Posts Tagged ‘team building events’

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A-Z of Corporate Event Planning part 2

Friday, April 5th, 2013

school sports day 2

Here’s the second part of our A-Z list of some of the most important factors to consider when hosting a corporate event regardless of whether it is a small team building event or a large 1000+ delegate conference.

N – Numbers

Obviously it is important to work out early on how many delegates you want to attend your corporate event.  The number of invites will determine the type of venue you need and the scale of the catering required.

O – Outdoors

While British summers are known for their length or warmth, let this not deter you from considering an outdoor corporate event.  From fun family days to inflatable team building events, the great outdoors offers a vast variety of events that your team will enjoy.

P – Potential

Team building events offer your team the chance to show their true potential.  Often, doing the same job day in day can lead a person to not think outside of the box and showcase some of their skills.  A good team building event will help a person to stretch themselves and unearth some hidden talents.

Q – Quiz Shows

Quiz and game shows are great team building activities as well as superb ice breakers for larger corporate events such as company dinners or conferences.   Inclusive and fun, everyone enjoys a trip down memory lane playing a retro quiz show such as Blankety Blank or Play Your Cards.

R – Reward

Corporate and team building events can be hosted as rewards for your team’s hard work throughout the year.  Annual balls, Christmas parties and dinner dances are a great way to say thank you and have the added bonus of raising morale and increasing company loyalty.

S – Skillset

Team building events are an excellent way of discovering and capitalising on your teams skillsets.  Whether you need to focus on communication, time management or productivity, we can tailor a team building event to suit your exact business needs.

T – Team Building

Not only do team building events increase skillsets as mentioned in the previous point, they are also excellent business tools for improve working relationships.  Used to bring together different departments or to better harmonise existing teams, team building events help to break down any walls and have colleagues respecting each other and striving to help each other in their working goals.

U – Understanding

You need to understand the needs of your delegates and what they hope to get out of the event, and in turn we need to fully understand what you want to achieve from your corporate event.

V – Venue

Finding the perfect venue for your corporate event can be a time consuming task, particularly if you want to host your event in a different town or city.   Because we have a great working knowledge of venues across the country and overseas, we can find the perfect venue for your corporate event.

W – Working Relationships

Allowing colleagues or business acquaintances to network and mingle at your corporate event can only improve working relationships.   Providing areas where people can chat, meet each other and swap business cards will enhance business opportunities and allow colleagues to get to know each other better.

X – Xmas Party

Even April is not too soon to be thinking, and indeed booking, your Christmas party.  The best venues get snapped up very quickly in the year so if you want your 2013 Christmas party to be the one that everyone remembers you need to start preparing now.

Y – Yes

Yes is a positive word, and that is exactly what you want from your corporate event.  Embracing all that is positive about your company and your employees will have everyone on board and eager to listen to your company message.

Z – ZZZZs

Not something you want to see at your corporate event.  Make sure your event keeps everyone’s attention and doesn’t become dull and boring leading to delegates fighting the urge to catch a few zzzzs.  Conference fillers and energisers, along with a good mix of speakers will ensure that your event is a success.

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A-Z of Corporate Event Planning Part 1

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013
school sports day 2

Corporate Events

Organising a corporate event can be fraught with worry.  Using our services will certainly take a lot of the stress and strain out of hosting a corporate event, but there are still some things you will need to consider.

We’ve written an A-Z list of some of the most important factors to consider when hosting a corporate event regardless of whether it is a small team building event or a large 1000+ delegate conference.

A – Agenda

Every corporate event needs an agenda otherwise mayhem will quickly takeover.  A clear start, middle and end with scheduled breaks are essential.  You will also need to ensure that delegate’s interests are kept sharp, so paying attention to the timings of different aspects of the day is also important—even the most polished and entertaining public speaker will only hold the audiences’ attention for so long!

B – Business

Corporate events are all about business, whether it is to increase business by inviting potential clients and customers to a conference or to improve the way your business works via team building events.  Tell us what needs improving in your business and we can tailor a team building event to suit your needs.

C – Conferences

We here at Accolade Corporate Events specialise in conferences.  You provide the subject and content and let us deal with all the nitty gritty such as venues, entertainment, energisers and catering.

