Greg Huber

When choosing a team building activity for their team, people have a tendency to focus on the easiest choice. Whether that’s the cheapest option, the closest distance, or the shortest amount of time away from the office, people are inclined to choose whatever is easiest. What they often don’t realize is that true team building provides certain qualities that outings masquerading as team building may not and you should make sure the activity you choose checks all the necessary boxes.

1. Activity Focused vs Outcome Focused

Is the focus on the activity itself or the outcome your team stands to gain? There are plenty of outings that allow your team to get away from the office, but what is your team taking away from these outings? Is it an afternoon of moaning about a manager or is it an instrumental experience that will build internal relationships and improve overall productivity? Each Signature Teambuilding experience is designed around the specific behaviors you can expect your team to gain whether these be collaboration, leadership, or innovation. So when choosing a team building activity, ask yourself, is this experience focused on the activity or the lasting outcome?

2. Expense vs Investment

Money is often a factor when choosing a team building experience and everyone likes to save a few bucks. It’s easy to focus on the price per participant and choose the most cost-effective option, but you’ll first want to ask yourself: Is this a one-time expense or an investment in our team’s future? You may have a coupon for an afternoon of mini-golf or a few free appetizers at a local restaurant, but neither of these activities contribute to the betterment of your group. Instead, consider investing in an experience that will provide your team with successful behaviors that will continuously improve operations.

3. Exclusive vs Inclusive

Don’t risk losing group participation by choosing an activity that excludes certain members. Signature Teambuilding’s inclusive programs are designed to make sure everyone can participate regardless of skill level or ability. They’re conducted on a level playing field where participants are encouraged to show up as their most authentic selves. Is your desired team outing inclusive or does it risk excluding certain team members?

These are just a few important factors to consider when choosing a team building experience for your group. Don’t let the cheapest or simplest option beat out what will be a lasting, important experience for your group. Signature Teambuilding provides outcome-based learning through inclusive programs that contribute to the long-term growth of your team. When you look at our activities based on each of these factors, the choice becomes clear. 

Have you ever approached a new experience with hesitation, distrust, and a negative attitude? Been so skeptical that you refused to open your mind to the experience? Did you magically end up having a great time at said experience? I’m guessing not. When you have already decided that you aren’t going to like the new thing you try, chances are, you’ll be right.

Our minds are powerful tools that have the ability to make the absolute best (or absolute worst) of any given situation. At Signature Teambuilding, we can directly see the role attitude plays when it comes to someone’s participation with one of our programs. In fact, a specific story comes to mind:

A group of 15 arrived to our site, stepping off the van and excited to get started with the Signature Teambuilding program, with the exception of the last individual to exit the vehicle. We’ll call this gentleman Henry. Henry begrudgingly stepped out using his cane and said “I don’t want to be here, they made me come and I’m not doing anything.” Lifting his cane off the ground, he said, “See?  Where can I sit down?” Not wanting him to be excluded from the group, I pulled up a chair and said, “You can sit here and if at any time you find you would like to participate, you can join in.” He muttered something unpleasant under his breath as I shifted my focus to the willing participants.

The group and I carried on with the program and experience-based activities; people were having fun, learning and talking about how the lessons were relatable to their work. Occasionally, they would signal over to Henry and let him know he was welcome. This went on for a couple hours, inviting him over, but to no avail. Eventually, the group gave up asking him to join in, claiming, “he’s always like that.” However, as the afternoon carried on he drew his chair closer and began listen to the conversations following the activities. He was able to see that the activities were non-threatening, interesting and fun and slowly began to engage with the group.

Before we knew it, Henry was fully involved and not only was he fully participating, he was also doing more than he or anyone else thought he would do. It was truly an amazing transformation to witness! In our final reflection at the end of the day, Henry said the thing he learned about himself was that he was responsible for not having interactions with people. He spoke of declining activities with his children, not because he physically couldn’t, but because of his negative attitude. Not only was his attitude affecting his relationships at work, but it was also affecting his behavior towards his family! Before leaving that day, Henry made a commitment to change his attitude, keep an open mind and be willing to try new things and engage with people.  

I reconnected with Henry about six months later and he had fulfilled his promise to himself. He was happier at work and at home; he’d even started riding bikes with his kids! He credits us with helping him transform his life, but it was his willingness to shift his attitude that ultimately brought him lasting change. If you approach our activities with an open mind and a positive attitude, we believe you’ll leave the experience with successful behaviors to change your own life, both personally and professionally.

Before we begin a Signature Teambuilding activity, I often ask participants to line up on an imaginary line based on their inclination towards team building. To the left of the line are the people that would rather die than participate in team building and to the right of the line are the people that enjoy, even love, team building and are happy to be there. While lining up, people have to talk and share their reasoning for why they feel the way they do. I like this exercise because it encourages honesty about people’s past experiences. In my 30 years in the field, I have heard some horror stories about some team building experiences.

Team Building Horror Stories

1.  Our team actually got in a fight because they were so competitive.

2.  I was horrified to be seen in a bathing suit in front of my work mates.

3.  It was a waste of time. They should have put that money in my paycheck!

4.  The activities were so silly, they made me feel stupid.

5.  It was supposed to be team building but the same groups of people stayed together the whole time.

6.  That was nothing more than a day out of the office. I didn’t learn anything and now I am backed up at work.

While we can’t predict what you’ll gain from the experience, we can guarantee that you won’t feel exposed, silly, or that your time out of office was spent wasted. Our activities are fun, inclusive, and designed to get every individual team member interacting in a new and changing way.  It’s best to come with an open mind and an attitude that the experience will be completely different than anything you’ve tried before.

