Lucy settling in quickly to the Fresh Tracks office

Arriving just days after my final exams at the University of Exeter, I was dreading the idea of sitting behind a desk and plodding my way through mind-numbing admin in a dull, quiet office. How very wrong I was. Fresh Tracks is an innovative company committed to developing better working environments. Through unique and original team building events that range from quad biking to chocolate-making, Fresh Tracks organises bespoke events for companies and teams that need a bit of help on developing their working relationships.

The Fresh Tracks focus is entirely on having fun at work – after all it’s where most of us are going to spend a lot of our time for a good few years! The office, based just outside of Ware in Hertfordshire, has a brilliant, relaxed atmosphere; I felt enormously welcome as soon as I arrived (due largely to the ‘birthday bakery run’ made by Wendy, the company accountant – the Fresh Tracks policy is ‘if you have a birthday, you buy the cakes’).

My experiences in the last fortnight have ranged from formatting a business plan for company owner Dan Collins, who is embarking on an ecological building development project in Hertfordshire, to writing blogs, reviewing and editing Dan’s new book, and packing up boxes for the next ‘Chocolate Challenge’ (see the website – www.freshtracks.co.uk – for details!).

Working in such a relaxed environment, where jeans and flip flops are uniform and the company fish swim happily around their tank made for an enjoyable two weeks, and definitely helped me to get work done efficiently instead of feeling stressed and nervous in a tense environment (we’ve all been in that situation where you’re so terrified to break the office silence that you keep any questions to yourself and try and plough on regardless). Dan requires a high level of commitment and self-motivation on his team; there is plenty of energy within the office, and communication is high on the agenda.

Fresh Tracks are looking for an energetic and engaging individual to come and join the team for a bit of work experience. Willingness to get really stuck in to areas in which you are not necessarily an expert is a must; if you get something wrong, somebody will let you know and you’ll have a laugh and then get on with it. Despite the amazingly relaxed atmosphere in the office (which is an old converted mill), Dan expects hard work and a commitment to getting jobs done on time and to a high standard – the Monday Morning Meeting helps to ensure that everyone understands the coming week’s tasks, and gives the team a chance to share with each other a bit about what they’ve been up to.

Fresh Tracks is committed to ethical, responsible business and trust is a word you’ll hear around the office a lot. Overall, Fresh Tracks practices what it preaches, encouraging staff and customers alike to reach their potential through building healthy relationships, developing trust, and having fun.

If you’re interested in getting involved in some work experience with Fresh Tracks, send an email to jane.mole@freshtracks.co.uk with a bit of information about you, and the reason why you feel you’d excel as part of this team, including answers to these questions…

What is your proudest achievement?
What are you most passionate about?
How have you significantly contributed to a team in the past?

Please try and keep your email to around 300 words.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Trust and communication are very important in team work

What becomes clear if you look at these characteristics is that most of them are not the hard skills of industry or management expertise: most are attitudes rather than skills. Successful team players are defined by the way they relate to their colleagues, and the way in which they interact across a broad range of skills bases. In fact 80% of what makes a good team member is determined by these positive attitudes, and only 20% by the specific job skills they possess.

So why does industry spend around 80% of its training budget on developing often short-lived skills which need updating on a regular basis? For any real value to be gained from team development initiatives, you must be able to get colleagues to recognise a whole range of contributions made by different team members. Only then will they be able to think about how best they can exploit this potential and work effectively together to ensure that everyone plays to their strengths and maximises the team’s efforts.

One of the best ways of bringing about this recognition is to get the team away from the office environment. Putting groups of people together in new, unusual or fun settings, in which they depend on each other’s individual attitudes and strengths to work through challenges and problem-solving can have immensely powerful consequences.

The relationships you see in the office are only the tip of the iceberg. To fully appreciate the qualities your colleagues possess, you really do need to take time out and get rid of the 9-to-5 agenda. Far from wasting time, this enables you to develop new ways of working together based on the powerful experience of shared experience. For example, we have run team-building workshops based on activities such as scuba diving where participants are literally thrust into a totally alien environment. Colleagues have to work together using non-verbal communication, trust each other to share masks as they tackle a range of tasks, and learn to adapt both to the unfamiliar environment and to their colleagues’ needs and abilities. Similarly, team challenges based on off-road driving or sailing activities, or some of the more simple team tasks involving problem-solving and competitive, time-limited challenges will highlight these areas of strength and potential for further development.

So get out of the office: think about the added value that a really well-designed team-building event can add to the in-house training you may already have. And have fun!

Try a different mode of transport!

Change some of your routines and bring some energy to your life – thinking in different ways gets the brain to work harder.  Below are 10 new ways to do it differently:

1.      Try a different route to work – see new locations or people on the way

2.      Eat different food – be imaginative with your diet

3.      Meet some-one new each month – step out your comfort zone of mates

4.      Do something new in your fitness regime – scale it down just walk more

5.      Use paper not the PC – back to basics

6.      Book a date with your partner – send him or her an invite each month

7.      Change your hair/wardrobe for 2010 – feel fresher

8.      Watch more meaningful TV – plan your viewing

9.      Go to see something you would never see – opera/ballet

10.  Plan your day a new way – no e-mails until your first coffee at 11.00

This blog is taken from an article written by Nuggets of Learning and Development.

