TEAM BUILDING RETREATS

IMPORTANCE OF TEAMS

Good teamwork in any organization is of vital organization. It can make things happen better
than anything else in an organization although talented people are required in any organization
but its proper team spirit with which many organizations succeed. There have been instances
where companies might be filled with multi - talented individuals but the problem which lies is
the ineffective utilization of the resources and lack of harmony in the team. People working in a
team are a very powerful force than the skills, processes, procedures and systems which are
followed. Because no business function with the individual efforts of one person it is always
group of people who with their coordination are able to initiate activities and the processes.

TEAM BUILDING

"Coming together is a beginning.

Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success."
- Henry Ford

The goal of team building is to help create better focused and effective teams that are result
oriented. Successful managers will probably give you the following mantra. Team building is
a strategic tool that helps you harness the potential of your employees and makes for a
strong and vibrant organization. On the other hand, a poorly planned and disorganized team
might fail to deliver and result in disillusionment, low self esteem and demotivation. Team
building is the art of building a team with a can-do attitude to achieve targets or business
goals. And keeping the team intact is an essential part of the process.

 Build rapport and strengthen relationships throughout the team

 Cultivate excellent communication while building trust
 Share risk-taking activities in a safe yet challenging environment
 Develop leadership skills in everyone
 Dramatic reduction in employee turnover
 Less duplication of work and rework
 Improved morale
 Greater efficiencies in processes
 Less office miscommunication
 Greater profitability
 Show your teams respect and gratitude by treating them to a truly extraordinary workshop

Ben Franklin knew what he was talking about when he said

"We must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately."

TEAM BUILDING RETREATS

Corporate retreats have been popular for years as a way for businesses to

a) train executives

b) promote an environment of teamwork and productivity

c) reward employees for exemplary achievements

PROs:

One of the most popular reasons for planning and implementing corporate retreats is to promote a
feeling of teamwork among company employees, whether they are higher-level salaried
executives or an entire department including management and lower-level employees.

Most team-building corporate retreats focus on events where everyone has to work together to
reach a common goal, such as river rafting, rock climbing, intellectually challenging games, or
even friendly competitions between company departments. Those who attend these team-building
retreats will learn about what the temporary retreat goals are, as well as the long-term results
that the company is striving for.

One example of an activity at a team-building retreat would be raft building, something that is
offered at the Rocky Gap Lodge and Gold resort in Cumberland, Maryland. With only a few basic
tools and items to work with, teams will have to compete by trying to build the best raft possible;
one that is actually functional. Though something like this seems like a far cry from what most
people do at work, it is designed to teach people what working together for a common goal can
do, as opposed to each person working to only reach his or her own individual goals. Other
activities might include everyone hiking blindfolded while holding on to the same rope, or team
scavenger hunts.
We did the “catch me I’m falling” activity as well as many others that allowed us to be supportive and
work as a team. I was very relieved that not only did they catch and support me but they helped me get
back on my feet. During that couple of days we learned our strengths and weaknesses not only as
individuals but as a team. We learned we are coaches for each other. We worked together to develop our
department’s mission statement based on the knowledge we gained at the retreat.

CONs:

a) Following up with retreat participants is probably just as important as planning the corporate
retreats themselves. Finding out whether or not the retreat was instrumental in bringing about
the results that your company was trying to achieve can help when planning future corporate
retreats.

It is a good idea to have someone there at the retreat who can gauge how things are going on a
day to day basis, but it is also a good idea to pick the brains of the participants after they are
back in their regular work environment.

Distributing a survey to participants after they have attended retreats is a great way to see how
they may have benefited from their experiences.

b) Most of the time the people who attend these events are having so much fun that they don't
realize until later how much they have learned and gained from these unusual activities.

c) Careful planning of grp activities needed: Things like paintball or go-carting, "which, in
fact, bring out hostility and conflict rather than building any sense of shared mission,"
can harm the team spirit

d) Offsite events can be fun, people can get to know each other on a more social level but
a couple of days after people return to the workplace, the impacts and the benefits are
not usually enduring.

e)
Team-building retreats got a thumbs-up response from the majority of our CareerThink readers — except
when events involve death-defying challenges one individual dubbed “stupid feats of extreme acrobatics.”
Team retreats described in the responses we received ranged from glorified off-site work sessions to
team learning workshops to ropes courses. One reader and her team had to construct a sea-worthy boat
for two using only duct tape, a knife, plastic sheeting and cardboard — and then had to row it across a
lake. Apparently, several teams got in a bit of swimming practice along the way.

