August 16, 2025 • 20 mins
The secret to exceptional team performance isn't found in buzzwords or corporate jargon—it's built through intentional leadership strategies that foster genuine connection. John and Greg dive deep into what truly makes teams work, beyond the superficial activities that many organizations mistake for real team building.
Henry Ford's wisdom frames our discussion: "Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success." This progression represents the journey every leader must navigate, transforming groups of individuals into cohesive units that achieve remarkable results. We explore practical approaches that work across sports, entertainment, and business contexts, highlighting the common elements that create lasting team cohesion.
Drawing from personal experiences, we share stories about breaking bread together and engaging in competitive cooking challenges—activities that revealed authentic personalities and fostered genuine connections. These examples demonstrate how the most effective team building often comes from creating environments where barriers naturally fall away. We also tackle the reality of remote work, offering creative virtual team building strategies that maintain connection across distances. From online escape rooms to digital art projects, these approaches keep distributed teams engaged and aligned.
Whether you're a new supervisor wondering how to start building your team or an experienced manager looking to strengthen existing relationships, this episode provides actionable insights you can implement immediately. The leadership toolbox we share will help you create an environment where collaboration flourishes, communication flows freely, and your team achieves its highest potential. Ready to transform your approach to team building? Listen now, and don't forget to share your own team building experiences with us at wando75.jw@gmail.com.
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast Success
Secrets and Stories.
I'm your host, john Wondoloski,and I'm here with my co-host
and friend, greg Powell.
Greg, hey, everybody.
And when we put together thispodcast, we wanted to put out a
helping hand and help that nextgeneration and help answer the
(00:35):
question of what does it mean tobe a leader?
Today, we want to talk about asubject that I think supports
that concept.
So today we're going to talkabout team building, and this is
where you're looking for aneffective way to help teams and
(00:58):
give them some type of focus ortopics.
That helps building the team,providing effective feedback and
navigating some difficulties inconversations.
And the whole idea of teambuilding is trying to engage
your staff.
Team building from theperspective of Henry Ford yes,
(01:21):
that Henry Ford made a veryinteresting quote.
Yes, that Henry Ford made avery interesting quote.
Coming together is a beginning,keeping together is progress,
working together is success, andthat's really to the point of
what we wanted to talk abouttoday.
(01:41):
How do you make a team?
How do you actually developthat next step in trying to
organize your company and you'rea new supervisor, you're a new
manager what does it really meanto build a team.
Let's give a little background.
So what does it mean to build ateam?
Teamwork makes the dream work.
(02:02):
We've all heard that before,and that's definitely true in a
business environment.
You need a solid team to getyour goals and objectives across
the finish line.
But strong teams don'tmaterialize on their own.
Second point as a businessleader, it's your job to create
(02:23):
strong groups and advocates foryour division or your business.
Doing so requires anintentional approach.
Greg, I think you have aninteresting analogy.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Thanks, john.
I think one that all of us haveheard.
There is no I in team Right,heard that in sports, heard that
at work, no selfish peopleallowed All right.
So let's talk about teambuilding in a more fun
atmosphere.
Here's a sports definition ofbuilding a team.
(02:57):
So team building in sportsrefers to activities and
strategies that help athletes,coaches and the staff develop
really strong relationships.
They also develop strongcommunication and a sense of
unity within the whole team.
These activities aim to enhanceteamwork, improve communication
, foster trust and build apositive team culture.
(03:18):
Effective team building cantranslate to optimal performance
on the field or on the court.
That's a sports perspective.
How about entertainment right?
It focuses on fosteringcollaboration, communication and
creativity among individualswith diverse skill sets to
create a compellingentertainment product for the
(03:40):
audience.
Right, the goal is to getmusicians, movie makers, writers
, producers, dancers, singersand the like to work in pardon
the expression concert.
They build trust andcamaraderie among the
participants.
The combined efforts of teammembers produces a show, and the
better the team, the better theoverall performance.
(04:01):
John, the better the overallperformance.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, john.
So in a business kind ofapproach, teamwork in terms of a
manager or a leader, teamsbuilding in a business context
refer to the activities and thestrategies designed to enhance
cooperation, communication andcohesion amongst employees.
