Conducting a Team Building session?

Do you have to be as smart as a rocket scientist to conduct a corporate event? I suppose not; but you may need some pointers, especially if it’s your first time conducting. Conducting a team building session can be fun and easy. The purpose of this article is to help you learn how to prepare for, and facilitate games in a professional manner (or at least appear to be so).

If you are going to organise some form of ice breaker for the first time in the near future, this article will give you an idea of what to look out for and how to behave when the team games.

Before you proceed, please make sure you have already read our article on organising a corporate event. It will give you tips on administrative matters pertaining to planning a corporate event.

There are quite a few types of team games around; generally they can be categorized into:
1. ice breakers (or warm up games)
2. low impact team games (initiative games, puzzles… etc)
3. ball games
4. low & high rope obstacles

We will focus on items 1 through 3 for this discussion. You will not need any professional qualifications to conduct such games and there is a very high probability that nobody is going to get hurt if you do some things wrongly.

For item no. 4 however, we hope that you are not considering conducting that by yourself, if you are not trained or certified to conduct them. Someone may get seriously hurt if you do something wrongly and you may end up in jail (or bankrupt).

Preparation

Rule No. 1 – more games is better than less games. The reason is simple, if you have a lot of games and time is running out, you can always skip the rest of the activities. However, if you have not enough team building games you may be forced to end early.

This may or may not be a good idea as sometimes there are transport arrangements, other times the meals may only be ready at a stipulated time and people may wander off when they have nothing to do.

Search the internet or visit your local bookstore for games resources (or go to this ice breaker page), choose the games that you think are suitable and draw up a timeline. Make sure you fill up the time, with one or two extra games as backup.

Work out the number of teams before hand, if possible, let the participants know about their teams and nominate a team leader so that it will be easier to get the people into their teams on the actual day. It may not be easy to move people into teams in an open space if you are new at it. Having a whistle or loud hailer will help a lot. For group sizes 30 and below you should be able to be heard if you project your voice properly.

Get game rules right

Make sure you know the rules to the games. Know - as in know and able to explain it clearly to another person, not know - as in you know how it works or how to solve it. The easiest way to find out is to grab someone who does not know the game and try explaining it to the person. If he gets what you mean, you should be on the right track.

Another important thing is to make sure you know the solution. If you can’t remember them all, make notes. Unlike a Singapore (or American) Idol contestant, a team building facilitator can, and is encouraged to refer to notes (once in a while, that is).

Simplify the rules

Make the rules easy to understand, if the rules are complex, use visuals, this will help participants who receive visual signals better understand the rules better. It will also help prevent any mis-conception, as the rules are written out.

Conducting Corporate Games Requires Energy

Conducting a corporate team building session requires a lot of energy. Make sure you have enough rest before the actual day, especially the day before. Hydrate yourself well and sleep early. This also helps minimize any chances of you falling ill on the important day.

Be happy, look happy. 

Before we continue, if you are going to organise a team building session or leading some games for your colleagues, we hope that you are out going and you enjoy leading a crowd. If you are not such a person, then at least appear happy and enthusiastic when conducting the games, and SMILE! Remember, negativity is contagious, so is enthusiasm!

Begining the Session

At the start of the corporate team building session, introduce yourself and your assistants, and make sure that the participants are all feeling well and properly hydrated. Let them know what are the objectives of the team games. When giving instructions, make sure you speak in simple English (or whatever language it is supposed to be in), in short sentences, and make sure all the participants can hear you. If you are in an outdoor environment, you may want to prepare a loud hailer (mega phone) or outdoor sound system.

When using the loud hailer, take note that it is directional, it amplifies your voice very well but it narrows the angle of projection, thus you may have to repeat the same line in a few directions.

Have someone hold the visuals when you explain (if applicable).

While Conducting Team Games

Make sure you are have your full attention. You will need to concentrate to make sure that you get the right calls. Most competitive participants will insist that they are right; you have to know who is telling the truth.

We suggest that you have a minimum ratio of 1:2 (i.e. one facilitator to two groups) when doing tele-matches or other competitive games. When working with more experienced facilitators, you can reduce the ratio to 1:3, but it still depends on the complexity of the games involved.

Another important thing is – TAKE NOTES during the games. If you watch soccer, you may realise that even the professional referees take notes. Imagine facilitating a ball game, you have to remember who scored, the score, and also who you have given verbal warnings or yellow cards during the game. Taking notes will help you remember.

