The Sandstone Team Building Blog

A brand new client asked for a lecture on team building. They are building a full lecture programme on each of the competencies in their management competency framework. Four of the competencies are considered “core” and team building is one of those four. They are inviting recognised world authorities and opinion makers on each subject to deliver between two and three hour lectures to their top 150 managers. And they asked us to deliver for them on the subject of team building.

In Brazil.

I was the chosen speaker and as hard as I tried I really struggled to come up with a good enough excuse (my colleagues rather uncharitably feel that I didn’t put up the greatest fight!) to avoid travelling to one of the most fabulous places on Earth. The Barra da Tijuca (just Barra to those who have been) area of Rio de Janeiro. As a residential area, it’s very popular with some of the most talented footballers on the planet, among others. It also is home to the largest shopping centre (mall) in South America. Trust me. I walked through it. It’s on the big side.

The set up was very professional and, for those who wanted it, a small team of two talented people offered continuous simultaneous translation into Portuguese. Fewer than 5% of those attending opted to wear the compact headsets though, so clearly the level of English competence in the room was very high and I’d like to think that the pace and delivery style I used was just about right for the audience.

I covered major models on team effectiveness and the vital roles that team leaders play in turning a group of individuals into a high performing team. The feedback was very positive from our contacts and the participants alike and everyone went away with an action plan of things to implement to improve their teams wherever in that vast country they are based in. With some 10,000 employees all over Brazil, the audience came from far and wide.

My lecture was in the morning. In the afternoon, they had booked one of the most famous people in Brazil – the explorer Amyr Klink. He tackled his subject from the viewpoint of his explorations around the world. I was able to stay and watch and listen to his presentation. It was in Portuguese and so I couldn’t follow any of the detail, but the laughter of the audience and his relaxed speaking style told me that he was a big hit with the group. And his photos were stunning. Very Frozen Planet. It was an honour to share a platform with the man.

An excellent relationship has been established and we’re hopeful of a return journey there to build upon the initial work we have done with that client. If only to see more of one of the most beautiful and longest beaches in the world. Around the time of the Rio Olympics would be good. They’re hosting the beach volleyball there. Count me in…

Alan

As a child, or perhaps even an adult, have you ever stretched a rubber band?  I imagine you have.  I also imagine there have been times when you stretched it just a little bit too far and it snapped.  I’m sure you remember it, as I’m sure your fingers got a little stung!

Our teams at work are no different.  If you keep pushing them and pushing them, without ever letting them relax and getting rid of some of that tension, then they will end up just like those rubber bands.  They will snap.  Instead, you need to look after your team.  Yes it is good to push them, but you need to know what their limits are and when they need a rest.  This is something that comes up in the debrief sessions for our team building activities.  Some people feel stretched to the limits and like they are about to snap – what they really need and want is for others to help them out.  So, a key learning from team building is helping people realise when they need to ask for help, but likewise making others realise when they need to offer help to their colleagues as well.

Alan

When making cocktails, there is rarely one set recipe you have to follow.  There are many different style cocktails, and even many different versions of a cocktail which has the same name.  This is because people have different preferences.  Different versions of the same ingredients work well.  It is about finding the right combination or the perfect blend for you.

Creating your own team at work is the same.  You have to find the perfect combination for your team.  You need to find out which strengths people have that complement one another and are beneficial to the team.  This can be difficult to achieve without a little bit of help.  Team building activities are an excellent tool to use to identify what skill sets and strengths you have in your team, but also what skill sets and strengths you are lacking and will add to your team.  They can, in essence, help you identify your team’s perfect blend.

Nikki

I’m pleased to announce the winner of the October team building event of the month.  It was a brilliant First Contact in Northumbria.  Even if our group were a little doubtful to be thrust into space so “early” in the morning, they were students after all, everyone had to be brought back down to Earth once it had finished.

Despite initial concerns that the lighting in half of the room was not working – leading to us referring to it as “The Dark Side”, rather fitting with the space theme – it could make completing tasks a little challenging.  The onsite technician was fantastic and came up with excellent fix for us.

The maze and Max the robot were as big hits as ever.  The highlight of the day for me has to be the competitive tasks, for a number of reasons.  Firstly, I had a role change within the facilitation team.  It was the first time I had the opportunity to run these tasks.  Which leads me onto my second reason, I got to see just how much the client loved taking part in them!  There was plenty of laughter and banter within and across teams, even from those not taking part in the tasks themselves.  Most competitive tasks were run in heats, yet teams were so eager to take part that they would stand on the sidelines watching the first heat waiting for their chance to join in!  Finally, every team did brilliantly in them.  Every heat and final were really close, everyone put up a real fight to be crowned champions for each task!