(04:25):
Right Now, step back for asecond.
That whole idea ofcommunicating and making sure
that you're dealing with thetruth is one of those key
communication goals.
Understanding when there's afacade or they're trying to come
up with excuses, you're askingfor truthful communication.
It's also about fosteringstronger relationships,
(04:58):
improving teamwork skills andultimately, boosting
productivity and morale.
The third point is effectiveteam building can lead to
increased trust, bettercommunication and more positive
work environment for excellentbusiness results.
Now, something to take a lookat as far as helping us with the
(05:19):
description was an article ofteam building do's and don'ts by
Linda Vargo, and she waswriting this for Forbes Business
Development Council on January17th 2023.
The first one the do is tofocus on individual strengths.
Use team building events toaddress specific challenges
(05:41):
within your team.
Don't compare employees.
Comparison is rooted inresentment and you can kill your
team's identity in a heartbeat.
Never compare team members toone another.
Another.
Do check both individually andas a team.
You need to keep the lines ofcommunication open.
(06:04):
To build a team, that meansaddressing the team as a whole
and as the individual employeesas they need it.
A don't Brag about one employee.
Yeah, if you're trying to builda team and you're going to talk
about the superstar, that's notgoing to be a good idea.
At the end of the day, there isno I in team, as Craig has
(06:26):
talked about before, so don'tdrag down an individual employee
too much.
So don't drag down anindividual employee too much.
Even if there is a need for arock star, you shouldn't have a
favorite team member that youwould put on a pedestal.
Adieu Plan.
(06:47):
Fun bonding experiences, andwe'll talk about that a little
later.
Give your team a chance tounwind and to get to know each
other outside the workenvironment.
A don't Don't avoid conflict.
New managers are often guiltyof suppressing conflict as a way
of encouraging harmony, but itsweeps the problems under the
(07:09):
rug and only makes it worse.
Your team has to navigatethrough the difficulty to stay
strong.
A do Identify how people preferto be managed.
Maybe you prefer to be ahands-on manager, but your
employees just want you tooperate in the background in a
(07:30):
support role, if you insist onbeing hands-on with the
hands-off employees, they'reonly going to feel smothered.
Remember, management is an art,not a science.
So my example of what I've seenas an employee I think Greg and
I have had similar backgroundsthe idea of eating a meal and
(07:51):
breaking bread together as beinga productive activity that
almost anyone can participate in.
There is something to be saidfor getting together and having
a chance for people to relax andto see through their facade.
As we are human beings, we wantto put up that business face,
(08:12):
but usually you're working ontrying to find the real person
to emerge within a safe andcomfortable environment, and
that's the environment you haveto create.
At the end of the day, you wantto hear all the employees speak
, to be part of that exchange inthat meal, so that there is no
one isolated, and sometimesyou're trying to pull the people
(08:35):
that are quiet into theconversation.
Believe me, that whole partabout being an employee in that
environment really makes the jobfun, greg.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So John and I have really the same example, maybe
just slightly different takes onthat example and for me that
dinner was supposed to be.
I mean, the intentions werehonorable, it was supposed to be
a time for us to get togetherand kind of break bread and feel
good about each other, becausewe went through two weeks of
hell.
Right, I mean, it's as simpleas that.
And sometimes people thought,yeah, this is a pretty good deal
(09:09):
, I enjoy going and I'm going toget engaged.
And sometimes people didn, yeah, this is a pretty good deal, I
enjoy going and I'm going to getengaged.
And sometimes people didn'tenjoy going and they didn't
enjoy getting engaged and thatkind of took away from the group
, and so our effort for teamcohesion was partially met.
I give the leaders at that time, our leaders credit for trying
something.
But when we talk about makingsure there's connectedness and
(09:31):
that there's somebody takingpictures and sharing back with
folks, that probably didn'toccur back in those days.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
John.
So an example of being a leaderand helping the team.
You have an opportunity to workwith your team to develop
solutions in the cooperativeenvironment.
Have an opportunity to workwith your team to develop
solutions in the cooperativeenvironment.
