Posts Tagged ‘Team Building’

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What’s Your Company Story?

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

event management for corporate eventsA team building event with a difference—our ‘What’s Your Company Story?’ team building event allows delegates to hone their storytelling skills in order to improve on other key areas needed to be successful in today’s business world.

Natural leaders tend to be great storytellers; they can deliver engaging and motivating stories that have their audiences eating out of their hands.   Good storytellers understand the importance of a powerful story, how it can inspire others or make them really think about a situation and how a powerful business message or mission statement can be delivered via a story.   However, to be a good storyteller you also need to be a good listener.   Listening to others gives you the cues to work with for your stories as well as the inspiration for your stories.

Great stories are passed on, delivered time and time again to new audiences who take it away with them and pass it on again.   But to become a great story you need great content, and it also needs an inspirational speaker to tell the story in an engaging and memorable way.

We believe that everyone has the potential to be a good storyteller; they simply need to polish the skills required in a fun and relaxed setting.   Creating a story, complete with characters that will hold the interest of the audience, and then delivering the story to an audience is an excellent way to get across a positive message, making the audience respond positively to the story and feel uplifted by it.

This type of team building event has many benefits for your business; not only will it help improve your teams’ communication skills it will also help to break down barriers, boost morale, encourage listening, and show leadership potential in delegates.

Our storytelling team building event will split your team up into small groups so they feel more secure practicing their storytelling technique.   We demonstrate just how effective storytelling can be in delivering positive and powerful messages and we help your team to harness the skills needed to become good storytellers themselves.   The individuals tell the story of your company as they see it through their eyes and each person’s story will help to reinforce the positive company message that others will want to hear and pass on.

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Second Time Lucky for Sisters in the Dragons’ Den

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

The moral of this week’s episode of Dragons’ Den has to be: “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”.

The show started off with a strange pitch from a horror writer who wanted to launch a business selling scary experiences—he got short shrift from most of the Dragons with the exception of Theo who inexplicably found his horror book (which he sat reading instead of listening to his pitch) hilarious.

Of course, this wasn’t the only bizarre pitch of the night; as a Northern Ireland would-be entrepreneur attempted to get the Dragons’ on board with his travel coat—an airplane bag that doubled up as a coat in an attempt to get around baggage restrictions on budget airlines—a product that might not attract the attention of airport staff checking for overweight baggage, but probably would alert security staff into thinking what on earth you had strapped around your waist.   Unsurprisingly, the Dragons quickly dismissed his idea and sent him packing.

Elsewhere a Polish duo tried to get the Dragons to invest in their health product.  Their inflatable exercise area sadly fell flat with all of the Dragons, especially health club owner Duncan Bannatyne.

Of the more successful entrepreneurs were the two ladies who wanted to further their children’s backpack business.   The women already had substantially orders for their bags and a prime advertising slot on the children’s TV channel Nickleodeon.  They managed to impress the Dragons with their figures and Peter and Deborah agreed to work together for a share of 30% of the company.

However, the success story of the evening was for the sister partnership from Manchester.  The duo had appeared in the Den back in 2005 but hadn’t managed to get any investment in their business venture.  This time around they invited the Dragons to taste their new range of gluten and MSG free Chinese dipping sauces and found two of the five Dragons keen to part with their hard-earned cash to invest in the sisters.   In the end the women asked if Duncan and Hilary would be interested in working together, and they agreed taking a 40% share in the company.

How would your teams fare any better in our team building event—Investors Den?  They will need to invent a new product or service, which can be general or relevant to your own business.  They will then need to build a prototype and present their business plans to the assembled investors.

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Dragons’ Den – When teamwork goes bad!

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

This week’s episode of BBC2’s Dragons’ Den was a master class in what not to do in front of the dragons!  Whilst warmth and charisma may get the dragons on side they are rarely going to part with their hard earned cash to help get an ill-conceived project off the ground, as the infectious and eccentric Welsh Grandmother, Vicki Edmunds, proved even though her daughter did come and bail her out when the dragons started talking figures for her travel and food website.

Dragons' Den

Dragons' Den

At least Georgia knew her figures, unlike the hapless man and wife team who whilst trying to pitch their office nursery idea forgot the most basic of information and had to do a ten-series first and go to the back of the room—not to confer about any offers put forward from the dragons, but to try and desperately remember how much profit their business had made so far.  Unsurprisingly, they felt the full fury of the dragons and left the den not only without any investment, but with their tails very firmly between their legs and their cheeks stinging with embarrassment.

Other ideas squashed this week were a range of larger sized bras and an exercise device to be used on board airplanes to prevent DVT.

Thankfully, not all the would-be entrepreneurs displayed such lack of attention to detail.  Another man and wife team from the North East won the dragons over with their hair care brand for children.  Not only had the Tyneside couple already secured a large order with a high street chemist for their children’s shampoos and conditioners, they had also negotiated prime display areas within the stores.  Clearly the dragons were impressed with their business acumen and sales forecasts and Peter Jones told the couple to expect five offers for a share in their company.

In another program first, the duo were basically told to choose which dragons they wanted to work with, such was the interest in the den.  Jeff and Collette Bell chose to negotiate with Hilary Devey and Theo Paphitis and managed to get the full £75,000 investment they wanted with the two dragons taking a 10% share of their business each.

Would your teams fare any better in our team building event, Investors Den?  They will need to invent a new product or service, which can be either general or relevant to your own business, and then impress the investors with their presenting skills.

 

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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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3 Tips to Help Make Employees Who Work from Home Feel Part of the Team

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

Having remote workers make sense for a lot of businesses, not only does it suit a lot of employees to work from home, particularly if they have a long commute or young families to look after, but it can also keep down costs that occur with office based staff.  However, it is all too easy for those who work from home to feel out of the loop, to become alienated and isolated from the rest of the workforce.

Simply adding their name to the email mailing list or speaking occasionally on the telephone isn’t enough to make employees who work from home feel like they are part of a team.

The good news is that there are steps you can take to help employees who work from home feel more included and help them realise they are an integral and important employee in your business.

Use Technology to Hold Face to Face Meetings

The use of Skype can be vital in holding face to face meetings with remote employees.  Holding a Skype call rather than a usual telephone call will help people to connect better with their colleagues, not to mention give them a reason to get changed out of their pyjamas.   Video conference calls can also be made via Skype.

Another alternative for group sessions is the Google plus hangout facility which can be a great tool to be used for team meetings for remote based employees.

Invite Remote Workers to Social Events

Inviting those who work from home to regular social events that occur in the work’s calendar is a great way to include everyone.  Obviously distance plays a big part in whether a person is able to attend or not, but if they work in the same town as their colleagues then they should always be invited.

It is even more essential that remote workers get invited to large corporate events, not only do these events keep everyone informed as to what is happening in the business, they are a vital chance to meet and network with new colleagues.  Not inviting remote employees to such events will only serve to alienate them and make them feel their input isn’t important to the business.

Get Everyone Together for a Team Building Event

Bringing remote and onsite employees together for a team building event is an excellent opportunity to help forge strong and lasting working relationships that can only enhance your business and make the remote employees feel appreciated and raise their morale.

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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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