An excellent day with some great suggestions for what the group will all take away from the day during their debrief session.

I’m looking forward to our next First Contact event, especially if it brings the same results, both for us the facilitation team and the client, as this one!

Jenny

A team is a bit like a piece of machinery.  It needs maintenance to ensure it is working to it is maximum capacity.  If we look at cars, as an example: cars require regular (usually annual) services and MOTs to ensure they are in a safe driving condition to be on the road.  If they pass the service and MOT they are safe to drive.  If they don’t pass, then work will need to be done on certain areas to ensure they are safe to drive.  Once those modifications have taken place the owner can drive his or her car.

So, what does this mean in regards to our teams at work?  Teams are like cars and other machinery; they don’t just work because we want them to.  They need regular maintenance as well.  For teams, the equivalent of a car MOT is a team building event.  The team building will help identify areas where the team are performing really well, but likewise will highlight areas where there is, shall we say, room for improvement.  The team then knows where they need to work and improve to ensure they are working as they should be.

Regular team building events are just as important and necessary for our teams at work as MOTs are for our cars.

Paul

Have you ever made a cake where you decide to not quite follow the recipe and found it didn’t quite work out?  This isn’t always the case, but sometimes it really is best to follow the recipe.

What does this have to do with team building?  We at Sandstone believe the whole is greater then the some of the parts.  What this means is, each individual has their strengths – what they bring to the team.  However, when combined, they create something so much more.  To use the baking comparison – they create a delicious cake.  But, if you miss out on something important – sugar – or perhaps a required skill set, the cake, or the team, will not reach their full potential.  So you need all the right ingredients to ensure that the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts and team building activities can help you make sure this happens at work.

Jenny

I am delighted to announce the newest team building activity which we at Sandstone are adding to our portfolio called VirtuWall.

We broadly have two styles when it comes to our team building activities.  The first, are those which require a Sandstone facilitation team to run them and can be found on our Team Building page.  The second, are those which are run online and do not require a Sandstone facilitation team.  These can be found on our Team Building Rescue website.

VirtuWall is a combination of the two.  It has been designed for virtual teams, perhaps spread over a single country, or perhaps the entire world!  It is run online, like our Team Building Rescue offerings, but unlike these offerings it will be run by a Sandstone facilitation team – over the web!

VirtuWall is an exciting new offering – and we can’t wait for you all to try it!  Call us on 01158 715690 or email us at email@sandstone.co.uk to find out more and how VirtuWall can work for you and your team.

Nikki

We are delighted to announce the arrival of our new team building activity – Treasure.  Treasure is a tailored treasure hunt with a twist.  We’ll go anywhere you want us to and create a tailored treasure hunt just for you.  We finish with interactive results!  Why not give us a call on 01158 715690 and ask us about how we can use Treasure for you and your group?

Jenny

Well, it’s been a very packed month for us here at Sandstone, which means that the competition between events to be awarded our Event of the Month for September is high in terms of number of possible winners.  It is also high in terms of quality.  We’re delighted to say that we are very spoilt for choice.

Wild West has been our most popular activity, helped by one client booking multiple events for it.  But despite some fantastic feedback from each of the many trips back in time and across the world to the late 1800s in America, they were all just pipped by a special Romanbar ran on the shore of Lake Windermere.  The staff at the venue were all fantastic – something we can’t always say – and they helped make the event a smooth one from start to finish.

From all ten bar-running teams, we heard some great Karaoke singers (and some less good ones it must be said, but all the more fun for them), we saw some healthy competition and – even better – some great supportive collaboration between teams during a fun-packed afternoon.  Amongst our highlights were the inter-bar races and, as always, the bar flair training sessions.  The finale had some excellent new flair performers representing their teams and those just beaten by a brilliant winner could easily have won at almost every other Romanbar we’ve run this year!

Back to the Karaoke, I still have “Like a Virgin” rocking in my head.  Ladies, you were fantastic!

Alan

We at Sandstone are expanding our presence in the social networking world.  We can now be found on Twitter as well as Facebook and LinkedIn.  Why not search for us and follw us?  Our Twitter name is @sandstoneevents.  If you like what we tweet – why not retweet to your own followers!

Alan