Kerala Click Articles & Blogs |
|
| Team Building Information |
|
|
|
|
Corporate Team Building
There is a WHOLE lot of talk these days about Corporate Team Building. There are many, many options: vacation packages, rope courses, on-going office games, ice-breakers, etc. Management can also purchase videos, books, and seminar packages to assist them in building up their organization into a team worthy of belonging. A little later I will give you some ideas of where you can go for information on these team building tools. How about some free advice to start you off? Some of the foundational building blocks within team spirit, whether within a corporation or a family, are the ones that are most simple and natural. ** The leader must set the example: IF your employees see you as a team player they will feel a part of your organization. If, however, they see the management as those who get all the credit and financial rewards for their hard work-- you may have underlying turmoil at hand within your organization. To counter act this-- give credit to others whenever possible! Include everyone frequently when your company receives a compliment. Especially strive to give credit to the lower ranking employees who still put in FULL days-- yet rarely are in a position to hear the praise directly. I guarantee employees work harder when they know the boss(es) are sharing credit with everyone. ** Ask your employees: What do you ask? Hmm -- a better question is when do you stop asking :-) . Ask employees what makes them feel a part of the team. Ask them why they choose to stay with your corporation. Ask them how belonging to your organization makes their own lives better. Ask them what they would change. Ask them if they have ever considered leaving-- and what the reasons were behind such impluses. etc. ** Then, act on the information you receive. Take all positive information as clues to what your company is doing correctly to keep happy employees. Then do what you can to keep these elements going and even to improve upon them. Receive all negative feedback as opportunities for growth and the chance to retain people you have trained already as part of your corporations team. Then, brainstorm within the organization if modifications might help you to improve employee relations and thereby lead to higher productivity and profits. Because happy workers put out higher volumes of better quality work. ** Finally, Be gracious. The two jobs where I was most loyal and most productive-- were with organizations where management greeted us daily whenever passing. Treated all employees -- including the janitors-- as HIGHLY valued and equal to management on a personal level. This may sound a bit threatening and extreme to some people. But, I will let you know that all of us went home daily feeling like we helped the corporate team nation wide. Sure there were issues that arose-- no one can get rid of that completely. Yet overall, 98% of us felt wonderful walking in that door each day. How do I know this? Because almost everyone showed up early (on their own) daily.... and no one EVER complained about staying late. Have you had that happen? I hope so! It is a wonderful experience. Now, as promised, here are some sites which can further help you with your corporate team building efforts. BusinessTrainingMedia.com: http://www.business-marketing.com/store/team.html Teammania: http://www.teammania.com/ Repario Ltd: http://www.buildingteams.com/teambuilding_tools.htm Adventure Associates: http://www.adventureassoc.com/ Progressive Resources Ltd: http://www.teambuilding.co.uk/ Until next time-- all the best, Kate Re-print Rights: You may use this article in it's entirety, all that I ask is that you contact me with an email here: [email protected], to let me know. Thanks for the support! About The Author Kate Hufstetler is a well established business & personal coach who has helped many individuals like yourself to beat "the blues" and gain control over their lives. Through personal and business mentorship, she could help you! Visit more of Kate's articles here: http://www.comedreamwithme.com & http://mindpower.smartads.info
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Team Work So much has been written on this subject; Team Work, it's almost hard to add any thing at this point. T E A M; TOGETHER EVERYONE ACCOMPLISHES MORE. That is really easy to say and it makes for a great acronym. It seems it has even hit corporate America. They have integrated it into TQM "Total Quality Management". They call it "team building". They talk about quality. They talk about communication. They talk about goal setting. They talk about productivity. They talk about this; they talk about that. That's the problem; it's all talk. The real problem is that you can't talk about team building and downsizing in the same sentence. Building means growing, expanding, planning, etc. Downsizing is tearing down, discharging, shrinking. Which is it? Either you are building a winning team or you are starting over. If they are going to do both, they should downsize first and then team build second. Otherwise, you can talk all you want because no one is listening. The people are: either laid off, fearful of their job or not interested in the B.S. anymore Virtual Team Work At a time when many companies are scaling down their marketing budgets, big design firms are finding it harder to win new clients and projects. Things maybe tough for the larger design firms, but the situation could be ideal for freelancers and other smaller boutique operations that can operate virtually. Manage Expectations to Reduce Everyday Frustrations Just today my partner Russ and I sat down to hash out a nagging frustration. It took a little bantering back and forth [not without some rise in emotional tension I'll have you know] until we got at the heart of the issue. Unmet expectations! Stop and look back at the last time you were frustrated with your life or business partner. Odds are it was because he/she did not meet your expectations. Expectations of? Leaving the toilet seat up or down Making the bed Meeting you at the restaurant on time And so on. These expectations can be small or large, simple or complex, pertinent or absurd; the point is that somewhere in your head you expected something different to happen than what did happen. So, most every time you find your level of frustration on the rise it is because your partner acted contrary to one of your myriad expectations. Now that you've become more or re-aware of this what can you do about it?besides hoot and holler? The first step is to identify what the expectation is Team Development in the