I Love Team Building

Want a taste of what our team building scavenger hunts look like? Just watch this short video:

Team building company Critical Pathfinders is pleased to announce that Evergreen, a Canadian not-for-profit, is the first client to participate in TeamTube, a unique new team building program.

On April 21, 2008, the day before Earth Day, three teams from Evergreen gathered at Evergreen Brick Works, located in the Don Valley, in order to create the first-ever videos to be submitted to the TeamTube video team building contest. 

In the contest, teams of five or more people from organizations create two to five minute videos that must have something to do with the concept of team. These videos are then submitted to the TeamTube group on YouTube. The videos then compete with all other submitted videos to collect the most “favorites” on YouTube. There are a number of prizes including the opportunity to choose the recipient of a charitable contribution.

You can see Evergreen’s fine submissions at: www.youtube.com/group/teamtube  If you like what you see, do them a favour and favorite the videos (you’ll need a no-cost YouTube account). The Evergreen participants are now spreading the word to collect favorites for their videos.

Your group can participate in TeamTube too…there is still a lot of time until the contest closes.

TeamTube’s uniqueness as a team building program is the online component. The messages created in the videos are in the public domain and could potentially be viewed by hundreds, thousands or even millions of people.

Whether you refer to it as ‘web 2.0’, ‘social networking’ or ‘user-generated content’, there is no question that the web is a different place than it was five years ago.  Companies need to have as much positive online messaging about their companies as they can get as they now control only a small percentage of all online content.

Evergreen is a not-for-profit organization that makes cities more livable. By deepening the connection between people and nature, and empowering Canadians to take a hands-on approach to their urban environments, Evergreen is improving the health of our cities—now and for the future. Since 1991, it has engaged people in creating and sustaining healthy, dynamic outdoor spaces across Canada - in schools, communities and homes.

Evergreen Brick Works will be Canada’s first full-fledged, large scale environmental discovery centre. It will be a dynamic, magical place that models sustainability and is a centre for learning – through play, crafts, demonstrations, programming and innovative partnerships. The site will be animated with year-round programs and activities that include a native plant nursery, demonstration gardens, an organic food market, conference and event facilities, youth leadership and children’s camps, family programming and youth-at-risk programs.

For more information about the TeamTube video team building program and how your group can participate, visit www.criticalpathfinders.com

The winner of the TeamTube promotion is Pooja Lal of Livewire Communications Inc.  Livewire has won a free TeamTube Video Team Building session for up to 50 people!

Now the pressure is on Livewire to come up with some awesome videos!  We’re expecting them in early June, and you’ll be able to see them at http://www.youtube.com/group/teamtube  

Also, you’ll see 3 new TeamTube submissions at the same URL as of mid-next week.  Enjoy!

Andrew

A friend recently asked me to watch and rate his video, posted on a sharing service called www.filmmakingfrenzy.com  Major corporations are having video contests and they are allocating major marketing dollars to promote them.

For a popular and trendy team building program, check out the TeamTube video team building contest.  It’s team building with a video contest add-on.  Your group will love it.

Tell me about your team…

Likes and dislikes?  What the team does well or not well?  Funny stories?  Cool team building activities you’ve done?  Anything interesting or unique about your team?

Please take a minute to comment.  (Comments are moderated so it may take some time for your comment to appear.)�

Corporate team building company, Critical Pathfinders, is pleased to announce the launch of the world’s newest team building program. 

TeamTube is a video team building session in which teams make their own videos which are then submitted to YouTube.

Benefits of the program reach far beyond the conventional team building benefits of relationship-building, fun, communication, collaboration etc.  Some of the additional benefits of TeamTube include:

- Viral marketing potential for participating companies
- Coolness that keeps participants engaged
- Stickiness - groups can easily relive the experience via video
- Brand new - not the same old team building program
- Generates positive online content - helps companies proliferate brand messaging
- Potential recruiting tool - participating companies may attract new employees via the videos
- Chance to win prizes AND choose a charity to support keeps team members motivated
- Intergenerational - great way to bridge workplace gaps between Boomers, Xs, Ys and Millenials.

