We build teams with music because music draws us in. When we’re engaged in creative activity we stop standing outside ourselves, we stop judging and second guessing who we are and what we should say. Our authentic selves surface. That’s what happens when we’re in the moment and in a creative state. I’m all about music based team building. It’s the vehicle I use to help companies tell their stories,…
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Team Building Events and Fear
We’re never at our best when we’re fearful. Fear can be an upfront, overwhelming feeling or a subtle part of our everyday workplace environment. Creative people know that being afraid to fail is a stumbling block to trying new things and thus, to problem solving and innovation. Team Building Events help groups confront their hesitation to act, moving teams outside of their normal comfort zone. That zone isn’t always a…
Corporate Team Building and Team Tuning
I’ve often shied away from using the term corporate team building. Strategically, I didn’t want to have less appeal to associations and non-profits that don’t fit the typical corporate team building mold. But honestly, corporate culture is where people work together closely, often in teams, with goals and project deadlines. The working relationships require team building so workers stay happy and engaged – engaged not only as individuals but as…
I Hate Team Building
I’m a creative type and as such I’ve always been a little different. As a kid, if you told me to go right, I’d go left. If everyone was doing one thing, I always wanted to do another…off by myself like a typical creative. So I really relate to potential clients who tell me they hate their team building days. I’m not one to embrace a group activity or relish…
A Real Team Event
Connections and the the winding road that leads from acquaintance – to trust – to engagement. Sometimes it takes forever and sometimes things click quickly. As of last August, I hadn’t heard of MCI (an independent, global association, communications and event management company). Fast forward a few months and I feel like part of the MCI family, or at least like a welcome cousin! I’ve just returned from MCI’s annual…
Building Your Dream Team
We were standing on stage after our children’s holiday concert; it was mid-year and our school was closing for good. In a dangerous rush of enthusiasm and desperation six of us made a decision within about five minutes. We would start our own school. Damn the odds and the obstacles, it was December and our kids needed a place to go by January. Careful what you wish for – we…
Team Building and Taking Ownership
“We own it!” Isn’t that another way of saying we’re engaged, we care, we’re all in. When a team feels like they own the work they’re doing, the power of positivity boosts creativity, efficiency and results. I experienced the value of feeling ‘ownership’ myself last night at a team building program I led for Cummins, Inc. This was a small group and before the team building activity this leadership team…
The Team Spoiler
Sounds like a kindergarten encounter, or maybe an encounter at work! I arrived at the pool for my early morning swim yesterday to find all the lanes occupied. Just after Labor Day and everyone was back in the groove, or trying to be. I immediately sought out a lifeguard to help me ask one of the groups of swimmers to begin to circle swim to enable more people to fit…
The Importance of Fun and Building Teams
Fun, it’s not just for weekends anymore. And concurrently, work isn’t just for weekdays anymore. We’re always plugged in, online, catching up or working ahead. I know very few people who go more than 24 hours without checking email or Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Since the lines between work time and play time have blurred, fun has to be an integral part of your organization’s culture in order to sustain…
Team Building, Tuning and Discord
I don’t know about you, but for me opposites really do attract. My wife and I have different skill sets, different strengths and different weaknesses. I don’t think I could live with someone who has the same type of compulsions as I do. I can hardly live with myself, so living with another me would not be fun! Of course the differences between my wife and myself sometimes lead to…
Finding the ROI of Team Building
When I mention I’m passionate about team building, the eyes roll or look away. The conversation shifts and the comments usually go something like this: “That was so yesterday, so pre-recession. Talk to me about something with ROI. My boss won’t go for a team building program now. ”But being an undeterred optimist, I take this response as an invitation to enlighten people about why I am passionate about team…