, Teambuilding Tips

All organisations have a formal structure and agreed on processes to ensure its productivity and efficiency. Not all are perfect, not everyone enjoys them, and most are a work in progress. Management is the custodian of these structures and efficient processes and as such is often seen as “protector” of such.

In our work, we have encouraged Management to open themselves to input from the team members. The advantage of this is obvious, the reason why it often doesn’t happen is a little scarier:

  1. Fear of losing control
  2. Fear of losing power or authority
  3. Fear of wasting time
  4. Arrogance

Here are some ideas that Managers who believe in creating a High-Performance Environment can follow.

Introduce a Debriefing Process

Jim Murray, in his book “Flawless Execution,” introduced a process which we have adopted successfully into our business. Simply put, it means that after every activity, event or project, the full team and all those who had an impact in the outcome, meet and unpack the “good, the bad, and the ugly.”

The outcomes are either good or bad or somewhere in between; the objective is to learn from whatever we did good or bad and decide whether to make these process or behaviour changes part of our new culture of High Performance.

Beyond Teambuilding pride ourselves in creating events, activities and challenges that push any team past mediocrity, allowing them to express themselves in a way that unleashes a team synergy that is often lying dormant. Our teambuilding is done in two definitive ways; formal and informal. Both have merit and are used to create the specific objectives of your particular team’s needs.

Because an outcome can be affected by various variables, we deal with three parts of the process, namely the PLANNING, then the BRIEFING/COMMUNICATION and lastly, the EXECUTION phase.

Preceding this has to be a conditioning phase so that the team becomes open to expressing their opinions “without fear or favour”. Some of the conditioning exercises can be:

  1. Group think-tanks where a current problem is given to the team, and they are asked to try and come up with three solutions (without Management)
  2. Challenge the team to talk about their strengths and weaknesses in an open forum (as a Manager start with yourself and explain the impact of each)
  3. Have “magic wand” sessions where the team talks about what they would do to improve the business and the team with no restrictions.

The above ideas may appear quite daunting at first, but the benefits are HUGE!

Written by John Ingram, Director of The HiSide Group/Beyond Teambuilding

Successful teams do what other teams are not prepared to do! So what are you prepared to do?

 

Take your team beyond its limits with Beyond Teambuilding’s exciting events, activities and challenges that push boundaries and guarantee loads of fun.
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How to Develop Personal Integrity

August 22, 2018
John Ingram
Teambuilding Trends, Training Trends

What you say and do in the workplace has a tremendous impact on whether “others” want to work with you, will trust you or will even listen to you.

Our experience has taught us many dynamics that will make you more ‘attractive’ to work with; here are a few to consider.

  1. Genuinely greet people in the morning.
  2. Ask questions and listen.
  3. Show concern to matters other than just work.
  4. Make an effort to visit your colleagues and don’t assume they will come to you.
  5. Never have a cell phone in your hand when talking to someone.
  6. Never leave your cell phone on a table while engaging with others.
  7. Never allow yourself to be sidetracked or interrupted by others.
  8. Be conscious of where your relationship is with others; don’t rush into familiarity too quickly. Wait to be invited.
  9. Keep your conversation directed to that person you are engaging and not others.
  10. Ask others for their opinion and listen.
  11. Ask others what you could do for them to make them more productive.
  12. Always deliver what you promise.
  13. Apologise when you make a mistake.
  14. Never make someone look foolish in front of others.

Written by John Ingram, Director of The HiSide Group/Beyond Teambuilding

Successful teams do what other teams are not prepared to do! So what are you prepared to do?

Take your team beyond its limits with Beyond Teambuilding’s exciting events, activities and challenges that push boundaries and guarantee loads of fun.
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Team Building for Management and Executives

August 15, 2018
John Ingram
Business Think Tank, Teambuilding Tips, Teambuilding Trends, Training Trends

When we think of embarking on teambuilding exercises in the workplace, it’s usually not the management teams or executives that come to mind. Or rather, they are bundled up into the exercise with their subordinates.

While that is also an essential part of teambuilding and building good working relationships with their co-workers or those that they are in charge of, managers and executives are also part of other teams which are supposed to steer the company to success.

Here are a few ideas for teambuilding exercises for those at management or executive level to foster leadership skills and share new ideas.

Share the financials

It is something that many people think must be kept hush-hush or that the company’s financials are only for those few employees that are “in the know”.

However, being open about the numbers and sharing these vital statistics across the whole company can build trust among your staff. Communicate these numbers in a way that everyone can understand it.

Everyone should be aware of the company’s deadlines, goals, responsibilities, and progress. It will also help each employee to be aware of each group’s objectives.