Instead of giving immediateanswers to questions, you're
(09:59):
never going to have themactually answer it on their own
if they can walk into youroffice and the magic answer
comes floating into their hands.
A great approach that I haveused is the what-if, and I tried
to help them and guide them totheir own answer, and sometimes
it's not exactly what I wastrying to get them to say, but
it was their concept and theywere close enough that they
(10:21):
would learn and it had more of alasting impact because it was
their idea.
So you're looking for ways totry to communicate that engages
people and doesn't turn them off.
My what-if approach, I think,really helped a lot.
Greg, I think you have anotherapproach.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I do, john.
This was a team-buildingexercise I was involved in as I
was a leader of the team, andone of my employees came up with
an idea that I thought wasbrilliant.
It was a cooking competition.
We used an outside group, chefJJ this is in Indianapolis.
We divided the HR departmentinto multiple teams for cooking
contests.
We didn't say recruiters overhere, comp and benefits over
(11:01):
here, learning and developmentover here.
We mixed those groups up tocreate the teams and the group
Chef JJ.
Their staff taught us how touse the cooking utensils, which
was the big green egg, right.
So you're not even thinkingabout an electric fry pan, we're
talking about the big green egg.
Everything could be cooked onthere.
So each team prepared amulti-course meal, including
(11:21):
salad and dessert, which therewere some rules, and we did it
within a certain timeline, andeach dish created by a team was
judged by Chef JJ's staff.
We got very competitive.
There was food, flour, whateveron people's faces or hands.
We got messy and we learnedsomething about cooking, but we
learned a lot about ourindividual selves and watching
people help each other and eventeams helping other teams, and
(11:44):
we talked about the event longafter it occurred.
It really didn't make anydifference who got the gold
medal.
We kind of all got the goldmedal because we definitely
became closer as a group.
It was a lot of fun workingtogether and, yes, we ate what
we created together.
Let's move over to tips fororganizing team building.
This is an article by NikkiChristmas, november 24, 2024, in
(12:05):
events management.
So some of the tips are Useteam building events to address
specific challenges within yourteam.
So if it's a communicationissue, then work on a team
building opportunity usingcommunication tools.
Link real workplace issues tothe activities you plan.
Solicit feedback during andafter the event so you don't
(12:25):
just roll it out there and say,okay, next time.
Next thing, make sure you getfeedback during the event and
then after the event from folks.
You want to make sure youbalance fun, because fun does
help.
Fun helps you get the teamgoing, but you want some
challenging tasks, right?
It's not just a pass-through,not just a walk-through.
So balance fun with challengingtasks in this team builder.
And you might feel morecomfortable hiring an outside
(12:48):
professional facilitator.
That's okay too.
You got the budget for it oryou know a person that could
serve in that role you thinkwould be helpful.
Think about that idea.
Choose an inspirational theme.
Sometimes people will say fall,get together or new project
team, whatever it is.
Choose a theme that makes senseand apply that and make sure
everything fits under that themebanner.
Involve the team in planning.
(13:11):
I'm going to say that twiceInvolve the team in planning.
If you do it as a leader, youdo it in a vacuum.
You're going to be surprisedwhat you're not going to get out
of that event.
So encourage input and build upanticipation and then, of
course, capture memories.
Somebody's taking photos,videos and then share them, post
them, if you want to, online inthe office area and talk about
(13:33):
them and think about them whenyou have your next event.
John.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So what are the popular team building activities
?
Some of them we've experiencedand some of them I haven't.
Scavenger hunts are interestingif you have the right group.
Volunteer work at a food pantryis awesome.
That has such a greatopportunity to work as a team.
An escape room is aninteresting example.
(13:59):
Another one is minefield orlava, where you have somebody
describing to someone who'sblindfolded how to handle a
minefield.
The one that I would be carefulabout is axe throwing.
Depending how your team isgetting along, that might not be
one of the ones at the top ofthe list.
Murder, mystery events, whichare a ton of fun Trivia games,
(14:24):
book clubs.
If you have the right group,that book club might be a big
stretch, but you'd be surprisedthat trying to get somebody
engaged in doing the book cluband what you get for results it
is interesting.