Be polite but firm when conducting the games, let the participants know that if you have to, you will penalise them, by either giving demerit points or sending players off the game (all these should be explained to them before the game). You will have to put what you have said during the briefing into action, or they will start to bend the rules.

Be Sensitive to the Participants’ Feelings

Make observations of the participants throughout the session. If the participants are physically exhausted, be sure to give them breaks. If they look like they can’t go on anymore, end off the team building session slightly earlier, so long as the objectives have been achieved.

Ending the Session

Close off the team building session on a high note, commend the different teams on their efforts and performance and give any feedback of the observations that you have made during the session (if applicable). If possible, get participants to share about things that they have learnt during the session. Give out prizes to winning teams!

Finally thank them for thier participantion.

After reading this article, I’m sure you will agree with me that it does not take a rocket scientist to conduct a team building session. However, I must add that having organised such team games for various organisations since ealry 2003, I realised that a rocket scientist may not fit the job requirement perfectly either.

Just like everything else, practice makes perfect. There’s nothing that cannot be learnt, if you are willing to practice. We wish you a successful corporate event!

Planning a corporate team building event 

Just been delegated the “Staff Welfare Committee Chairperson” by your boss to organise a corporate team building event when you have not even conducted an ice breaker before? Do not despair. This article seeks to provide insights on intelligent questions to ask and important things to look out for when organising a corporate team building event.

The O.P.T.I.M.A.L. approach to team building events management:

1. Objectives of the corporate team building

“What do we expect to achieve at the end of the corporate team building?”

To have an end in mind, a purpose, is crucial to planning a corporate team building event. Having objectives mean that you can skew or tailor the activities to meet your expectations. The objectives would, in many situations, form the guiding principals to select the appropriate activities.

Having clear objectives would also help to set the tone for the team building event, and establish the expectations of participants involved, so everyone is moving in unison towards the same direction/ goal.

Having conducted corporate team building events for a variety of organisations, some of the more common reasons why corporate team building is required, are as follows:
a) To create synergy in a new team/ team with new members
b) To create an opportunity for staff from different departments/ functions to interact
c) To address certain work issues
d) To reinforce their corporate values
e) As a form of training
f) To reward their staff with a day away from the office
g) To interact and have fun

Each of the reasons listed above will result in emphasis on different aspects during the corporate team building event. For example, for a new team, we would want to spend a little more time during ice breakers to allow the participants to get to know one another better. If reinforcement of corporate values is the imperative matter, we would want to ensure that the intended values are visible to the participants, for example, as banners, posters or on the little souvenirs that they receive.

2. Profile of Participants

“Who will be attending the corporate team building event?”

Another important factor in planning a successful corporate team building event is the profile of the participants. Age range, gender mix and other background information like educational level and job scope, should be taken into consideration while sculpting the programme, to ensure that the programme would be suitable and relevant for all participants.

Special consideration should also be made for participants who have chronic injuries, medical history or disabilities - they should still be able to actively participate in the activities, without aggravating their conditions.

One other point which organisers frequently overlook is the dietary preferences of the participants. In a multi-racial country like Singapore, participants may be Chinese vegetarians or Indian vegetarians, while others only consume Halal food (food that is lawful and allowable under Muslim law) or even Kosher food (food that has been prepared so that it is fit and suitable under Jewish law). There may also be participants who are allergic to certain types of food. The best way to find out about dietary requirements is to check with the participants directly.

3. Time Frame for planning the corporate team building

“What is the targeted date of the corporate team building and its duration?”

Dates are important, especially when there is a need to secure venues and check the availability of key personnel or speakers. Typically, we would recommend a lead time of about 2 to 3 months to plan for a small to medium-sized team building event, catering for less than 80 participants. If the event is large-scale, the lead time may escalate to 6 months, or even a year before.

When conducting corporate team building outside working hours, some organisations may wish to consider dates of school holidays or school exams, especially for organisations, which place emphasis of balanced work and family life. To encourage maximum attendance from participants, organisations may wish to leave the school examination and vacation periods untouched, for their staff to spend that extra time with their spouse and children.

Duration of the corporate team building should also be taken into account - is it going to be a half-day or full-day event? If there are specific issues to be tackled or other forms of planning or training involved, it may be good to consider a 2-day or even 3-day programme.

4. Inclinations of the participants

“What will the participants prefer to do during corporate team building?”

