Team Building Best Practices

When you think of the ASTD 2012 conference, team building songs are probably not the first thing that pops into your mind. Yes, there are the more typical sessions on simulation training, multimedia learning environments etc. But dig a little deeper and you’ll notice their are offerings that relate to team building motivation and how they’re related. No, you won’t find this specific class offered, but you’ll find opportunities to…

A creative life is built upon self-motivation and trust. The motivation part is obvious, but the trust part a bit harder to understand and to accept. It took me years and a bit of success to gain the confidence I needed to trust the cycles of motivation and non-motivation. Or in creative terms, inspiration and lack thereof. After beating myself up this morning for several hours because I wasn’t making…

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,…

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’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…

I’m not big on metrics but when I see supporting evidence of what I’ve instinctively known to be true, I’ll jump on it! So I was thrilled to read Gallup’s research, “the path from the individual engagement elements to financial performance is stronger than the path from financial performance to engagement.” When your employees feel a sense of ownership you will reap financial rewards. However, financial compensation, in and of…

There are many team building activities that enhance communication, develop trust and enable your team to have fun together. So how do you decide which activity to choose? The first thing to consider are your goals for your event. Whether its corporate team building, an association or educational institution, focusing first on your goals will help narrow down the many choices. Traditional programs like ropes courses or whitewater rafting are…

I know that’s a broad title for a blog article. But lately that’s the way I feel, like I’m on a big adventure. I think I’m in LA today, or was that last week? Oh yeah it’s been both, with Duluth, MN in between. Yes, I’ve been home too – and all I can think of is, “Yikes, I’ve created a monster”. It’s time for me to think about and…

It’s fun and it’s scary to revisit old creative work. Creativity is an ongoing process and anytime I revisit an old song I want to change it. But my thoughts about the best Nashville team building ideas haven’t changed since I originally wrote this blog post several years ago. It was the beginning of the middle, as our program, Team Building Through Song® found it’s legs and also it’s wings….

“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…

Okay, I’m biased. I’m so into this team building thing that I often,(maybe too often), view life through a team building lens. But beyond the lens, I do believe my work experience has changed the way I react in personal life and has helped me face challenges. Two weeks ago the phone rang at 2:30 in the morning. I woke to see my daughter’s number flash on my caller ID…