Everyone’s Tailored Approach

Once the group has finished lining up, my work is cut out for me. For the people that love team building, I need to make sure I meet what may be high expectations. For the people in the middle, I want to show them that team building can add real value and encourage them to re-think the way they lead and show up in a team environment. As for those people at the “I’d rather die” end of the line, I really hope I can change their view of team building by inviting them into the process, not forcing it, and creating A-HA moments they weren’t expecting. It helps to come in to the program with an open mind but that can be easier said than done, given how much past experiences weigh on our perspective.

Encouraging an Open Mind

When participating in one of our challenges, we encourage teams to forget what they’ve heard, seen, or imagined and come prepared to be transformed, both personally and professionally. The one thing we do want our participants to expect from Signature Teambuilding is lasting change if they continue to utilize the successful behaviors highlighted in each of our unique programs.

Team building can develop bonds between new teams, strengthen existing teams, and even smooth issues within volatile teams. While organizations approach us for a variety of reasons, the heart of each reason is the same: they are looking for change and transformation within their team.

CreativeMktGroup is a small marketing firm based in Richmond, VA. The company was started 3 years ago but in the past year, they have experienced a significant growth spurt, bringing on several new full-time employees and significantly expanding their list of clients.  As exciting as new growth can be, it can also be challenging and bring with it a slew of growing pains. CreativeMktGroup approached Signature Teambuilding with the TeamQuest experience in mind. From this experience, they were hoping to bond further as a team and discover individual traits they could use to increase team efficiency.

Signature Teambuilding took this team of 5 through a variety of activities on the ground and then up into the Odyssey Course for a series of team building exercises. Traversing through the ropes course together, a series of challenges presented themselves and each individual’s strengths and weaknesses quickly rose to the surface. Overcoming each obstacle, the team had to utilize trust, critical thinking skills, and communication. When a team member was feeling weak or uncertain, others offered advice, words of encouragement, or even a literal hand to hold. When faced with a complex problem, each member had a different approach to solving it, but watching them have an open discussion about the best approach was clearly indicative of their workplace relationships.

From the time they climbed the rope ladder to the moment they landed back on the ground, 4 hours had passed and the team had gone through moments of struggles, triumph, and even a few stumbles. They had confronted fears, experienced extreme vulnerability, and conquered it all, not on their own but as a complete unit. They left with a new perspective of how to solve their client’s problems and a better understanding of how each team member operated under stress. Back in the office, they still regularly discuss and implement the strategies they discovered out on the ropes course. Just because the experience is over, doesn’t mean the learning stops.

Signature Teambuilding inspires teams to change their internal behavior through our experiential learning experiences. Thank you to CreativeMktGroup for trusting the process and being open to change!

Today, more people are graduating from college than ever before and employers are much more selective when choosing interns. Gone are the days when employers viewed interns as free labor.  Today they’re seen as potential future employees, already brimming with experience and able to jump right into the company. Students no longer treat internships as a means to fulfill graduation requirements; they expect internships to provide them with a true learning experience and honed skillset.

Capital One, Altria, Royall & Company, and other large companies we work with have very robust internship programs. Starting with the selection process and all the way through their 10-week program, companies are doing everything they can to treat their interns with respect, providing them with opportunities to learn, set high expectations and give them a sense of the real world.  In addition, they usually host extracurricular activities and social events to help people interact.

What do social events provide and how is that cost justified?  In our experience, social outings like going to a ballgame, bowling or to the bar don’t do as much as companies might think. Usually, people interact with the people they already know instead of building new relationships. If you really want people to interact, you need to encourage them to do so by getting them out of their “social comfort zone”. This can be accomplished through team building activities. Left to their own devices, people will naturally gravitate to those they are familiar with.

What kind of message are you sending with your company culture?  Something else to keep in mind is the kind of message you are sending about your company’s culture. We’re not suggesting that happy hours aren’t a good thing and are not trying to suck the fun out of everyone’s good time but it is important to consider what these activities are supporting.  Are you portraying the idea that work is work and play is play? Are you suggesting that everyone at work is just a big family? These team activities should speak to your company’s culture and reputation.

What can you do to set up your interns for success? From the interns perspective, they want to be successful so they need to know what success looks like and how they can be successful at your company. Interns want to feel like you are preparing them for success and you are interested in their well-being and future, even if they don’t come to work for you. There is plenty of time to go to the bars and play outside of work but if you don’t help them build relationships with others, show them what you value and work to equip them for success, you are doing yourself and them a great disservice.

Signature Teambuilding has been thinking about this for many years and we have designed programs that combine purpose, fun and learning all at the same time. We believe that learning can be fun and that fun can be purposeful. For example, our Shifting Gears program is strategically designed to break down barriers between people by conducting a variety of activities that are “smart” not silly, challenging but not impossible, and inclusive not exclusive. There are a variety of activities to ensure everyone will engage in the process and we break the group into various sized teams for each different activity so participants will interface with nearly everyone during the program. Most importantly, the program will connect to the company’s value, mission, culture, and competencies so the participants get a true sense of how to be successful working there. Provide your interns with the best possible experience with true team building.