If your group needs team building ideas, check out TeamTube and/or the TeamTube Group that was very recently launched.

Hope to watch your team soon on YouTube!

P.S.  If your group participates in TeamTube, come back and comment on this posting for additional publicity for your video!

Seth Godin blogs about how conflict arises from a perceived difference in judgement, when in fact the underlying cause of a conflict may be a difference in belief. Change the belief and you change the root of a conflict.

This is relevant to a team situation. We can get angry (or at least indignant) when someone that we work with seems to have bad judgement. Trying to understand the other person’s beliefs may be a quick way to dissolve conflict and negative feelings that may arise.

And just like Seth says the role of the marketer is to change the consumer’s beliefs, it is the role of a manager to (at minimum) investigate the underlying beliefs between two team members in conflict. Understanding these beliefs will allow the team members to understand each others’ perspective and perhaps lead to a successful resolution.

Here is a testimonial from a recent client of Scavenger Hunt Anywhere.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IakZO2Zhb7M]

Piggybacking on the concept of Spaghetti Marketing that I just read about on Scott Andrew’s blog at Arriive Business Solutions, I’ve coined the phrase “Spaghetti Team Building”, which I see a lot of my clients & prospects doing.

The spaghetti concept refers to the act of throwing cooked noodles against a wall to see what sticks. In marketing that would mean trying a large number of ideas to see what works and then spending more money on what is actually generating ROI. The downfall of course is that a lot of money gets thrown at ideas that don’t work.

In their team building efforts, companies will often choose a team building activity or team building provider without spending the time to choose the right activity or the best provider.

So again, borrowing from Scott, here is a quick framework that you might use when considering team building ideas:

1. Vision: What do you want to accomplish with your team building? What is the overall reason for doing it? And there may be more than one such as: employee retention, creating a great workplace, improving morale, as a form of employee recognition or reward.

2. Objectives: These should be a subset of your vision. For example, if your vision is to improve employee retention, your team building objectives could be to build relationships, have fun and improve morale.

3. Choose an activity and provider: If you’ve done a good job of the first two steps you’ll be better able to shortlist your activities and providers. For example, doing personality assessments might not meet the need of having fun and going to a hockey game might not meet the objective of building relationships between team members. Being clear on objectives will help you quickly narrow down an enormous array of choices.

You don’t have the time and money to waste on spaghetti team building. A little bit of planning and thought will save you both.

Our sales efforts have changed in past years to reflect this concept. We used to just tell people about our services and how great they are. Now we are more consultative. We spend a lot of time with our salespeople to ensure that they are trained to help our clients identify their team building objectives. And we’ve been rewarded with lots of happy clients!

For such a consultation, visit: www.criticalpathfinders.com or www.scavengerhuntanywhere.com

It’s the time of year for New Year resolutions. Why not resolve to strengthen your team? Be strategic about it. Think about how you’d like to see your team functioning, what the benefit would be and then identify the 3-5 best tactics to help your team perform more effectively. And of course, what better tactic, than a well-planned, professionally-executed team building activity?

There has been a lot of conversation lately about quality of work life and how that affects a company’s ability to attract and retain good quality employees. We have been describing team building as an easy-to-implement workplace enhancement that can enhance the stickiness of a workplace. 

HR experts Hodes Qtrac share their results of a new-hire survey that clearly show the importance of personal relationships and other workplace factors as an important factor in employee satisfaction and retention. Check it out.

E=MC2. Since you can’t change the speed of light, then you can increase energy by increasing mass. What does that have to do with team building? Click here

By the time they are 38, the average Generation Xer will have had 10 jobs. As a manager at any level or as a business owner, this means change. It means change in the expectations that employees have of their employers. It means change to the way employers will relate to their employees. And for savvy decision-makers it means change to the expectations that managers have of their staff.

We’ve all heard about the trend toward multiple careers and many of us have already had several careers. But what does it really mean to your organization?  For one, organizations will see increasing costs as they will need to spend more on replacing those employees. It’s clear that there is a cost to finding new employees and this should come as no surprise.