D – Delegates

Obviously the delegates are the most important factor of any corporate event.  Keeping them happy by holding their interest, making them comfortable, catering for them if necessary and providing them with a platform to network and make new business contacts is essential.

E – Entertainment

Whilst corporate events need to have a serious business angle to them, there is no law that says they cannot be fun.  In fact, injecting some fun and entertainment into a corporate event will ensure that delegates remember the event, take away the most from it and leave feeling good about working for or with your company.

F – Family Fun Days

Corporate entertainment doesn’t have to be just about employees.   Serious brownie points can be won and morale boosted if you include the partners and families of employees in your corporate entertainment plans.   Whether this extends to inviting partners to corporate functions or hosting a family fun day where your team can mix socially with their colleagues and families is entirely up to you.

G – Goals

For any corporate event to truly work we need to know what you want to get out of the event.  Do you want to challenge employees’ skills, showcase a new product or service or simply reward your team for their hard work over the year?

H – Hotels

Because Accolade Corporate Events are an independent company we are not tied to any particular hotel chain.  This give us great bargaining power when it comes to finding conference and team building event venues as well as negotiating the best prices for hotel rooms for delegates.

I – Invitations

To ensure you get the best venue for your corporate event you need to decide how many delegates you want to invite.  For the best turn out, invitations should be sent out a couple of months in advance so that people can plan their diaries around the event.

J – Junk Funk Energisers

Conference energisers and fillers such as our Junk Funk, Boomwhackers or Quiz shows are a great way to break the ice at the beginning of a corporate event or can be used as entertainment between courses at an evening meal.  The energisers are loud, fun and memorable and designed to empower and engage delegates.

K – Keynote Speakers

Inviting along keynote speakers to your company conference is a great way to introduce a different dimension to your event.  Keynote speakers can either be celebrities or someone from another business field who you think can offer valuable insight that could benefit your business.

L – Location

The location for your corporate event is one of the first things you should consider.  If all of your employees work in the same place then it makes sense to hold the event locally.  However, if you have a large nationwide or even worldwide employee base then you need to find a location that is central to most delegates, or a place large enough to hold them all.

M –Musical Activities

Attending any corporate event where the day is filled with person after person talking at you can be very trying and not mention tiring.  Injecting some musical activity to your corporate event will not only make the event memorable but also give a much need boost to the audience and liven up proceedings.  From drumming workshops to our HAKA conference energizer, these musical activities will certainly wake up the sleepiest of delegates and greatly aid you getting across your company message.

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Team Building Events for Introverts

Friday, March 15th, 2013

Not everyone is super confident and likes to put themselves out there, in fact many people are actually quite shy and would prefer to blend into the background without drawing too much attention to themselves.  This isn’t to say that they aren’t vital and well respected members of the team, introverts are certainly no less efficient at their jobs.  They may not want to be leaders, but they tend to be meticulous and are often great at skills such as planning and attention to detail.

For every extrovert, it figures that there must also be an introvert.  This balance is vital to most teams as they usually possess very different skill sets and the two sets of skills bought together can only enhance a team and make it stronger.

When it comes to team building events, many introverts will dread them.  Scared they will be forced outside of their comfort zone and be made to embarrass themselves, they will often try to get out of attending them, offering to stay and man the office instead or sometimes even go to the lengths of phoning in sick to avoid them.

However, by choosing the right activity, introverts can get a lot out of attending a team building event.  Choosing events that play to everyone’s strength will give the introvert the chance to shine without necessarily putting themselves in the spot light.

Most of our team building events require a variety of skills to complete the tasks, many of which will suit the introvert and really get them to showcase their skills without needing to do any presenting, public speaking or anything else they feel very uncomfortable with.

Forcing an introvert to ‘come out of their shell’ will inevitably backfire and far from leaving the team building event with a raised morale, they are more likely to feel bitter that they’ve had to endure such an experience.  However, using a team building event to unearth skills that the introvert has is a different matter; for instance that person may well be very good at writing presentations, but because of their reluctance to speak in public it’s a skills that hasn’t been notice before.