Group painting, potteryactivities, trying to work with
your talents as an artist, pullpeople out of what they do as
(14:47):
their normal or cultural eventslike visiting a museum or
cooking competitions, as Gregwas just talking about.
There's more.
It's up to your own imaginationand the environment that you're
in.
Something that would be fun isreally the key, and these are
just ideas.
Maybe there's something that'smore appropriate for the work
that you do and you can find away to make it a fun activity,
(15:12):
but whatever it is, you'retrying to build a team, and
that's the most important part.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Greg.
Thanks John.
And over time you may useseveral of these activities.
Again, the thought here is ifyou do volunteer work in a food
pantry, which is great for yourculture, great for the community
, you can do that once a quarter, you can do it twice a year,
but you can also have a murdermystery event three months later
.
So don't feel that these arejust single activities to do.
(15:38):
You can mix and match andcombine Over a couple of years.
You may use a lot of these.
If you change your staff overfor whatever reason.
You've got new people on board.
So think of these as fluid andyou use them when and as you
need them.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Okay, yeah, you know.
One of the things I've noticedis when the organization are in
silos and if you're not familiarwith the term, it's where, like
I'm in accounting and the onlything I see is accounting and I
don't deal with finance becausethere are two doors down that
kind of isolation.
You're trying to find ways tobreak down those barriers.
(16:13):
These things help.
They're not a panacea to answerall your questions, but that's
the way that you try to breakdown those silos, greg.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Thanks, john.
So we're going to move over toan interesting topic that really
kind of developed during COVID.
How about virtual team buildingactivities?
Yes, more work on the screen,but creative work opportunities.
So a lot of companies stillhave hybrid work schedules.
Some folks work remote all thetime.
They're still producing for you, they're still on your team.
(16:45):
How do you keep them connected?
How do you keep them engaged?
How do you make sure they'reworking at their optimal and
they're comfortable working withthe folks in this environment?
So remote team buildingactivities can be highly
effective in enhancing teamcohesion, communication and
overall morale within remoteteams.
While physical presence isabsent, virtual activities can
foster a sense of connection,improve collaboration and even
(17:08):
boost productivity.
And there's a lot of technologyout there most of it's free
that help you create theseactivities virtually, that you
don't have to be in front ofeach other.
And so what are some of thethings you can do?
There's some really basicthings.
I'm not sure if you've everheard of icebreakers like To
True the Sentinel Eye.
It works well in person as wellas it does on a screen.
(17:30):
There's online games not muchunlike what our kids do, right.
There's different games thatyou could be in different
locations.
Guess what you got?
A location in Minnesota,another location in Indiana,
another location in Illinois.
You could connect them alltogether probably easier than
you could trying to bring themin or fly them in for an event.
You could do things.
John and I've talked beforeabout mindfulness, meditation,
(17:52):
yoga.
There's a way to create thatopportunity to teach Learning
skills, like languages.
People want to learn Spanish,want to learn French.
You can do that and create ateam building situation too.
John and I talked before aboutthe creative side Digital art
projects, create music.
There's cool stuff out therethat you could do virtually
(18:12):
together and build that team.
And yes, even though we knowabout escape rooms that are
physical, there are virtualescape rooms as well.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
So I think the bottom line is that there's ongoing
team building activities, whichis really the bottom line, and
how frequently you do it is upto you.
If you're thinking about a teambuilding concept, it's
sometimes one and done, andyou're wrong when we're talking
about management byresponsibility.
That's, the responsibility isongoing.
(18:42):
Team building events can't bedone in a vacuum.
They should have a theme.
They should have a connectionto your specific team's
opportunities.
Don't confuse standalone eventslike company holiday parties or
baby showers or somesignificant event of the
calendar for an actual teambuilding exercise.
(19:06):
Also, your staff will changeover time.
Keeping the team buildingstrategy relevant to your
current employees and to yourspecific needs at the time is
also another way to build onteam activities and building
that essence that you're lookingfor within your organization.
So, if you like what you'veheard on this podcast, I've
(19:29):
written a book called Buildingyour Leadership Toolbox.
You are listening to SuccessSecrets and Stories, the podcast
.