However the impact of employee turnover can be greater than just increased recruiting costs. You’ve likely heard how much easier it is to service an existing customer than it is to find a new one. Organizations understand this and customer loyalty programs are extremely popular. The travel industry leads the way in this regard and it seems that these days almost every business has some kind of loyalty program. (If I receive another loyalty card, I’ll need a new wallet!  And a wagon to carry it!) 

But while most organizations understand customer loyalty, they have a long way to go in developing and maintaining employee loyalty. It’s like a revolving door. They hire staff and within three to five years, many of them are gone. Building employee loyalty is paramount because it will contribute greatly to the satisfaction of customers and to the success of the organization.

Recent studies have made clear links between employee turnover and customer satisfaction. And also between customer satisfaction and the incremental revenue provided by satisfied customers. It follows logically that retaining employees will have an impact on the revenue of your organization.

For a specific example we can look to a 2006 study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers which showed that 60% of 3000 customers interviewed were dissatisfied with their experience, citing turnover as a crucial factor. Another study showed that customers with a satisfaction score of 8 out of 10 spent more than the average customer whereas customers with a score of 7 or less spend less than average.

What does this all mean?  It means that the better you are at keeping your employees, the more revenue you’ll earn and the less you’ll spend on recruiting. Employee retention is clearly a key success factor for organizations in the years to come.

So how then to retain employees?  Over the next few years, the workforce will evolve. Over the next 10 years baby boomers will be replaced by Generation Xers. And their expectations differ significantly.

Generation Xers want different things from their careers than the boomers want. The top three things Xers want in a job are
•Positive relationships with their colleagues;
•Interesting work; and,
•Continuous opportunities for learning.

The bottom three?
•Salary;
•Recognition; and,
•Power and Prestige.

And Generation Y has similar expectations. I recently met the owner of an architecture firm. He says that potential recruits are now interviewing him and wanting to know what his firm offers them. They want to know what learning and development experiences his firm will offer them. They want to know what transferable skills they will gain. Because although these are students still attending classes, they are not thinking about their first career - they are already thinking about their second!

So providing an environment that will be desirable for the next generation of workers means:

•Helping employees build relationships with colleagues through team building experiences and informal get-to-know events.

•Ensuring that employees are in the right position for their personalities. For if they don’t love their work, they’ll leave sooner or later.

•Involve employees in the decision-making process. Ask their opinions and listen.

•Opportunities to learn and develop their skills, even if those skills are transferable. When employees stop learning, they’ll start leaving.

•Communicating to employees clearly and frequently. Employees want to know what is going on with the company, including the big picture.

•Acknowledgement. Employees wont necessarily need to be formally recognized for their work, but they will be happy if you thank them for it. 

The next step…Be strategic about employee retention by helping your employees build positive relationships with their colleagues. Here is how we can help.

The team building programs that we offer have been built solely for use with corporate teams and specifically designed to enhance interpersonal relationships through positive shared experiences.

Some of our most popular programs include:
•Scavenger Hunts
•Director’s Cut - own make-your-own-movie program
•FOREward Thinking - indoor minigolf

Here is where you can learn more about our programs: 

http://www.criticalpathfinders.com

Gandhi said: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

IGNORED: When I started my first team building company, Critical Pathfinders, it was hard to become known.  At the time a lot of big companies in the US were laying off thousands of staff.  It was also hard to make a case for building a strong team and enhancing the workplace with team building activities when workplace morale was at an all-time low and people were being downsized on a daily basis.  In many companies, team building was ignored and was the first thing that was scrapped from the budget when sales slowed down.

LAUGHED AT: Fast forward to the present.  On Saturday night, our office staff attended a musical comedy show called Funny Business.  It is a spoof of the corporate workplace and they describe the show as follows: “When low morale threatens their brand, five office workers in Toronto must mount a team building talent show to save their jobs”.  I feel priviledged to be a service provider in an industry that has become so integrated in corporate work life that a best-selling musical would be made about the work that we do.  That people would relate to a low-morale situation emphasizes the importance of team building. That people would relate to a team building scenario underscores the extent to which team building activities are recognized as important.