Introverts are often logical minded and can be very methodical, they may also be extremely skilled in time management and paying attention to fine detail such as finances, skills needed in activities such as Investors’ Den or our Team Apprentice team building events.   They may also be in their element solving clues in one of our many treasure hunt style team building events.  Just because they don’t want to push themselves forward as team leader or project manager, doesn’t mean their input won’t be vital in the overall success of the team and that their ideas and suggestions are any less valid.

Choosing the correct team building event for introverts will ensure that every member of the team enjoys the day out, that they will feel more confident in themselves and the skills they offer to the team once back in the workplace.  In addition, their morale will have been lifted by being given the opportunity to show off what they can do without enduring any personal embarrassment.

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Motivating your employees to better team building

Friday, March 1st, 2013

Corporate Team Building Events are MotivationalThe best teams, whether they are business teams or sports teams, all rely heavily on the ability to motivate each other, particularly when they are up against it.   Being able to motivate your fellow team members requires certain skills; communication, leadership, trust and the ability to listen will all help to galvanise the team and give them the strength to push on and triumph.

A team who can motivate each other will be successful, happy in their work and loyal—both to the company and to the team itself.  However, sometimes teams need a little push in the right direction for them to start to motivate themselves and each other from within.

Empower

Empowering your team to motivate themselves is the first step to a happy and successful team.  This can be done in many ways, from team meetings where everyone is able to contribute towards ways to improve the way they work, to focus groups where individuals can be task to come up with creative solutions to any workplace problems.

Structure

Setting out a long-term vision for the team will help motivate them to reach this end goal.  Short, medium and long-term business plans can be drawn up with an achievable path to the goals outlined.

Training

Ensuring that all of your team members possess the required skills to fully reach their potential is vital for motivation.  On-going training is important for employees, it shows that you’re investing in their future, that they are a valued member of the team and that you want them to improve their skillset and further their careers.

Feedback

Regular discussions on how things are progressing are pivotal to a team’s motivation.  Positive feedback is always appreciated and any negative issues can be nipped in the bud before they become too troublesome.

 

Team Building Events

 

Sending employees to attend team building events is a fun and informal way of helping them to step out of their comfort zone and try their hands at something new.  A structured team building event can either be tailor made to suit your industry needs or can target certain skills that you feel your team needs to brush up on.

Rewards

Rewarding your team for achieving the goals set is a great way of motivating people to work together as a team.  The rewards do not necessarily have to be expensive, a simple dinner or vouchers will usually work.  Rewarding the entire team instead of individuals will ensure that team members look out for each other and help one another to reach those goals.

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4 Ways of Using Team Building Events to Improve Trust in the Workplace

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

There can be many reasons why employees lack trust; a recent round of redundancies or a change management situation can often leave members of staff feeling little love for their jobs and being concerned about their role within the company.   Difficult office relationships can also be to blame for lack of trust, in-fighting and office politics can leave many dreading their time at work and the time spent doing their job can often be filled with mistrust and a break-down in communication.

Team building events can be effective in raising morale and restoring some of the communication and trust issues that have arisen.  By working together in a different environment where usual job roles are pushed aside can often help to galvanise a team and bring everyone back together as a unit.

Social Team Building Events

Team building events don’t have to be business orientated to help improve trust.  Sometimes just a simple dinner with some fun and informal team building events mixed in can be enough to help restore the natural balance in your team.  Team building events such as our selection of game and quiz show activities provide great ice breakers for new teams and a hilarious way to bring existing teams back together again.

Creative Team Building Events

For something truly unique that will test your team’s creativity, as well as bringing them together to work at their best, our range of creative team building events will help to rebuild trust and reinforce other vital skills needed to reunite the team.   Whether your team wants to try their hand at creating the perfect catwalk look or wow with their invention in the Investors’ Den, these team building events will provide an enjoyable day out for everyone to focus on gelling together.

Treasure Hunt Team Building Events

If you’re looking for an outdoor team building event that doesn’t require people to be physical fit, our range of treasure hunt team building events could be for you.  Teams will need to work together against the clock (and other teams) to complete the challenges set.  Leadership, trust, communication, time management and decision making are just some of the skillsets that will be tested to the max in these fun and fast-paced activities.