It's available on Apple andGoogle and Spotify, but we
appreciate you listening onwhatever format you're on.
A lot of what we talk about isfrom Dr Durst's books on MBR
Matching by Responsibility, andyou can also get the current
(19:53):
lessons and books fromsuccessgrowthacademycom if you'd
like to contact us, pleasecontact me at wando75.jw at
gmailcom.
And the music has been broughtto you by my grandson, so we
want to hear from you.
Tell us how we're doing, tellus about a subject that you
(20:14):
would find interesting for us tocover.
We have learned a lot from ouraudience and we continue to
learn.
Well, greg, thanks.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Thanks, John.
As always, Next time yeah.
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast Success
Secrets and Stories.
I'm your host, john Wondoloski,and I'm here with my co-host
and friend, greg Powell.
Greg, hey, everybody.
And when we put together thispodcast, we wanted to put out a
helping hand and help that nextgeneration and help answer the
(00:35):
question of what does it mean tobe a leader?
Today, we want to talk about asubject that I think supports
that concept.
So today we're going to talkabout team building, and this is
where you're looking for aneffective way to help teams and
(00:58):
give them some type of focus ortopics.
That helps building the team,providing effective feedback and
navigating some difficulties inconversations.
And the whole idea of teambuilding is trying to engage
your staff.
Team building from theperspective of Henry Ford yes,
(01:21):
that Henry Ford made a veryinteresting quote.
Yes, that Henry Ford made avery interesting quote.
Coming together is a beginning,keeping together is progress,
working together is success, andthat's really to the point of
what we wanted to talk abouttoday.
(01:41):
How do you make a team?
How do you actually developthat next step in trying to
organize your company and you'rea new supervisor, you're a new
manager what does it really meanto build a team.
Let's give a little background.
So what does it mean to build ateam?
Teamwork makes the dream work.
(02:02):
We've all heard that before,and that's definitely true in a
business environment.
You need a solid team to getyour goals and objectives across
the finish line.
But strong teams don'tmaterialize on their own.
Second point as a businessleader, it's your job to create
(02:23):
strong groups and advocates foryour division or your business.
Doing so requires anintentional approach.
Greg, I think you have aninteresting analogy.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Thanks, john.
I think one that all of us haveheard.
There is no I in team Right,heard that in sports, heard that
at work, no selfish peopleallowed All right.
So let's talk about teambuilding in a more fun
atmosphere.
Here's a sports definition ofbuilding a team.
(02:57):
So team building in sportsrefers to activities and
strategies that help athletes,coaches and the staff develop
really strong relationships.
They also develop strongcommunication and a sense of
unity within the whole team.
These activities aim to enhanceteamwork, improve communication
, foster trust and build apositive team culture.
(03:18):
Effective team building cantranslate to optimal performance
on the field or on the court.
That's a sports perspective.
How about entertainment right?
It focuses on fosteringcollaboration, communication and
creativity among individualswith diverse skill sets to
create a compellingentertainment product for the
(03:40):
audience.
Right, the goal is to getmusicians, movie makers, writers
, producers, dancers, singersand the like to work in pardon
the expression concert.
They build trust andcamaraderie among the
participants.
The combined efforts of teammembers produces a show, and the
better the team, the better theoverall performance.
(04:01):
John, the better the overallperformance.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, john.
So in a business kind ofapproach, teamwork in terms of a
manager or a leader, teamsbuilding in a business context
refer to the activities and thestrategies designed to enhance
cooperation, communication andcohesion amongst employees.
(04:25):
Right Now, step back for asecond.
That whole idea ofcommunicating and making sure
that you're dealing with thetruth is one of those key
communication goals.
Understanding when there's afacade or they're trying to come
up with excuses, you're askingfor truthful communication.
It's also about fosteringstronger relationships,
(04:58):
improving teamwork skills andultimately, boosting
productivity and morale.
The third point is effectiveteam building can lead to
increased trust, bettercommunication and more positive
work environment for excellentbusiness results.
Now, something to take a lookat as far as helping us with the
(05:19):
description was an article ofteam building do's and don'ts by
Linda Vargo, and she waswriting this for Forbes Business
Development Council on January17th 2023.