I understand the so-called purpose behind (strenuous team-building events), but quite frankly, they scare
me to death and can be very embarrassing and humiliating. About 4 years ago I was at one, and
unfortunately, quite overweight at the time. My team members were supposed to pick you up and try to
guide you through a bunch of ropes, all the while being sure your body didn’t touch any of the ropes. I
stood in the very back and fortunately, time ran out before they got to me.

Another event the team had was to go across these balance beams ... well, one of the members fell and
fractured her ankle horribly and was in physical therapy for the next year and a half.

I really think there are other ways of team building where everyone can participate without doing these
incredibly stupid feats of “extreme” acrobatics. More thought needs to be put into how uncomfortable
people are, their health, etc. I’m surprised in today’s age why these crazy team-building antics are
allowed with the liability involved.

At worst, team building sessions help employees become cynical about their organizations. This occurs
when the team building events are held outside of the context of the company’s normal way
of doing business. If you send people off to a team building event, as an example, but all rewards in
your company are based on individual goals and efforts, the team building event will have no lasting
impact.

People will lose productive hours complaining about the time and energy invested in the team building
or planning activities. Unhappiness, management criticism and employees complaining to each other
sap energy, productivity and joy from the work day.

An event that is not followed up with meaningful activities in the workplace should not be held.
They harm trust, motivation, employee morale and productivity. They don’t solve the problems for
which they were scheduled and held. You will eventually lose the people you most want to keep –
especially if they don’t see your organization getting better as a result of off-site team building and
planning sessions.
If the team building event has no follow up, people become jaded about such events as a waste
of time and energy. In fact, I don’t lead team building events that are just for team building without a
business purpose, in addition to, or to build the event around. With recent organizational downsizing
and cost cutting, people feel as if they are already doing more than one job. In this context, team
building for team building’s sake has lost popularity.

f) Good teams are developed only when the team members decide that they would work for
themselves. It's always the passion level and the eagerness to achieve success that brings
surprising results; same is the case with a good team development.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM-BUILDING RETREATS

It's important to have a collaborative and participative process in designing the offsite
team-building exercise. It's not a good idea to have a team-building event that is
unilaterally organized by the leader of the team.
In order to build team skills, there should be some opportunity for teamwork.
Competitive individual activities like paintball and go-karting are not likely to build
team spirit or cohesion.
If the team wants some "fun" activities, there should also be some consideration of what
"real work" the team wants to accomplish. With everyone together, the team has an
opportunity to reflect on team dynamics and consider possible changes to strategy,
roles, processes, and individual and collective responsibilities.
The team should set some goals for the offsite: What specific things do we want to
accomplish during our time together?
The team may consider doing a team assessment in advance of the offsite and then
reviewing the results during the meeting.

Determine your goals before you select the type of activity

Think about your purpose for holding the event. Is it to get people better acquainted? Make existing teams
gel or grow stronger? Solve specific problems? Have a fun day of camaraderie together away from the
office? Learn new team-building skills? When you recognize what you want to get out of the event, you
can better choose an activity that will meet your expectations.

Choose a team-building activity that’s appropriate for your entire group

Exercises that require strength, stamina and athletic abilities often appeal to those who’re physical fit and
highly competitive. For everyone else, they can be a nightmare. Always take into consideration the fitness
level and the personalities the team members involved. An event that embarrasses or makes some team
members uncomfortable will not be a positive team-building experience.

Gain team buy-in prior to the event

This is absolutely crucial. Discuss the purpose of the event and examine why it is important to your team
and your organization. Stress individual responsibility: what team members get out of the activity depends
entirely on what they’re willing to put into it.

Always have a follow-up.

Whether it’s a debriefing directly after the event or a team meeting the next day, it’s important to discuss
what people gained from the activity. In addition, the feedback you get will help in choosing future team-
building retreats or events.

OTHER TEAM BUILDING TECHNIQUES

1) Games work as effective medium of enhancing togetherness among members

Example: The Tennis Ball Game

Objective of this activity: To enable participants to experience the various stages of team
building; as well as become aware of all that happens at each stage.

The Rules:
Divide the participants into small groups, depending on the number of participants.
Have them arrange themselves in a circle.
Give one person from each team a tennis ball and the explain the rules of the game.
Each group is competing with the other groups. The winning team is that which completes
the maximum number of 'circuits' in the given time span.
A circuit is considered complete when every member of the team has touched the tennis
ball. Only one team member can touch the tennis ball at a time. The ball should be tossed
about rather than systematically passed around.
If the ball touches the floor at any point then the ball should not be passed around in the
team for one minute.
Make the teams complete a few circuits and steadily create complex patterns.