Physical team Building Events

For younger teams or teams with moderate levels of physical ability, our range of outdoor team building activities could be just the thing to get your team bonding.   Fun and frivolous they may be, but events such as our It’s  A Knock Out team building event won’t fail to get everyone in the team back on board and enjoying each other’s company again.

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Can Team Building Events Increase Productivity in the Workplace?

Wednesday, February 20th, 2013

Can team building events really increase productivity in the workplace?  Short answer is “yes”, but the longer answer is “only if you pick the correct team building event”.  Team building events are useful tools that can be used for a lot of different reasons.  Often they are used as a morale booster or a company ‘thank you’ to its employees.  Team building events also have their place when it comes to company restructures and change managements where employees need to bond with different colleagues.  They can also be very beneficial to teams who may be suffering from in-house power struggles or back-biting.  But, for the team building event to be used for the purpose of improving productivity, you need to pick an event that will tackle certain areas.

Going out for a nice meal will no doubt raise morale within a team and can be a great way to help new colleagues get to know each other, but as a tool for increasing productivity it will offer very little.  Team building events need to be structured if they are to help with specific problems.  For instance, a decrease in productivity could be down to communication issues or lack of time management skills.  To improve these areas you need to pick a team building event where these core skills are tested.

The team building event does not necessarily need to be tailored to the exact nature of your business, in fact, in a lot of cases delegates will get more out of a team building event if it’s something more unusual and they are out of their usual comfort zone.  Making a team building event fun and informal is key to getting all delegates on board and keeping interest levels high.

Decision making, leadership skills, creative thinking, good communication and time management are all essential for good productivity, and for a successful team building event these must be included in the challenge. Activities such as our Team Apprentice team building events or treasure hunt team building events will ensure that your team is fully challenged in all of these areas and the structure of the events allows everyone to be equal and play an integral role in the success.

For any team building event to truly work in terms of increased productivity, delegates need to take away what they’ve learnt from the experience and apply it to their own roles. To come back to their desks and view the way they work with a fresh pair of eyes will help them to bridge any gaps they have in their skillset and to work smarter and more efficiently, and this can only help to improve productivity.

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Creative Team Building Events for Creative Minds

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

There is a popular misconception that team building events have to be physical challenges that whilst requiring communication, team work and other skills to succeed, participants do not generally need to flex their creative muscles.

However, we here at Accolade Corporate Events have a range of team building events that will mentally challenge your team and help them to think outside of the box to come up with innovative designs and ideas whilst working against the clock.

All vital workplace skills are needed; communication, team work, planning and time management, along with a good dose of creativity that will help to unearth the natural talents that lie within your team.

We’ve taken influence from popular television programmes, along with other areas of creativity such as fashion design, film making and journalism to bring a host of events suitable for all age groups and management levels, as well as being able to tailor any event to your exact business needs.

The creative team building events can be short energisers, perfect for conferences, or full or half day activities that can be catered for any number of delegates.

Here are some of our top creative team building events:

Film Making

For the budding Steven Spielbergs in your team, this film making team building event is right up their street.  The film or commercial the teams have to make can either be general and entirely their decision or you could tie the event in with a promotion or product launch that is happening in your company.

Armed with a video camera and a box of props, the teams will have to dig deep to come up with a unique and creative message that outshines their competitors.

Investors’ Den

The Investors’ Den team building event is based loosely on the popular television programme, Dragons’ Den, but without the barbed comments.  To win the financial backing of the panel of assembled venture capitalist, the teams will need to make a prototype of their invention, produce a business plan and advertisement for their product.  Creativity, business nous and presentation skills will all be under scrutiny if they want to receive the £100,000 financial backing from any of the investors.

Team Apprentice Manufacturing Task

Can your teams come up with a product that fits a gap in the market and get our own Lord Alan to buy into it?  This Team Apprentice Manufacturing task will challenge your teams selling techniques, creativity and decision making as they try to come up with a new product that will add some noughts to Lord Alan’s bank account.

Challenge Catwalk

A fun and fast paced creative team building event that is perfect for a conference energiser or half day team activity.  Challenge Catwalk focuses on presentation and creative skills as the teams battle it out to create what they feel will be the winning outfit.  Up against the clock, they must design and produce their outfit, find a model for their fashion shoot and finally promote their design on a catwalk.

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