http://www.connectioneconomy.com/2004/12/01/the-problem-with-team-building/ Blogging about Tomorrow's world Today Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:54:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.connectioneconomy.com/2004/12/01/the-problem-with-team-building/comment-page-1/#comment-1830 riaans Wed, 31 Aug 2005 06:28:21 +0000 http://www.tmtd.biz/2004/12/01/the-problem-with-team-building/#comment-1830 This is a brilliant article. But oine thing that poped up in my mind is how do one build a team from a Networked or Virtual Resourced office? In other words, a company with resources scattered all over, with no real office space? This is a brilliant article. But oine thing that poped up in my mind is how do one build a team from a Networked or Virtual Resourced office? In other words, a company with resources scattered all over, with no real office space?

]]> http://www.connectioneconomy.com/2004/12/01/the-problem-with-team-building/comment-page-1/#comment-1826 Büttner Thu, 18 Aug 2005 19:23:45 +0000 http://www.tmtd.biz/2004/12/01/the-problem-with-team-building/#comment-1826 Hi Barrie and Keith. I think you have hit the nail on the head that team-building activities are often just seen as an interlude and then it ’s business as usual. What doesn ’t help is the fact that most adventure companies who might have the hard skills of abseiling, high ropes, kayaking or whatever, but are fairly clueless when it comes to team dynamics, psychology, and other "soft skills " try to get on the band wagon of teambuilding because it seems like a lucrative business. It is not uncommon to find these guys considering a de-brief as an optional extra, and if it is done at all, then very superficially.I ’ll be sure to distribute your article at the upcoming camnet (christian adventure ministries network) workshop this weekend.Martin Büttner Hi Barrie and Keith. I think you have hit the nail on the head that team-building activities are often just seen as an interlude and then it ’s business as usual. What doesn ’t help is the fact that most adventure companies who might have the hard skills of abseiling, high ropes, kayaking or whatever, but are fairly clueless when it comes to team dynamics, psychology, and other “soft skills ” try to get on the band wagon of teambuilding because it seems like a lucrative business. It is not uncommon to find these guys considering a de-brief as an optional extra, and if it is done at all, then very superficially.I ’ll be sure to distribute your article at the upcoming camnet (christian adventure ministries network) workshop this weekend.Martin Büttner

]]> http://www.connectioneconomy.com/2004/12/01/the-problem-with-team-building/comment-page-1/#comment-1823 Bronwyn Tue, 07 Jun 2005 06:42:13 +0000 http://www.tmtd.biz/2004/12/01/the-problem-with-team-building/#comment-1823 What is it about being out of the office that makes it more possible for people to see each other’s true personalities? I have often pondered this question, because I first learnt this lesson at school on a Veldschool (outward bound school camp) trip to Waterval Boven. I had been a very quiet withdrawn pupil at the girl’s boarding school I attended. I kept to myself and spent school breaks in the library reading the newspapers. I was a loner, one of the invisible ones. Then we went to Veldschool.It was a week of challenges, we got dirty, we crawled through the veld on our hands and knees stalking the ‚enemy‛ in the dark and each challenge was a competition between the 14 teams of girls and the competition was tough. Two weeks later, back at school, I got a summons to see the head mistress. Now, you have to understand that at my school, that was seldom a good thing. We were terrified of her. So, with my heart pounding and my feet dragging, I headed to her office. As it turned out, this was not actually a ‚bad‛ session, however I did get a telling off. I got a telling off because our headmistress had received feedback from the teachers at Veldschool about my leadership traits. The telling off was because I had never shown any sign of leadership at school.Three years ago I was involved with a ‚Youth at Risk‛ project here in the UK with the Wilderness Trust. The trust is affiliated to the Wilderness Leadership School in South Africa and I did a lot of research on the effects of wilderness and leadership development. During this time I came across some work being done with the gangs in the townships in SA and the results were staggering. Rival gangs were being sent into the wilderness together (they were disarmed before they got onto the buses) and were returning home as friends, swapping bandanas and cell phone numbers.What was it about these trips that lead to such a radical change? There were no abseiling challenges, no rock faces to climb. The adrenalin rushes came from the roar of the lions while you lie around the fire with one person on watch. There was a lot of silent time as they walked quietly through the bush in search of game, sitting in their stone rings alone for hours at a time, doing their shift around the fire on watch, knowing that not only their own safety, but that of everyone in the camp depended on them and then a lot of talking around the fire - storytelling ” the tales of the bush, the tales of their lives, the tales of their experiences and somewhere in all of this mix of new information, they found common ground.It would be great if every company could take their teams on these kinds of team building programmes, but this is not always possible. So how do we create a shared experience in the work place so that teams can find that common ground to write the stories that everyone understands. I believe that this is the challenge that we have to overcome to build great teams. What is it about being out of the office that makes it more possible for people to see each other’s true personalities? I have often pondered this question, because I first learnt this lesson at school on a Veldschool (outward bound school camp) trip to Waterval Boven. I had been a very quiet withdrawn pupil at the girl’s boarding school I attended. I kept to myself and spent school breaks in the library reading the newspapers. I was a loner, one of the invisible ones. Then we went to Veldschool.It was a week of challenges, we got dirty, we crawled through the veld on our hands and knees stalking the ‚enemy‛ in the dark and each challenge was a competition between the 14 teams of girls and the competition was tough. Two weeks later, back at school, I got a summons to see the head mistress. Now, you have to understand that at my school, that was seldom a good thing. We were terrified of her. So, with my heart pounding and my feet dragging, I headed to her office. As it turned out, this was not actually a ‚bad‛ session, however I did get a telling off. I got a telling off because our headmistress had received feedback from the teachers at Veldschool about my leadership traits. The telling off was because I had never shown any sign of leadership at school.Three years ago I was involved with a ‚Youth at Risk‛ project here in the UK with the Wilderness Trust. The trust is affiliated to the Wilderness Leadership School in South Africa and I did a lot of research on the effects of wilderness and leadership development. During this time I came across some work being done with the gangs in the townships in SA and the results were staggering. Rival gangs were being sent into the wilderness together (they were disarmed before they got onto the buses) and were returning home as friends, swapping bandanas and cell phone numbers.What was it about these trips that lead to such a radical change? There were no abseiling challenges, no rock faces to climb. The adrenalin rushes came from the roar of the lions while you lie around the fire with one person on watch. There was a lot of silent time as they walked quietly through the bush in search of game, sitting in their stone rings alone for hours at a time, doing their shift around the fire on watch, knowing that not only their own safety, but that of everyone in the camp depended on them and then a lot of talking around the fire – storytelling ” the tales of the bush, the tales of their lives, the tales of their experiences and somewhere in all of this mix of new information, they found common ground.It would be great if every company could take their teams on these kinds of team building programmes, but this is not always possible. So how do we create a shared experience in the work place so that teams can find that common ground to write the stories that everyone understands. I believe that this is the challenge that we have to overcome to build great teams.

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