FIGHT:  I have yet to figure out what the fight part is.  Maybe it is that so many companies are recognizing the importance of team building, there will be a glut of suppliers and the competition for business will be fierce.  We’d prefer not to fight for business as we believe there is lots for everyone, especially if the benefits of our work are clear.  Enough said about this one.

WIN:  I like to think about win-win scenarios.  When the corporate world takes on team building as a strategic must-have to create a workplace that will attract and retain good quality employees, this will benefit team building providers, employees, companies and the customers and stakeholders they serve.  Something that could benefit society at any level is win by anyone’s measure!

In previous posts I talk about team building as a workplace enhancement that appeals especially to Generation X/Y.  A posting at the SystematicHR blog gives an interesting perspective on how to engage generation Y workers.  Engaging the new generation of workers is all part of building a strong team at your organization.

Yesterday I was interviewed by Scott Andrews, CEO of Arriive Business Solutions.  Scott asked me about the top workplace challenges that employers will face in upcoming years as well as ideas on how to stay competitive in a tightening market for talent.  We talked about how team building is becoming an essential workplace enhancement that needs to be planned strategically and executed professionally.  We talked about the different expectations that the new generations of workers bring to the workplace.  We talked about the Enlightened Team. We even talked a bit about web 2.0 and social networking.

The interview is now available for instant, free download at the following site:

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=37798&cmd=tc

Look in “Past Episodes” to find the episode from December 5, 2007 and click on either “download” or “listen”.  You can also download other talkcasts on other subjects.

In the interview I made reference to an article called “Keeping them Around” in which I list 101 ways to enhance a workplace to improve a company’s ability to attract and retain good quality employees.  Click to download:
Employee attraction and retention article

One thing that we meant to talk about, but ran out of time, was some of the common mistakes that managers or planners make when planning a team building activity.  So here they are:

·         Unclear objectives:  The team building provider must know what you want to accomplish.  So take the time to identify your team building objectives.

·         Overly high expectations:  You can’t fix every problem with team building.  Example: sales people won’t collaborate if you are paying them to be competitive.  So don’t expect a 3 hour team building activity to get them to work together more.

·         Low budget:  Good team building costs money.  So you’ll need more than $10-15 per person.  Employees have low tolerance and patience for activities that are disorganized or campy.

·         Provider working illegally:  If your provider is from out-of-country, ensure that they have the proper immigration status to work in your country.  One client called us at the last minute to save them from a situation in which their team building provider wasn’t able to work outside their home country.

You can learn more about how to plan a great team building activity by downloading our free team building planner’s guide.

Employee engagement is not just some managerial buzz-word, nor is it something that is easy to create in an organization.  Like many things, it takes a focused, concerted effort with buy-in throughout the management of an organization.  However Gallup has shown that its benefits can be immense. 

Terrence Traut, founder of Entelechy, makes some great comments about engaging employees.  

Check it out and read the “Letter from the Editor”:

http://unlockit.com/key/The_Key_20071204.html

Over the past 2 years I have spent significant time and money to understand some of the workplace challenges businesses will have in the near future.  My purpose in developing this understanding has been to serve my team building clients by providing a greater understanding of the importance of quality of work life and team building in organizations.

On December 5 , 2007 at 5:00pm EST, I am being interviewed by business expert Scott Andrews and I’d like to invite you to listen in, live.

In the interview, Scott will be asking me to help managers, meeting planners and business owners understand:

• Significant workforce trends that will affect businesses over the next decade.
• Why team building has become imperative in today’s business environment.
• What managers can do to attract and retain great employees.
• How to choose an appropriate team building activity for your group.
• The top 5 mistakes that managers/planners make when planning a team building program.

Listen live at http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=37798&cmd=tc

I hope you’ll join us!