Beyond Teambuilding pride ourselves in creating events, activities and challenges that push any team past mediocrity, allowing them to express themselves in a way that unleashes a team synergy that is often lying dormant. Our teambuilding is done in two definitive ways; formal and informal. Both have merit and are used to create the specific objectives of your particular team’s needs.

Encourage creativity and sharing of ideas

Very often, people are unsure of speaking up and sharing their ideas. In Jake Mohan’s “When Groups Don’t Think,” he discussed three valuable methods of encouraging people to be more confident when presenting a new idea.

  1. Model constructive dissent.Play devil’s advocate and disagree with a unanimous decision. You’ll encourage a reluctant but wise person to speak up.
  2. Have a brainstorming group write ideas on unattributed Post-it notes.Why? No one knows whether an idea came from top brass or a low-level player, so people back ideas with merit regardless of source.
  3. Encourage team members to do self-affirmations.Listing one’s skills and accomplishments before meeting with a group enhances one’s ability to let colleagues shine.

Successful teams do what other teams are not prepared to do! Are you ready?

Take your team beyond with Beyond Teambuilding’s exciting events, activities and challenges that push boundaries and guarantee loads of fun.
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DO NOT Forget Teambuilding Safety!

August 11, 2018
John Ingram
Teambuilding Tips

DO NOT Forget Teambuilding Safety!

There are three unwritten rules when it comes to teambuilding (okay, maybe more, but here are the non-negotiables). Teambuilding events need to be the right choice for your team to improve results, productivity etcetera, be well-executed, and be SAFE.

In this blog, we focus on the latter – safety.

Just because teambuilding happens outside the workplace in a new environment does not mean that the staff should let go of their inhibitions and forget their basic health and safety training at the expense of the highly-anticipated fun and exciting part.

Preparation is KEY

Teams may be less cautious on the teambuilding day and underestimate their safety or push themselves too hard, hurting themselves or others. But it doesn’t have to spell disaster. The easiest way for everyone involved is to follow a few simple guidelines:

  1. Choose a suitable event that won’t hurt or damage your team members
  2. Prepare the team for the team activities coming ahead
  3. Set the playground rules by getting everyone involved
  4. Keep it fun – but understand teams may need to take some risks
  5. Put safety first – always!
Beyond Teambuilding pride ourselves in creating events, activities and challenges that push any team past mediocrity, allowing them to express themselves in a way that unleashes a team synergy that is often lying dormant. Our teambuilding is done in two definitive ways; formal and informal. Both have merit and are used to create the specific objectives of your particular team’s needs.

Some team members may fear the unknown more than others and may need extra re-assurance before the event begins. It is why teambuilding facilitators should advise teams in advance of possible dangers and work on health and safety preparations to bring everyone on the same page.

Our Beyond Teambuilding trainers are going to make your experience safer and comfortable ahead of the teambuilding event, and ensure every team member understands its task and is ready to take part in the event, physically and mentally.

A well-facilitated and engaging team building event will add great value and return on investment (ROI).

The team building experience, formal or informal, is not recreational and includes process facilitation, debriefing, and reflective questioning.

Successful teams do what other teams are not prepared to do! Are you ready?

Take your team beyond with Beyond Teambuilding’s exciting events, activities and challenges that push boundaries and guarantee loads of fun.
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10 Quotes to Inspire Teamwork

August 8, 2018
John Ingram
Teambuilding Tips

We all have memories of school/university group projects. These memories are usually not so great. While we all wanted to pass that aspect of academia, most of us dreaded it.

First, there was always that one person who never did any work yet wanted the credit at the end. Then there may have been a scuffle or two about who would take the lead and eventually the others would fall in line. The end product was usually haphazardly put together, or one person ended up doing all the work.

Beyond Teambuilding pride ourselves in creating events, activities and challenges that push any team past mediocrity, allowing them to express themselves in a way that unleashes a team synergy that is often lying dormant. Our teambuilding is done in two definitive ways; formal and informal. Both have merit and are used to create the specific objectives of your particular team’s needs.

That is not how efficient teams work, and it will certainly not cut it in the workplace. Here are some quotes that might inspire your colleagues to work together towards your common purpose.

  1. “Individual commitment to a group effort–that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilisation work.” – Vince Lombardi
  2. “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organisational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie
  3. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
  4. “Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” – Patrick Lencioni
  5. “I invite everyone to choose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition.” – Jean-Francois Cope
  6. “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford
  7. “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” – Henry Ford
  8. “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson
  9. “Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” – Mattie Stepanek
  10. “The best teamwork comes from those who are working independently toward one goal in unison.” – James Cash Penney

Successful teams do what other teams are not prepared to do! Are you ready?

Take your team beyond with Beyond Teambuilding’s exciting events, activities and challenges that push boundaries and guarantee loads of fun.
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