Having information about the profile of the participants is usually sufficient. However, whenever possible, unearth the type of activities the participants are inclined towards - are they indoor-games type of people or the outdoor adventure type or do you have a good mix of both?

One can derive such preferences by having a poll or survey with the participants if you have an intimate group size, or by gathering the views of a sample group if your group size is overwhelming. Alternatively, reviewing previous corporate team building events and the feedback received could also give a good indication of what is preferred (and what not to do again).

The rule of thumb is to have a good mix of indoor and outdoor activity especially if your size is big, unless you are deliberately exposing the participants to a particular type of setting, or you know their specific preferences.

5. Money Matters

“What is the indicative budget for the corporate team building?”

The budget would have a significant influence on the venue, food and beverage, as well as duration and type of team building activity. If there are no figures to work on as yet, use the previous years’ budget as a guide. If no such information is available, then plan for something not too ambitious, and adjustments can be made from there.

Next, you have to decide if the team building portion is to be handled in-house or to be outsourced to an external vendor. Of course, if the budget permits, there are many advantages in outsourcing the team building portion.

Firstly, to run a team building event, you would need manpower and chances are, if your colleagues are running the event with you, they cannot participate. External vendors would likely be more experienced in conducting the activities and less likely to make mistakes. The vendor would also provide all the logistics involved, leaving your team and yourself free to participate with all your other colleagues.

corporate team building companies also bring with them sufficient experience in knowing what works and doesn’t, so you are not only paying for their services, but also their rich experience.

6. Assessment of Success

“How would you measure the success of the corporate team building session?”

How would the success of the session be measured? Is it considered a success as long as the participants enjoyed themselves, or if the participants got to know at least 3 other colleagues better?

While the effects of corporate team building are generally intangible and the takeaways are somewhat more subtle, measurements of success can be derived from verbal feedback from participants, surveys or observation reports. Observation reports comment on behaviors and attitudes displayed during the activities. Pre and/ or post-event surveys track the effectiveness of the corporate team building event based on the same set of questions they organisers wish to enquire about.

7. Location for team building

“Where should we hold the corporate team building?”

The location or venue would have an effect on the atmosphere of the team building session. The previous six factors mentioned above would have shaped the decision on where to hold the team building.

Other issues relating to location for consideration would be accessibility, function set-up and layout and contingencies for wet weather (if you are having an outdoor session).

With the O.P.T.I.M.A.L. approach developed by änergy, we trust that you would be able to plan for your team building event effectively. If you are running the team building event with your committee internally, be sure to draw up a detailed work plan and budget, with clear responsibilities for every task.

Next, remember that one of the key ingredients of effective team building is rehearsals. You would need to do a site-visit and rehearse the day’s activities, as it would help you trouble-shoot any potential issues, so that improvements can be made on event day and contingency plans are already in-place to tackle any glitches.

We wish you a resoundingly successful corporate team building event!

Having conducted team building session for more than 3 years, we realised that there is a common problem that the modern day MNCs face. Staff that are so busy that they talk over emails, and when they do talk, it is mostly about work related stuff. Most of them do not have time to chat about anything else. In comes the team building specialist.

We all know emails are a integral part of most (if not all) buisnesses today, but we also know that emails are not the best form of communication around, especially when you want to find out how people feel.

Not having time to chat is good in a sense - it means that the human capital in the work place is fully utilised to produce results for the company. On the other hand, we have to be aware that human beings are not machines, they have feelings. Too much communication over emails is not good for team building or for building relationships.

In team building, one very important course is the DISC course. If you are familiar with DISC personality profile, the “S” and the “I” traits (both relational people) represents a total of 80% of the population. This means that more likely than not, 80% of the colleagues in your office wants some form of connection with thier colleagues. They thrive on knowing how people are and how they make them feel. This also implies that in the long run, if this need of the people are not satisfied, they may malfunction. Resentment may go (and grow) unnoticed.

This also means that people who are of the “D” and “C” trait have to learn to be relational to the other 80% of the population!

One very good team buidling and team bonding exercise that we learnt while working with Nokia’s Human Resource Manager, Mr. Satoshi Ishizaka is to introduce “Coffee Time” to the work place. Set aside one day a week for staff to come into the office either 15 minutes earlier (or come in on the same time but start work 15 minutes later) and sit around to have coffee while they chat on anything but work. According to Mr. Satoshi, this exercise has help his staff build relationships and achieve some team building objectives.