Debrief the teams:

Stop the teams after a couple of circuits and ask for feedback regarding how they, as a
team, are becoming more efficient.
Bringing in activity modifications:
A co-worker reports sick: Remove one participant from each team. This will teach the
participants that teams can continue to function effectively, even if one team member is not
present, as each one can fill in for the absent member.
Increased production demand: Give each team a second ball. As time progresses a third
and fourth ball can also be thrown into each team. This is how the teams will understand
the need to continue working efficiently when production needs have increased, no matter
to what extent.
The understanding after this activity:
How did each team perform?
How did each team perform in comparison to the other teams?
Team analysis... Each team member communication, performance, behavior, etc.

To get the best results of team building endeavors, it is always better to make smaller
groups. Smaller groups are much easier to be taught and interacted with as compared to a
larger group. Usually a team of mere 4-5 members is likely to develop a better sense of
communication, trust, compassion, and involvement with one another. Less members
makes easy to handle the team and members are far more comfortable with working with
each other, which could get difficult in a bigger group.

Handling a bigger group can be a difficult job but impossible. For getting success with a big
group, an instructor has to know the members personally. Knowing members on personal
level helps an instructor to understand the personal trait of individuals working for a team.
Interestingly, many companies make a provision where employees have to chat among
each other for at least 15 minutes. Talking frequently helps in breaking the communication
barriers and developing a better relationship in a team.

They lead to increases in team member exposure to each other and different situation. As
an instructor, you can choose a game that ensures absolute fun for all.

The Amazing Race - Similar to the reality TV series, groups will navigate through a course
and will be provided with clues along the way. The objective is for each team to attempt to
be first through the pit stops.

b. Blind Obstacles course - Trust and commitment are the objectives of this activity as
teams will have to navigate through an obstacle course blindfolded. This challenge also
assists in working on communication skills.

c. Trivia Nights - Your team has to score as many points as possible by recalling facts from
History, Geography, General Knowledge, Music and Entertainment and many more.

d. Treasure Hunt - Teams are given a series of clues to decipher that lead them to various
locations. Find out which of your team mates are the most competitive and who's
susceptible to bribery and corruption. Once at that location they have a series of questions
to answer, things they may have to find, and some creative challenges which are sure to
have the teams in hysterics.

2) Organization of corporate events of different nature

a. Corporate Olympics - Get into the spirit of the Olympics. This activity can be themed to
highlight leadership, strategy and teamwork. With games like corporate relays, indoor beach
volleyball, soccer, European handball, hockey, archery, the emphasis is on fun.

b. Corporate Rowing, Sailing or Kayaking adventure - This activity requires team

coordination and communication. Row your way to success by gaining confidence and
working together to reach your destination.

c. Corporate Name Bingo - The Bingo card is blank. Members get the other members to sign
their squares. Everyone must fill their cards with names. The first person to fill all of the
squares with the necessary information is declared the winner. This is an easy way to allow
the group members to introduce themselves to each other individually and to the group.

d. Indoor rock climbing - Work in pairs to scale a wall. One person will attempt to climb
walls of differing difficulty, while the other will support them below by holding the rope.
Teamwork is essential in meeting this challenge.

3) Personality and Psychological profiling tools - Myers Briggs and other profiling tools can
be used to highlight existing skills and behavioural types and can identify gaps and growth
areas in teams and individuals.

4) Training and courses

5) Workshops and program

6) Indoor/Outdoor activities

REMOTE TEAM-BUILDING

• If your aim is to get them talking more, then how about doing a virtual treasure hunt or crime solving
exercise?

Basically you provide them each with a little bit of information, which on it's own is useless, but when
combined they can solve the problem. This will improve communication and also add a little fun.

As with all training, the key is how you review this. It's important that you challenge them on what they
learnt and how they will apply it in the workplace. Perhaps you could set up a forum (easy and free on the
internet these days), where they can discuss their findings and you can also post your review commments.

