Teambuilding Australia Blog

Experiential team activities / learning is an effective way to quickly and effectively provide training with lasting, real  results. A major 1998 study of training programs offered in a large corporation demonstrated the superiority of experiential training methods, such as team games, activities and problem solving puzzles. The programs that used experiential methods resulted in twice as much improvement in performance, as rated by supervisors and peers, as did the other programs. Furthermore, the return on investment for the experiential programs was seven times greater (Source: L. Spencer, in L.J. Bassi and D. Russ-Eft, eds., What wWorks, ASTD, Alexandria, VA, 1997?

Catwalk Capers is a reality Teambuilding Australia program which focuses on fashion design and presentation of a key messages to a chosen group of 'customers'. Ideal as a conference activity, perfect for sales teams, easy to adapt and design around any group size and location.

The teams compete with each other to create the outfits using set materials, and theme. Their designs are judged and as with any fashion show, given feedback from the critics.

* The program is not location or time dependent.    
* All physical abilities can be involved - no restrictions.
* Not Weather dependent - indoors.   
* Fully tailored to a companies requests such as a values or products.   
* A two part program that can incorporate pm and evening.
* Interactive in both the making and the evening session.

The challenges include to creating a garment from non-traditional materials, such as recycled materials or items from a grocery store, or using the 'clothes off their backs' or designing for a certain person, ie the CEO or senior Mgt team to model! With the inclusion of music and a stage (optional) teams parade their values to the audience. Of course the press and Paparazzi are shooting too, this is saved and edited post program.

From 2 hours to half day and evening, the Catwalk acts a great way to get sales team express and really step out.

http://www.teambuildingaustralia.com.au/conference-team-building

How Not to Make Team Building a Waste of Time (and money).

Many of us have taken part in a team building event, where we all agreed it was ‘great fun’, yes we all felt better afterwards, but did it actually work?

Clients who spend time and money on team-building retreats are sometimes confused to find that they do little to address realproblems. 

The activities, of which there are many, from cooking to movie making, amazing races to beach Olympics, all have a place as a team experience and subsequently staff seem happier than before. The problem isn’t in the team building activities, the fault lies in the initial ‘needs’ of a team building program – clients simply fail to understand the true issues of the team and to address them honestly.

Despite their best intentions, clients (at all levels) are often weak at seeing the cause of their problems. Here are the reasons why:

1.  Take a good look at yourself – Mirroring

Senior team players that have spent years convincing others that they are right have a hard time looking for their own faults, and finding their individual contribution to team problems.

It takes real courage to live at that level of responsibility! Also, this allows a reversal in shortsightedness that affects company leaders who aren't used to getting consistent, quality feedback from any source in their lives.

2. The Blame Game

It’s easy to see the faults in others and to overlook one's own shortcomings, as Jesus noted. Many managers – at all levels in a team, spend too much time discussing and dissecting the faults of others, with little or no intention of actually having conversations that might make a difference.

As a result – they fail to examine themselves but seek assistance and training for others. Focusing on the wrong cause and thus investing in the wrong direction, how many times have we seen this in organizations, when simple self-reflection reveals the solution?

3. Unable to See Patterns

One of the benefits to be gained from facilitating in different teams with a variety of clients at all levels, mixes and social backgrounds, corporate, government, private and charitable teams, is that it becomes easier to see patterns of dysfunctional behavior.

When executives fail in the previous noted points, they often make the mistake of failing to identify the issue at hand, and calling for the wrong solution. So they choose a quick fix – a teambuilding activity, a cheap half day, fun event, that’s easy to facilitate and provides a ‘what you need to do better’ solution – but fails to address the real issues, because these have not been raised. Yes, the team event may identify some underlining problems, but to no real extent, plus is the facilitator’s brief allowing time to expose team issues?

‘Team Building' is a solution that many apply to all manner of issues, and it's popular too, many believing that by conducting a few sessions or conferences over a year, the issues might go away. Unfortunately, this approach rarely works as the problems of a dysfunctional team can't be solved by simple team building.