The first one the do is tofocus on individual strengths.
Use team building events toaddress specific challenges
(05:41):
within your team.
Don't compare employees.
Comparison is rooted inresentment and you can kill your
team's identity in a heartbeat.
Never compare team members toone another.
Another.
Do check both individually andas a team.
You need to keep the lines ofcommunication open.
(06:04):
To build a team, that meansaddressing the team as a whole
and as the individual employeesas they need it.
A don't Brag about one employee.
Yeah, if you're trying to builda team and you're going to talk
about the superstar, that's notgoing to be a good idea.
At the end of the day, there isno I in team, as Craig has
(06:26):
talked about before, so don'tdrag down an individual employee
too much.
So don't drag down anindividual employee too much.
Even if there is a need for arock star, you shouldn't have a
favorite team member that youwould put on a pedestal.
Adieu Plan.
(06:47):
Fun bonding experiences, andwe'll talk about that a little
later.
Give your team a chance tounwind and to get to know each
other outside the workenvironment.
A don't Don't avoid conflict.
New managers are often guiltyof suppressing conflict as a way
of encouraging harmony, but itsweeps the problems under the
(07:09):
rug and only makes it worse.
Your team has to navigatethrough the difficulty to stay
strong.
A do Identify how people preferto be managed.
Maybe you prefer to be ahands-on manager, but your
employees just want you tooperate in the background in a
(07:30):
support role, if you insist onbeing hands-on with the
hands-off employees, they'reonly going to feel smothered.
Remember, management is an art,not a science.
So my example of what I've seenas an employee I think Greg and
I have had similar backgroundsthe idea of eating a meal and
(07:51):
breaking bread together as beinga productive activity that
almost anyone can participate in.
There is something to be saidfor getting together and having
a chance for people to relax andto see through their facade.
As we are human beings, we wantto put up that business face,
(08:12):
but usually you're working ontrying to find the real person
to emerge within a safe andcomfortable environment, and
that's the environment you haveto create.
At the end of the day, you wantto hear all the employees speak
, to be part of that exchange inthat meal, so that there is no
one isolated, and sometimesyou're trying to pull the people
(08:35):
that are quiet into theconversation.
Believe me, that whole partabout being an employee in that
environment really makes the jobfun, greg.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So John and I have really the same example, maybe
just slightly different takes onthat example and for me that
dinner was supposed to be.
I mean, the intentions werehonorable, it was supposed to be
a time for us to get togetherand kind of break bread and feel
good about each other, becausewe went through two weeks of
hell.
Right, I mean, it's as simpleas that.
And sometimes people thought,yeah, this is a pretty good deal
(09:09):
, I enjoy going and I'm going toget engaged.
And sometimes people didn, yeah, this is a pretty good deal, I
enjoy going and I'm going to getengaged.
And sometimes people didn'tenjoy going and they didn't
enjoy getting engaged and thatkind of took away from the group
, and so our effort for teamcohesion was partially met.
I give the leaders at that time, our leaders credit for trying
something.
But when we talk about makingsure there's connectedness and
(09:31):
that there's somebody takingpictures and sharing back with
folks, that probably didn'toccur back in those days.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
John.
So an example of being a leaderand helping the team.
You have an opportunity to workwith your team to develop
solutions in the cooperativeenvironment.
Have an opportunity to workwith your team to develop
solutions in the cooperativeenvironment.
Instead of giving immediateanswers to questions, you're
(09:59):
never going to have themactually answer it on their own
if they can walk into youroffice and the magic answer
comes floating into their hands.
A great approach that I haveused is the what-if, and I tried
to help them and guide them totheir own answer, and sometimes
it's not exactly what I wastrying to get them to say, but
it was their concept and theywere close enough that they
(10:21):
would learn and it had more of alasting impact because it was
their idea.
So you're looking for ways totry to communicate that engages
people and doesn't turn them off.
My what-if approach, I think,really helped a lot.
Greg, I think you have anotherapproach.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I do, john.
This was a team-buildingexercise I was involved in as I
was a leader of the team, andone of my employees came up with
an idea that I thought wasbrilliant.