• Heard it through the grapevine - Create a chat area (a Web forum or list serv) where
workers can start up discussions or pose questions of a professional or personal
nature. From the company's point of view, it can help stifle rumors and gossip about
company policy or workplace issues. "The grapevine is the number one source of
information for nonmanagers. This takes the grapevine to a legitimate level," Putzier
says.
• Wall of Fame - Display awards, trophies, certificates, or other professional or
personal successes on a shelf in the office dedicated to showing off individual or
team merit or achievement. For remote members, post images, photos or tales of
 the worker's accolades on the intranet site, or the team leader can send an e-mail to
members touting individual honors. Similarly, you can lead any recurring, teamwide
conference calls with such news announcements.
• Peer pats - Don't wait for management to recognize you or your co-workers. If you
know a co-worker has won an award or did a good job on a project, send a message
to the team acknowledging the worker.
• Personal messages - Every Friday, encourage team members to create some sort of
personal message or information as part of their team-only e-mail. Accolades,
hobbies, greatest accomplishments, favorite local restaurant or vacation retreats, or
upcoming vacation are all good candidates. Consider including family notes, such as
a child's soccer championship or college acceptance. "It doesn't need to spur
discussion," Putzier says. "It's just so people can read the e-mail and say, 'That's
cool.'"
• Brainpower inventory - What are the skills and interest of your team members? You'll
probably find musicians and singers, artists and cartoonists, chefs or barbecue
aficionados, authors and poets in your group. Display their work in the hallways or
on the team intranet, or hold a social event - possibly when the whole team is in
town for a department or companywide meeting - to have everyone show their stuff.
The team could pull together a band to jam at events - where the team's chefs
supply the fare, for instance.
• Oh, baby - What were you like as a baby? When the team is together, or on the
team intranet, post team members' baby pictures. Get team members to try to
match the baby with the adult.
• Rock me, baby - Whether the entire team works in the same region, or those times
that the team is together for a company meeting, scan the local paper to see what
events will be held locally. Plan to attend sporting events, concerts, a comedy club or
the movies as a group. Rent a bus and ride together - even include spouses or
partners. If the event is kid-friendly, invite the whole family.
• Fantasy weekends - Have team members submit their own fantasy weekends. If you
could have dinner with anybody, who would it be? Name three things you would like
to do before you die? Make them reasonable, and then try to pull off some as a
team. Putzier's lifelong dream, for example, is to be a race car driver. So in June, his
wife sent him to a weekend stock-car race driving school.
• telephone chatting activities (team-building for home-based staff, telephone
skills exercises, remote teams relationships)

Home-based staff and remote teams miss out on the valuable social contact
normally available to office-based teams. Personal interaction between staff
(typically chatting and engaging in the canteen, elevator, lounge areas, etc)
is crucial for developing relationships and mutual awareness among teams,
so if teams do not meet frequently then the leader must devise ways to
enable this personal interaction to happen. Traditional autocratic
management discourages chatting between workers because it considers
chatting to be a waste of time, but this misses the point. "You are paid to
work not to chat or socialise in the corridor - get back to work.." is actually a
very unhelpful management tactic. The truth is the better team members
 know each other the better the team performs. Within reason, people need
to be given every opportunity to get to know each other, and chatting
achieves this very well. Chatting develops mutual awareness, and it also
helps people feel included and valued. Conversely, if you deny people the
chance to engage personally with their colleagues you starve them of
interaction that is essential for well-being and life balance. The internet
increasingly enables people to connect through 'groups' and 'social
networking' websites, but for many remote or home-based work teams a
simple telephone-based alternative can provide an easier more natural
process, moreover using the telephone - even for chatting - helps improve
telephone skills, especially listening. A simple way to achieve this double
benefit of team development and skills improvement among remote teams is
to encourage telephone chatting (within reason of course) between team
members.

Here are some ideas for doing this:

Introduce a compulsory 15 minutes telephone chat-time which each

team member must have with every other team member every week. Give
no subject or aim other than having a good chat and getting to know the
other person.

Introduce a rota or matrix for inter-team chat telephone appointments

- timings to suit workloads - again with no aims other than to have a chat and
learn something about each other.

Introduce a virtual team tea-break or virtual visit to the pub - everyone

is in fact by their phone in their own homes or offices (with a cup of tea or a
tumbler of what does you good) connected a suitable via telephone
conference call - and the tone and spirit of the discussion must be as if the
team were gathered around a table in the canteen or at the local pub. There
are no aims or intended outcomes aside from having a good chat and getting
to know each other better.

When people are connecting more regularly and the telephone chats
are up and running, maybe try introducing a few discussion subjects - not
necessarily about work - anything to get people talking and understanding
each other better. Maybe ask the team to suggest topics too, and then see
where the team wants to take things.