Being the new kid on the block is as difficult in your adult life as it is in elementary school. The difference as an adult, though, is that there aren’t other adults concerned for your social well-being the same way that parents are for their children.
When the phrase “team building” comes to mind, it brings with it a picture of an operations department working on communication or a sales team building strategies and approaches. One avenue of team building that is often left out is that of corporate training. Here are the top three reasons you shouldn’t make the mistake […]
There are a lot of ways to build a successful company, but if you’re looking for long-lasting achievement the key element is investing in your employees. For some businesses that means attractive salary packages or weekly outings or even regular team building events; however, the option that provides the greatest strengthening of the team as a whole is the team building retreat. You may be thinking “Why would I pay for a whole retreat when I could just throw in some team building to mix things up?” And you would have a point…if team building and team building retreats were the same thing, but the two serve very different purposes.
Can’t you just feel the inspiration? Imagine what a well planned corporate retreat can do for your company.
Team building activities target team growth, bonding, and strengths, but the point that they miss overall is how any of those impact the company. Team building retreats take that gap and run with it, placing the focus firmly on the business as a whole rather than its individual counterparts or departments. Since corporate retreats typically involve an entire company or a specific echelon within a company, the focus is on long-term planning and where we go from here. Offering a more specific structure that emphasizes company wins, losses, and goals, team building retreats present a new environment to showcase continuing company plans, removing the “bored” from the boardroom and leveling the playing field for all participants involved in the discussion.
While reinforcing the company’s direction may be a focus of a team building retreat, an added bonus is the ability to remove natural inhibitors caused by the day to day work environment. For instance, stand in a conference room, say the word “brainstorm” and you can practically feel the shudders from here. But stand in a glass-lined cabin in the north Georgia mountains and you might actually feel the inspiration swirl! In a new environment, employees will step out of the roles they have settled into and they will more willingly engage in a strategic brainstorming session that seeks out-of-the-box input from out-of-the-office minds.
Team building retreats are typically more structured than team building activities, but that doesn’t mean that the fun flies out of the window entirely! On the contrary, the entire goal of the retreat is to work hard during structured time and relax and enjoy one another’s company throughout the duration. With most retreats lasting between three and five days, this leads to at least one day of focus on community building through a chosen venue. The day will likely be planned out, but the lessons taken away from the day and the growth and rejuvenation participants feel will pay off in the long-run. Whether the day involves a hike or a ropes course; an escape game or a scavenger hunt, the day-off feel allows the socializing benefits inherent in traditional team building to shine through.
Whether you’re interested in strengthening bonds, breaking through “stuck” team dynamics, or simply hitting the refresh button for all involved parties, investing in a team building retreat in the right setting will reinvigorate the company team and refresh the company. This type of team building investment will reap long-term rewards when it is well planned and organized for strategic growth and building long-term relationships with employees.
Think of a leader as the captain of a ship: the captain knows the ship, the captain knows the crew, and the captain knows the water, but if that captain doesn’t know how to navigate or doesn’t cultivate that knowledge to keep up with new trends, the ship and all on board are doomed. Keeping captains – or leaders – engaged and up-to-date is an essential step in ensuring overall success. Here’s why leadership activities are best at engaging leaders to become more knowledgeable and competent in their role:
Communication is the foundation of your success! It is the most important tool in the leadership toolbox simply because it is on display for employees and customers alike. The key part of leadership communication is not what you say or how you say it (though both of those are important); it is the ability to listen and respond accordingly. Effective leadership activities are targeted at building that skill. Whether it is through games, role play, or team events, leadership team building activities force participants to meaningfully communicate through listening, speaking, and reflecting. Plus, they are fun ways to get leaders to begin focusing on building and honing communication methods and skills that they bring back to the workplace.
Success as a measure of company performance is dependent solely on the ability to meet or exceed targeted goals. The best predictor for that comes down to how leaders perform in their day-to-day environment. Ever hear the phrase “monkey see, monkey do”? There’s a reason that phrase exists and it extends well beyond the animal kingdom. In this case, it speaks to the tone that a leader sets for his or her team and how fully that tone is embraced and emulated. Leadership exercises are intended to promote positive outcomes and have the ability to enhance job performance through invigorating experiences that produce renewed enthusiasm. We can all be guilty of falling into a rut; providing unique opportunities for authentic engagement with a large dose of fun can shake up the routine and excite even the surliest of individuals. Resulting in positive attitudes and enhanced workplace performance across the board, leadership activities ultimately lead to stronger goal achievement. Want your group to participate in a great leadership exercise team builder focused on goal achievement? Tryout our team builder with a pirate twist.
If yesterday’s leaders hadn’t focused on producing leaders of today, there would be a sore lack of competent, successful businesses. While people tend to hold onto a fear of being replaced, the reality is that if you don’t maintain an active and diverse leadership training program, you will eventually go the way of the Mayans and simply become an artifact of your time. Training leaders to also be good leadership coaches is therefore imperative to prolonging overall prosperity. Leadership group activities are a great way to take good leaders and increase their ability to grow the leadership in others. Not only do they provide new and interesting ideas to bring back to the workplace, but leadership activities also place emphasis on teamwork and building up others in order to succeed. The strength of the individual is dependent on the strength of the team and coaching others through roadblocks is the only way to win.
Leadership activities have the potential to take an otherwise good team and make it a great one – why not try it out and see the positive impacts that radiate throughout?