Little Leagues A grassy field, two nets, a soccer ball and some playful youth is the ideal setting for a little league soccer game. You may have recalled yourself of a time when you observed these little league events. You enter a spacious field of green, housing numerous miniature soccer fields all lined up next to each other, and young athletes running after a ball. You may have been more overwhelmed by the abundance of children playing, rather than the actual soccer game itself. But what you can appreciate from this is the sight of children utilizing their endless energy and their parents and relatives rooting for them from the sidelines. Business Innovation ? Group Creativity Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Always In Motion Is The Future It's the summer of 1973, and a young film director goes searching for a studio to distribute his new screenplay. Many say no, until one finally agrees to take a chance on him. Twentieth Century Fox has such little faith anyone will actually pay to see the movie that it agrees to give him - in exchange for the usual directing fee - 40% of the box office, plus sequel, publishing and merchandising rights. Creating Unity In Your Company The other day I got a call from a friend of mine about an earlier conversation we'd had. Here's what we talked about: Years before he had started a company which has now grown to the point where it has many offices across the USA. On the surface it doesn't sound like there would be much to be unhappy about does it? Aligning Corporate Teams Picture yourself entering a corporate meeting, team meeting, or business meeting. There you are sitting in the room, while someone in the "expert" or "boss" chair speaks to you or at you. There you are, not aligned with that person's mission or vision. There you are, feeling apart from the process. There you are, lacking energy and the desire for being there. There you are, hearing what is going wrong and what you or your team or department needs to change or improve. How are you feeling? Nine Ways to Contribute to Project Team Success The world of work has changed. It used to be that most of us worked as a part of a process, whether on an assembly line, managing interactions with Customers, or any one of a thousand other processes. Processes are ongoing, repeatable and never have an ending. Downsizing Your Team Team Building Question: Leading the Witness: How Asking Questions as a Trainer Can Limit Learning and Reduce Trust "Asking questions can be a means of establishing authority, fulfilling leadership functions, and ensuring effective learning. In fact, asking questions is probably the most subtle power you have for controlling people. The person who asks questions always controls the conversation... if we could discipline our minds to ask questions instead, we could lead any conversation to wherever we wanted it because the other person would still be wrapped up in thinking what he or she wanted to say next...One of the rights you have as a trainer is to ask questions and expect answers. This is why question-asking is such a powerful tool. It challenges and avoids confrontation at the same time." Do You Want to Get Others to Improve Their Performance? Then Expect the Best Recently I decided to stretch my athletic abilities and add a running program to my regular exercise routine. Although I had tried to run in the past, my level of success was pretty pathetic. This time, however, I decided to follow my own advice and find some expert runners who could teach me how to run. And that is exactly what I did. Recruiting Government Workers As Franchisees Many believe a leaner government promotes better freedoms with respect to free enterprise and the right to free contract. Leaner governments make fewer laws because of their enforcement capabilities. Under our current direction with high government debt loads and low unemployment we will begin to see a downsizing of government at every level. We see it in a few closures of military bases. The Federal Government is the United States' second largest employer behind Wal-Mart with about the same level of ambition, intelligence and energy. It employs over 900,000 people without including military, enforcement agencies, governmental administrators and or politicians. If the government (Federal) cut itself by 20% and we believe 40% is more in order: that would be 180,000 job cuts or about 3600 people per state at 20%. Larger states like California could be as high as 21,600 at a twenty percent reduction How to Turn Idea Squashers into Possibilities Managing a small business continues to become more challenging. However, history has shown that resourceful business owners will succeed. They will prosper, turning disadvantages into advantages by thinking creatively. Constructive Group Dynamics: How to Go from the S.N.I.P.P.Y. Syndrome to a C.L.E.A.R. V.I.E.W. If asked to look at your work calendar for the week, the odds are pretty good that you have a few if not several meetings already scheduled. Now, if asked how you feel about attending some of those meetings, the odds are even better that you may either roll your eyes, groan or mutter something under your breath. Sound familiar so far? Okay, that was the easy part. Franchisor Award Programs; Ideas and Innovation Franchisors should also be heavy on the award side of motivational material. Award certificates and plaques should be given out to franchisees who perform above expectations. Each franchisor needs to take a look at their business model and find ways to best motivate the team. In our franchise company we came up with several ideas and continually innovated to find new ways to use awards to strengthen or franchise family. Awards will be given out for: Teaming - How to Build a Team Team building takes work but the results are worth it. The essential ingredient is time and patience. Dealing with Difficult People: Ten Ways to Improve Your Communications Success Have you noticed that some people seem to stop listening even before you start talking? Do you avoid approaching some people unless you absolutely have too? Improve your chance for conversational success by considering the following ten factors before starting your next conversation. The Magic and Mystery of Teams As the world of manufacturing has become increasingly competitive, managers have diligently searched out new and innovative ways to increase productivity, multiply the power of every employee, and better utilize every resource in order to positively impact the bottom line. Joy and Laughter in the Workplace: Lessons From the Land of OZ Turbulent Twisters
|
| home | site map |
| © 2005 |