It was a cooking competition.
We used an outside group, chefJJ this is in Indianapolis.
We divided the HR departmentinto multiple teams for cooking
contests.
We didn't say recruiters overhere, comp and benefits over
(11:01):
here, learning and developmentover here.
We mixed those groups up tocreate the teams and the group
Chef JJ.
Their staff taught us how touse the cooking utensils, which
was the big green egg, right.
So you're not even thinkingabout an electric fry pan, we're
talking about the big green egg.
Everything could be cooked onthere.
So each team prepared amulti-course meal, including
(11:21):
salad and dessert, which therewere some rules, and we did it
within a certain timeline, andeach dish created by a team was
judged by Chef JJ's staff.
We got very competitive.
There was food, flour, whateveron people's faces or hands.
We got messy and we learnedsomething about cooking, but we
learned a lot about ourindividual selves and watching
people help each other and eventeams helping other teams, and
(11:44):
we talked about the event longafter it occurred.
It really didn't make anydifference who got the gold
medal.
We kind of all got the goldmedal because we definitely
became closer as a group.
It was a lot of fun workingtogether and, yes, we ate what
we created together.
Let's move over to tips fororganizing team building.
This is an article by NikkiChristmas, november 24, 2024, in
(12:05):
events management.
So some of the tips are Useteam building events to address
specific challenges within yourteam.
So if it's a communicationissue, then work on a team
building opportunity usingcommunication tools.
Link real workplace issues tothe activities you plan.
Solicit feedback during andafter the event so you don't
(12:25):
just roll it out there and say,okay, next time.
Next thing, make sure you getfeedback during the event and
then after the event from folks.
You want to make sure youbalance fun, because fun does
help.
Fun helps you get the teamgoing, but you want some
challenging tasks, right?
It's not just a pass-through,not just a walk-through.
So balance fun with challengingtasks in this team builder.
And you might feel morecomfortable hiring an outside
(12:48):
professional facilitator.
That's okay too.
You got the budget for it oryou know a person that could
serve in that role you thinkwould be helpful.
Think about that idea.
Choose an inspirational theme.
Sometimes people will say fall,get together or new project
team, whatever it is.
Choose a theme that makes senseand apply that and make sure
everything fits under that themebanner.
Involve the team in planning.
(13:11):
I'm going to say that twiceInvolve the team in planning.
If you do it as a leader, youdo it in a vacuum.
You're going to be surprisedwhat you're not going to get out
of that event.
So encourage input and build upanticipation and then, of
course, capture memories.
Somebody's taking photos,videos and then share them, post
them, if you want to, online inthe office area and talk about
(13:33):
them and think about them whenyou have your next event.
John.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So what are the popular team building activities
?
Some of them we've experiencedand some of them I haven't.
Scavenger hunts are interestingif you have the right group.
Volunteer work at a food pantryis awesome.
That has such a greatopportunity to work as a team.
An escape room is aninteresting example.
(13:59):
Another one is minefield orlava, where you have somebody
describing to someone who'sblindfolded how to handle a
minefield.
The one that I would be carefulabout is axe throwing.
Depending how your team isgetting along, that might not be
one of the ones at the top ofthe list.
Murder, mystery events, whichare a ton of fun Trivia games,
(14:24):
book clubs.
If you have the right group,that book club might be a big
stretch, but you'd be surprisedthat trying to get somebody
engaged in doing the book cluband what you get for results it
is interesting.
Group painting, potteryactivities, trying to work with
your talents as an artist, pullpeople out of what they do as
(14:47):
their normal or cultural eventslike visiting a museum or
cooking competitions, as Gregwas just talking about.
There's more.
It's up to your own imaginationand the environment that you're
in.
Something that would be fun isreally the key, and these are
just ideas.
Maybe there's something that'smore appropriate for the work
that you do and you can find away to make it a fun activity,
(15:12):
but whatever it is, you'retrying to build a team, and
that's the most important part.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Greg.
Thanks John.
And over time you may useseveral of these activities.
Again, the thought here is ifyou do volunteer work in a food
pantry, which is great for yourculture, great for the community
, you can do that once a quarter, you can do it twice a year,
but you can also have a murdermystery event three months later
.
