Yes - teambuilding can have that effect on people! But designed with purpose, audience analysis, and an eye on results, these events can deliver huge ROF (Return on Fun) while engaging everyone from the CEO to the Intern. Whether you cringe or smile in anticipation when you hear those words, considering these tips will result in success.
Navigating different teambuilding experiences to choose the right event for your group:
Decide on the Event Outcome – Before Searching the Internet! Teambuilding without strategy is a big waste of money! Be sure you understand what your goals and outcomes are BEFORE you start looking for an event. Your strategy might be just to cut loose and have fun, or you might have specific challenges you’re working on or content you’re trying to reinforce. All can be accomplished with a strategic event.
Teambuilding means many things to many people. Over the years, the word ‘teambuilding’ has come to have hundreds of different definitions and takes in thousands of different events. Here is a quick & simple guide:
Have Fun & Build Relationships: This includes any activity that is played as an individual in a networking environment. Events like going to the bar and drinking, bowling, visiting Dave & Busters, taking a trip, etc.
Team Collaboration: Events that require teams to work together to accomplish a goal. Include strategizing, working together using the skills of the team, communication skills and developing deeper knowledge of your team mates.
Experiential Learning & Team Development: A deeper form of collaboration that incorporates basic team skills and builds your content into the event. Usually includes a debrief and discussion about what was learned and how to apply it. Events usually are more in-depth and designed with key learning points – innovation, inspiration, communication, leadership development, etc.
New times & places. Teambuilding traditionally has been done for 2-3 hours in the last time slot of the meeting. Which always baffled us – why wait until the end of your meeting to build relationships and strengthen communications? Now, teambuilding can be short and sweet, and done at just about any point during your meeting. General sessions, tradeshow floors, coffee breaks – and even your learning sessions - are all fair game for blending in some teambuilding.
The C-Suite to The Garden Suite. Different events appeal to different industries, professions, management levels and organization types. Knowing the demographics, as well as the results you want, should drive your decision on the best event for your team. Don’t just choose the “flavor of the month” trending event.
Collaboration vs Competition. The new wave of teambuilding events are focused much more on collaboration and synergy-building than competition. Millennials and their focus on “we’re all in this together” are driving this trend.
Teambuilding can serve many purposes and drive ROI for your event – if it is strategic, purposeful and chosen to accomplish your and your audience’s objectives.
New Ideas for Events
Here are some new ideas for interactive, engaging and energizing events.
Boomtime - Boomtime is General Session energizer that uses musical tubes in a guitar-hero type game.
The Big Picture - Teams collaborate and brush up on their partnership skills, creating a masterpiece of epic proportions.
Tradewinds - Understand the power of negotiation in a pirate trading game that focuses on gathering information and understanding customer needs.
Check out more ideas: https://www.playideasparkers.com/
Written By: Sharon Fisher, CEO, Play with a Purpose
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