Hmm…a few days ago a client asked me for some creative team building tips. After the fun of our facilitated team building program, they wanted follow up activities to continue the energy we helped this corporate team experience. To my way of thinking, creative team building means two things: The first is to think about the team building environment you create, rather than to just think about creativity. The second is to then think about creativity as the basis for team building. Create the Best Setting for Team Building You need to set the stage for success. To create an environment that makes it comfortable for people to step outside their comfort zones. You need to allow participants time to… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Billy Kirsch
My Team Building Nightmare
This is kind of embarrassing but that’s never stopped me from telling a story before! I had a team building nightmare. In my dream, before I woke up in a cold sweat, one of my competitors was chasing me up a mountain trail accompanied by three goons wielding huge knives. It was quite real and woke me up with a start. The embarrassing part is that I’m actually dreaming about team building… But the next morning, as I told my wife about the nightmare, I began to think it’s kind of cool that I care so much about this business that it’s creeping into my dreams. I’ve never been accused of doing things half-way and I’m willing to make mistakes… Continue Reading
Three Fun Creative Team Building Activities
Here are three fun creative team building activities you should consider. They all involve group work, the creative process and deadlines. Many of us don’t associate creativity with deadlines. It’s stereotypical to associate daydreaming and musing with creative output. Having time to explore and to experiment is part of innovating and problem solving. But learning how to innovate, to problem solve and create on a deadline is important. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I’ve done some of my best work on tight deadlines. Goals and timelines can help us get in the zone and do things we didn’t know we could. Fun and creative team building activities enable groups to experience creative success on a deadline and… Continue Reading
Creative Team Building Resolutions for 2013
My first creative team building resolution for 2013 is to do some creative team building. Okay, I know what you’re thinking…that’s redundant or too simple. But I’m setting up a dilemma here. That introductory statement could set me up for failure. What if you decide your resolution for 2013 is to get in shape? Will you sit down and create a road map to succeed? If you don’t, then you won’t succeed. So here are some fresh thoughts on how to make creative team building resolutions for 2013 and succeed. Creative Team Building Should Be Fun! Have you ever seen someone having fun who appears to be bored? Of course not. When we have fun, we’re engaged in whatever we’re… Continue Reading
Orlando Team Building Event
YES…mission accomplished…too much fun and so many friends at PCMA Convening Leaders last week. My Orlando team building session was a success. In fact, this presentation of Harnessing Your Creative Power was a lock for me, a step to the next level and here’s why. Internalizing the Program I’ve never considered my speaking presentation my strongest suit. I’d rather be at the piano when I’m delivering content. I’d rather be innovating while I’m talking about innovating, and creating music while I’m talking about creativity. Makes sense, doesn’t it? But when I began to do speaking presentations I got a bit bogged down in the mechanics of the ‘speaking part’. I knew I had to focus on a step-by-step process to… Continue Reading
Southern California Team Building Event
What did I do to deserve this? The first week in January and we got to spend two days at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. Now that’s a fantastic setting for Southern California team building. Myself, Tony Award nominee, Lauren Lucas, and LA based performer Shevy Smith led the ALTOUR leadership team through a high energy, out of the box musical team building event. Southern California Team Building Goals ALTOUR’s goals were quite simple; Team building in the sense that everyone would have fun and get to know one another better in an informal environment. Creating a concise corporate message through our Kidbilly Music group songwriting process In this fantastic Southern Cal environment, it didn’t take long for everyone to relax… Continue Reading
5 Ingredients For Building A Team
Unlike my mom who often keeps her recipe ingredients secret, I’m willing to share my 5 ingredients for building a team. These are certainly not the only 5, but they form a good basis for building a team in a natural way that should resonate easily with your group. Building a team with goals and objectives It may seem obvious that it’s easier to achieve your objectives when you know what your goals and objectives are. But you’d be surprised how many workforce teams function based on history and old patterns that may no longer be relevant. The first step is to take time to establish your goals through group activity or a team building event. Communication is key in… Continue Reading
Team Building Seminars Worth Knowing About
Team building seminars are not that easy to find. There are lots of corporate team building programs, some better than others, of course… But if you do a Google search for team building, you may not stumble onto a great seminar for yourself, your leaders or your HR team. Good team building seminars can help you gain insight into building better teams, understanding group dynamics and the importance of roles and diversity within your workforce. As a team building event facilitator, I’ve attended programs just to learn more about the challenges my clients face on a day-to-day basis, long after we work with them through our music team building program. Building Successful Teams In NYC There’s a team building seminar coming… Continue Reading
Best Team Building Activities for 2013
I thought I might do some research for this post about best team building activities for 2013. Then the winter holiday took hold and any thoughts of research were overtaken by family time. Holidays are a time when we don’t have to feel guilty for procrastination about work. But us creative types rarely feel guilty about procrastination. Because we know that down time is often the best time to re-fill the well with ideas. And accordingly, I stumbled on an accidental type of research about the best team building activities for 2013 during my recent winter break. The Best Team Building Activities for 2013 Start At Home! Good team building re-engages a team Team building addresses relationship problems that are… Continue Reading
Chicago Team Building
In my introductory post to the news section of my blog, I predicted this would read a bit like a travel blog rather than a team building blog. Chicago team building is the latest in our installment about the road we travel to help our clients have fun, engage and share meaningful interaction with a key take-away – The company song! Jump$tart Coalition Chicago Team Building Goals I love working with non-profit associations, especially those with an educational focus. Jump$tart Coalition helps K-12 teachers educate students to become financially literate. With associations like Jump$tart, our client’s team building goals may be different than with our corporate clients. In this case the goals included: A networking activity that allowed participants from… Continue Reading