So don't feel that these arejust single activities to do.
(15:38):
You can mix and match andcombine Over a couple of years.
You may use a lot of these.
If you change your staff overfor whatever reason.
You've got new people on board.
So think of these as fluid andyou use them when and as you
need them.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Okay, yeah, you know.
One of the things I've noticedis when the organization are in
silos and if you're not familiarwith the term, it's where, like
I'm in accounting and the onlything I see is accounting and I
don't deal with finance becausethere are two doors down that
kind of isolation.
You're trying to find ways tobreak down those barriers.
(16:13):
These things help.
They're not a panacea to answerall your questions, but that's
the way that you try to breakdown those silos, greg.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Thanks, john.
So we're going to move over toan interesting topic that really
kind of developed during COVID.
How about virtual team buildingactivities?
Yes, more work on the screen,but creative work opportunities.
So a lot of companies stillhave hybrid work schedules.
Some folks work remote all thetime.
They're still producing for you, they're still on your team.
(16:45):
How do you keep them connected?
How do you keep them engaged?
How do you make sure they'reworking at their optimal and
they're comfortable working withthe folks in this environment?
So remote team buildingactivities can be highly
effective in enhancing teamcohesion, communication and
overall morale within remoteteams.
While physical presence isabsent, virtual activities can
foster a sense of connection,improve collaboration and even
(17:08):
boost productivity.
And there's a lot of technologyout there most of it's free
that help you create theseactivities virtually, that you
don't have to be in front ofeach other.
And so what are some of thethings you can do?
There's some really basicthings.
I'm not sure if you've everheard of icebreakers like To
True the Sentinel Eye.
It works well in person as wellas it does on a screen.
(17:30):
There's online games not muchunlike what our kids do, right.
There's different games thatyou could be in different
locations.
Guess what you got?
A location in Minnesota,another location in Indiana,
another location in Illinois.
You could connect them alltogether probably easier than
you could trying to bring themin or fly them in for an event.
You could do things.
John and I've talked beforeabout mindfulness, meditation,
(17:52):
yoga.
There's a way to create thatopportunity to teach Learning
skills, like languages.
People want to learn Spanish,want to learn French.
You can do that and create ateam building situation too.
John and I talked before aboutthe creative side Digital art
projects, create music.
There's cool stuff out therethat you could do virtually
(18:12):
together and build that team.
And yes, even though we knowabout escape rooms that are
physical, there are virtualescape rooms as well.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
So I think the bottom line is that there's ongoing
team building activities, whichis really the bottom line, and
how frequently you do it is upto you.
If you're thinking about a teambuilding concept, it's
sometimes one and done, andyou're wrong when we're talking
about management byresponsibility.
That's, the responsibility isongoing.
(18:42):
Team building events can't bedone in a vacuum.
They should have a theme.
They should have a connectionto your specific team's
opportunities.
Don't confuse standalone eventslike company holiday parties or
baby showers or somesignificant event of the
calendar for an actual teambuilding exercise.
(19:06):
Also, your staff will changeover time.
Keeping the team buildingstrategy relevant to your
current employees and to yourspecific needs at the time is
also another way to build onteam activities and building
that essence that you're lookingfor within your organization.
So, if you like what you'veheard on this podcast, I've
(19:29):
written a book called Buildingyour Leadership Toolbox.
You are listening to SuccessSecrets and Stories, the podcast
.
It's available on Apple andGoogle and Spotify, but we
appreciate you listening onwhatever format you're on.
A lot of what we talk about isfrom Dr Durst's books on MBR
Matching by Responsibility, andyou can also get the current
(19:53):
lessons and books fromsuccessgrowthacademycom if you'd
like to contact us, pleasecontact me at wando75.jw at
gmailcom.
And the music has been broughtto you by my grandson, so we
want to hear from you.
Tell us how we're doing, tellus about a subject that you
(20:14):
would find interesting for us tocover.
We have learned a lot from ouraudience and we continue to
learn.
Well, greg, thanks.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Thanks, John.
As always, Next time yeah.
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