Team Building in Santa Fe

Recently I had the opportunity to travel with a coworker, Mike Courtney, to Santa Fe, NM to spend an afternoon with one of our partner companies to facilitate an afternoon of team-building exercises. Leading up to the event, I spent countless hours preparing learning experiences I thought would be meaningful and appropriate for an adult audience. With a background of 10 years in elementary education I was a bit nervous the activities I designed would fall flat on an experienced group.

On the day of the event, with twine, cups, rubber mats, poster board, colored pencils and an array of additional supplies in hand, we spent the morning setting up and rehearsing. Although my nerves were heightened, we felt prepared and confident we’d have a great afternoon.

I was immediately at ease the moment the participants arrived. Everyone was so kind and eager to see what we had planned. I instantly felt like I was a member of their team and I was right at home. The audience was captivated when I spoke about the importance of team-building (it’s not just free-time away from work!) and the significance of positive team-talk and affirmations.

Although team-building may seem like just fun and games, it is actually research based. With an open-mind and an unwavering commitment to participate, all can benefit. Team-building is believed to:

Build Trust: Mutual trust can allow your team members to depend more on one another and be more productive and efficient as a result.
Ease Conflicts: Allows team members to bond with one another, become more accustomed to each others’ personalities and get to know one another on a personal level.
Increase Collaboration: Establishes a stronger bond between team members who otherwise might blame one another when problems arise within shared business projects.
Bolster Effective Communication: Team members can learn how to better communicate with one another because they probably will be faced with activities that need to be solved as a group. This type of communication practice can translate into more productive and efficient daily work and allow team members to function better as an overall team.

Our afternoon was spent participating in a variety of activities from “Paper Tower” to “Create a County,” among others. All of the learning experiences encouraged team-work, communication, collaboration, and creativity. It was interesting to note how participants interacted with each other, which lead to worthwhile group discussions afterwards.

This group was ideal in that every member fully participated and truly reflected on themselves, their role on the team, and how to grow. One participant later emailed me to say, “I appreciated the safe environment you created, the stimulating exercises, and the encouragement to add to our ways of thinking and behaving.”

I was sad when the afternoon came to a close but extremely thankful for the time I had with the team. I hope our future endeavors allow us to come together again.

If you are interested in learning more about how team-building can help your company, please contact me: meidson@agility-grp.com

Let us help you succeed!
-Macaire Eidson

Reference(s): http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-teambuilding-activities-40587.html