New Team Building Product Development
February 16th, 2009We’re all excited here. We will soon be ready to launch our latest addition to our team building portfolio. “Project X” is still under wraps, but will be ready to launch by the end of March. And, no – that will not be its name. We don’t want to spoil the full impact. So I won’t be giving any details here just yet either. Sorry!
What I can do, however, is to give you a feel for the development process and convey a sense of the excitement that we have when we are close to releasing a new activity. Without exception, all of our activities mix participant enjoyment with genuine team learning for those clients who want both (some only want the fun!). This means that during our entire new product development process, we have to concentrate on delivering both. By the time we are this close to the launch of a new offering, we are in the testing phase. We run the event for ourselves – usually in small groups at a time to increase the number of test runs we are able to do. Although every member of the team has input to product development, each project is assigned to just 2 or 3 people for its early stages. This allows the rest of the team to be our first “guinea pigs” – and that is where we are now with “Project X”. I am one of the developers of this activity, and as much as I enjoy being a guinea pig, I enjoy more seeing the delight on colleagues’ faces the first time a new activity runs in earnest. Everyone then gets the chance to help us improve it for the next group. Once we have worked our way through several internal groups, improving it all the while, we take it outside by running it for family and friends. Finally, once we are happy that it does precisely what we want it to, we launch it properly and make it available for clients.
Depending on the activity characteristics, our product development process can take anywhere between 3 months and, believe it nor not, 3 years. For example, MiniTreasure took just 3 months to create, test, refine and deploy while Liberation was in development for 3 years to reach the stage where it was ready for release. And if you have ever had the opportunity to partake in a Liberation event, you’ll know that it was worth every day!
So, from the end of March onwards, you’ll get the opportunity to find out if “Project X” measures up to our high standards. If the initial reactions from my colleagues is anything to go by – and they always have been in the past – I’m delighted to report that we have another winner on our hands!