You may have read my articles about the workplace needs of different generations. The Team Doc, Denise O’Berry, has an interesting take on the differing perspectives of the four generations currently represented in our workforce. And in particular some ideas and suggestions on how to use that knowledge to build an effective team. Check it out:

http://www.askteamdoc.com/index.php/2007/08/05/both-generations-resist-team-building/ 

Enjoy!

The U.S. Marines once used the slogan “All We Need is a Few Good Men” as a recruiting tool.  As it relates to finding and keeping good employees, it seems that employers maybe asking themselves where to find a few good men and women in the months, years and decades to come. 

If your company or your industry is not experiencing a shortage of good quality employees, then it is only a matter of time.  If you are experiencing a shortage of staff, then you already know that it is getting harder and harder to find a suitable number of good job candidates.

The reasons for this are demographics and supply and demand.  The baby boomers, as you know, have affected business in profound and unprecedented ways.  And they are starting to retire.  Enter Generation X, which to the corporate world will become known as the generation with big (or perhaps, many) shoes to fill.  There just simply aren’t as many Xers as Boomers.  

OK, I’m sure you know this already.  It may already be affecting your business.  Fewer than 20% of businesses in 2006 experienced no shortage of qualified job candidates. Market experts predict that 10 million North American jobs will be unfilled by 2010 and 40 million by 2015! 

We are about to experience a landmark shift in how employers find employees and how employees find employers.  Traditionally, the employer interviews the best candidates from all resumes submitted and of course hires the best interviewee.  This process may soon be turned upside-down.  To find good candidates, employers will need to look much harder to find them. 

Furthermore, employees will interview potential employers and will choose the best company to meet their needs.  And those needs are a lot different than the Boomers’ needs. 

It used to be that savvy job-hunters would use an “interview the employer” strategy as the way to getting a good job and to “cut the line”, as it were, of the standard interview process.  This will soon become the norm as Generation Xers increasingly realize that there are more jobs than workers.  Xers are already approaching companies with a “what will you do for me attitude”.  Because Xers will have an average of 10 jobs by the time they are 40 years old, they will seek to learn and grow from each position they hold.  And companies that cannot provide such a developmental environment will not be able to compete for good quality staff.

Case-in-point: A global accounting firm hired us to provide team building to their recruiting candidates – before most of them had even accepted their jobs!  The purpose of the team building experience was to demonstrate to their top candidates that their company was proactive about creating a strong team environment.  It was clear that the company invested heavily to “strut their stuff” to attract the best employees.  It is this kind of commitment that will allow companies to compete successfully in the increasingly competitive hiring market.

A 2006 Accenture survey of 250 companies found that the number one perceived threat to corporate profitability is an inability to retain talent.  As an employer, your survival depends on your ability to attract and retain high quality employees.  What might that look like?  It will depend of course on your particular industry and situation, but here are a few suggestions:

· First of all, don’t expect employees to stay forever.  Many organizations act in fear of losing staff and are unwilling to contribute to their career development, except as it directly pertains to their own bottom line.
· Be willing to train your employees in transferable job skills.�
· Provide the best team environment in your industry.  High-quality, well-planned team building experiences are highly underrated as an attractor to workers, especially Generation Xers.�
· Provide career counseling.  This is an excellent way to attract and retain talent!
· Conduct “on-boarding interviews” when employees are hired to determine why they chose to work at your company.  It will help you highlight the attractive characteristics of your company in future interviews.
· Establish a work environment that provides work-life balance.  Generation Xers will be less likely to work long hours, because someone will offer them a job where that is not expected.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but a starting point.  If all you need is a few good men and women, then make sure you can attract them. 

The next step…Be strategic about attracting great employees by creating an environment that they will want to work in.  Create programs that meet the needs of the new generation of workers.  Here is how we can help.  

The team building programs that we offer have been built solely for use with corporate teams and specifically designed to enhance interpersonal relationships through positive shared experiences.

Some of our most popular programs include:
·Scavenger Hunts
·Director’s Cut
·Team Olympics
·FOREward Thinking 

Here is where you can learn more about our programs:   

www.criticalpathfinders.com