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Funny Business – 5 ways to play at work and get more done

Written by on September 27, 2010 · 1 Comment

Can having fun at work boost productivity? Professor Babis Mainemelis from London Business School thinks so, his study with Sarah Ronson found that: “Play at work improves employees’ motivational and cognitive processes and diversionary play fosters creativity.”

innocent smoothies office
innocent are a very successful company and they enjoy promoting a fun and creative workplace 

See the film: innocent success is an inspirational and thought-provoking film that highlights the factors behind innocent’s achievements. This is a chance to go behind-the-scenes of this award-winning workplace and multi-million pound business, and learn some of their secrets to get the very best out of people.

Click here for a link to this film

And the Institute for Social Research found that companies with high employee engagement saw a 13.2% improvement in net income growth over a one year period.

Innocent smoothies grew their business from nothing to £100 million in just eight years with grass flooring, table football and an indoor picnic area, see how here.

So here are 5 fun ideas to get your team working smarter: Read more »

Categories: Business Development, Fresh Tracks News, Fun at Work, Leadership, Success at Work, Team Building Activities - Tags: ,

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Our Latest Workshop: 20 Ways to Build a Better Team

Written by on September 21, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Fresh Tracks have been in the business of building better teams for over 19 years and in that time there are certain messages – about the range of skills that are required for a great team to succeed, and the importance of communication and trust – that are often repeated.

Make sure you work as a team

We are sure that constant communication will make it into the top 20 list somewhere

However we all know there is a huge amount of collective wisdom out there and that we could all learn a lot by listening to each other’s experiences of creating and working with great teams.

So after the success of our last workshop, Creating Captivating Conferences, the next Fresh Tracks workshop will be about building better teams with examples drawn from our own expertise as well as from participants’ own experiences. Read more »

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The 7 Deadliest Sins of Leadership Communication

Written by on September 14, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The 7 deadliest sins of leadership communication are the root of much of an organisation’s problems. Such as, low employee morale, low productivity, negative attitudes and a toxic work environment.

A boss shouting

We are not sure if this boss's aggressive tone or love of wearing cowboy hats is more damaging to staff morale.

Twenty years in professional baseball management taught me one thing about creating champions on the playing field – it’s that executing the simple “fundamentals” of the game make the biggest difference.

The teams and athletes that effectively execute the little things when the championship is on the line usually end up the winners. To create a champion organisation in business or the not-for-profit world it’s about leadership “communication.” Read more »

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New Resources: learn from over 19 years of experience

Written by on September 10, 2010 · Leave a Comment

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand” Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC).

Image of our team building resources

We have condensed over 19 years of experience into these books, exercises and DVD

In a world of iPods, iPads and 3D TV, it is perhaps surprising that technology has yet to find a more memorable and effective way to put across a message than the simple act of doing.

For over 19 years Fresh Tracks have been coming up with practical activities that improve understanding. We appreciate that it’s not always possible to take a team out for a day and so we’ve developed a selection of resources that can be used in team meetings and training sessions. Read more »

Categories: Business Development, Fresh Tracks News, Fun at Work, Leadership, Success at Work, Team Building Activities, Trust - Tags:

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What a laugh – Our new laughter workout

Written by on September 6, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Much like exercise, laugh hard enough and your muscles will begin to ache. Similar to physical exertion, when we laugh the elation we feel combats the effects of stress, our body relaxes and endorphins (natural painkillers) are released into the blood stream.

A laughter workshop from Fresh Tracks

'According to my research, laughter is the best medicine, giggling is good for mild infections, chuckling works for monor cuts and briuses, and sniggering only makes things worse.'

Last week Fresh Tracks ran our first Laughter Workout at a conference for a team from the BBC. This 45 minute energiser led by our expert Amanda Bate had some participants crying with laughter. Although different people respond in different ways everyone felt able to participate and even the most reserved delegate came away having felt a natural high. Read more »

Categories: Business Development, Fresh Tracks News, Fun at Work, Success at Work, Team Building Activities - Tags:

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