AVOIDING THE TRAP

The solution to mistakes and obvious paths to success is to be clear about the right set of habits, reflections and rituals that need to be implemented. When executives talk about better teamwork, culture change, and new values, they often do so with a startling lack of precision.

The change they want becomes a mess of expectations that no team-building experience can ever achieve. Plus, most internal managers aren't equipped to implement the kind of diagnosis that reveals the issues, let alone supply the solutions.

The principle is straightforward - use the team-building event to teach and practice behaviors that are badly needed on the job, and follow up with regular rounds of feedback that are tailored to each person's level of skill.

Include everyone, including the top executives, and make sure that they get the first taste of any medicine that's administered.

http://www.teambuilding.com.au

New teambuilding site created to deliver and offer clients a different approach, new programs, easy to navigate and simple to use! at last...I hear you cry, well we listened to feedback, a quick and easy site, info one click away and yet enough to answer many questions. Teambuilding is varied and no one quick fix is right for all clients, so a few ideas are needed to narrow the correct options down. So in the new year have a  look at the team building site, hopefully your group will engage in an interactive team-event that adds value and a smooth change in your teams energy - thats our goal.

Australia has simply some of the best beaches in the world, and with our population distributed mainly along the foreshores of this country, why not escape the office and use the beach. From beach olympics, team games, a great race and Sand Sculpting - the beach is a fantastic play ground for team-building activities. The office and conference room offer a great environment to learn and train, but escaping into the fresh air - cannot be better. Try it out and let us know - that intake of sand between the toes, fun and laughs, might be just way the Team Doctor ordered for your team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irl-3gi82z0

Not all teams have the budget, time and flexibility to take part in a grand team event. So looking through the internet can assist - but yet be a web of confusion also. We get requests every week for teams looking for low budget easy ideas, its hard to illustrate our operating costs, but as with any business, it costs money to simply open the door - so quoting on small programs incurs higher costs per participant, than say the same style of event for larger teams. But small teams should not feel left out!

As a result, Teambuilding Australia will be launching Team Building in A Box - an off the shelf, do it yourself concept - direct in 2012

Check us out on Facebook to watch and learn what we are up to, working on, fellow colleagues and general gossip.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1431068768

This week we handed over 20 push-bikes to Youth Off The Streets, in Sydney Australia, as part of our Community team building programs, Teambuilding Australia facilitated a program with a corporate client called 'Bikes 4 Tykes'. The aim, simply an amazing race, where teams create a and build a bike, to quality controls, all in a designated time frame. Group interaction and cooperation see teams evolve into mechanics! 

Here are some great tips in getting your event right:

Over the past 12 to 18 months we have found teams looking more at less time to invest, but wanting the same outcomes. OK not impossible, but creating the solution not only tested our team, but also our time span. So, into action we stepped, trialling some great new, quick, effective and yet engaging team-building activities. 

We discovered a few team building games from USA, great fun and so in-depth, that we were able to adapt to our local Australian clients. Team building needs to be engaging, fast paced, laughs and yet a key learning linking in. 

Pirates Dilema was our creation, a game were teams assume they are competing, yet the solution lies in teams actually cooperating, this was the win win makes the results greater. Teams interact, plan and strategise throughout the 2 hour game, played indoors, on round tables in a conference room etc. Teams have to plan and chart a voyage int othe oceans that lasts 18 months, each month costs food and water, yet rewards are achieved if the reach a key location. 

To sum up - greed and competition take over - teams are ruthless and will want to win at any costs, not realising that they are in fact part of the greater team...A Fleet of ships on the same journey.

Team Building doesn't just mean teams learn form successes, in a race, quiz or games etc. True learning also comes from understanding the principles of what the purpose is, values and greater goal.

How many clients are only looking for a quick fix solution, or a simple 20 minutes of team-building activities, rather than a full production event? Well Team Building in a box is coming, simple packaged up ideas, for clients to purchase, self facilitate and monitor.