Be creative this Christmas

Boozy parties are probably not the best way to mark the end of a tough year but that doesn’t mean there’s not value in gathering everyone together.

As we enter an era when return on investment is at the forefront of our minds the annual celebration needs to deliver more than just a few laughs and sore heads the next day.

So, while everyone is together in celabratory mood here are a few suggestions that will turn a turkey dinner into a turning point: stand out awards for outstanding contributions during 2009; use energisers to get people mixing – it will improve internal communication in the New Year; recast the vision and energise the team for 2010; invite former colleagues back – not always appropriate but if you can, you should; accommodate non-drinkers with fabulous soft drinks; replace the usual dinner dance with an activity – see possible ideas below.

Alternative Christmas activities: Treasure Hunt, Cook your own Christmas lunch, Quad Biking, Reflective Nature Walk, Cultural Christmas (visiting museums and galleries), Fondue lunch/dinner, Sensory Quiz, Interactive Cabaret, Karaoke, Wii Olympics, Scalextric Grand Prix, Take a trip to the seaside, Plant some trees, Help a charity, school or neighbour. 

Any other ideas? Let us know.

Plato & Aristotle possibly talking about their team building event.

For some years we’ve been saying “teams that play together, work together” and it seems that although team building is thought to be a comparatively new addition to business training Plato, one of the world’s most influential philosophers, had a similar view over 2000 years ago; “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation” Plato
 
So we’d encourage you to make time to play with your colleagues this week, take a ball to the park, eat ice cream in the afternoon or play darts at lunchtime – whatever you think would be fun.  We spend most of our waking lives with our colleagues so let’s enjoy it.

The Bees from Hyde Park on a team building event

Apparently unlike some animals who want to get to the centre of large groups to keep themselves safe from predators ants and bees work together as a single unit and are prepared to die for the greater good of their team/colony.

Dr Andy Gardner, from the University of Edinburgh, said: “We often see animals appearing to move in unison, such as bison or fish.  However, what looks like a team effort is in fact each animal jostling to get to the middle of the group to evade predators.  By contrast, an ant nest or a beehive can behave as a united organism in its own right. In a beehive, the workers are happy to help the community, even to die, because the queen carries and passes on their genes.

How far would you go for the success of your team? 

To read the full BBC article click here.

It’s easier to put a mission statement on the wall than it is to put it into action. We know of organisations who have spent months of meetings carefully crafting and re-wording their corporate mission statements, only to find the life sapped from them soon after they’re finished. Or sometimes mission statements work for a while, but then turnover takes a toll and the new people never seem to really get on board.

It’s great to see the video, above, of David, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, keeping some of their mission statement alive.  He and his colleagues make a great team because they’re committed to the same vision and they support each other.  There is no doubt that team work benefits everybody – customers and colleagues alike.  But sometimes people within an organisation forget they’re part of a team.  One department regards another as a thorn in its side and sometimes colleagues just don’t like each other.

A key factor to success during these hard economic times was summed up by Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, when he said “Our people are our single greatest strength and our most enduring longterm competitive advantage.” Long may it last.

Does charity begin at work?

Friday was Comic Relief Day and this year it seemed to bring relief in a number of ways.  The record total raised of £57m will undoubtedly help those in need in Africa and closer to home.  This year, perhaps more than in previous, years the opportunity to laugh and give seemed  also to bring some relief to those watching and giving.

Two examples stand out in my memory of generous giving.  One was the anonymous donor of an incredible £6m; the other the little girl who gave up a whole month’s pocket money.  I wonder if now that it’s no longer ‘cool’ to splash out on flat screen TVs and designer gear the public at large is discovering that a greater sense of satisfaction comes from giving rather than getting. 

If my hunch is correct, then what does this mean for employers?  Corporate values could suddenly be a determining factor for staff as they choose to join, stay or leave your organisation.  Simply existing to serve shareholders won’t be a compelling business purpose in the eyes of employees.  Teams need to be clear about the values they operate by and respectful of the different reasons team members have for doing their job. 

Sadly, it’s rare that a team makes time to talk through and establish their shared values; consequently, a significant opportunity to motivate and harness talent is lost.  There’s no doubt that the world is changing and Friday’s Comic Relief result suggests that the consumerist pendulum may be swinging in the opposite direction and that society is at last discovering that the most important things in life aren’t things at all.

Find time to relax

I won’t attempt to rewrite the book here but will share one of Brian’s wise sayings. Having met some impressive theologians and thinkers over the years he reported that some of the most calm and wise men he’s come across talk about taking time to ‘overhear oneself’.

Amidst the rush of life and the endless stream of email, voicemail and online information it’s important to regularly find a period of quiet away from the chatter that fills our minds. Instead try not to think about anything, just take slow deep breaths allowing the muscles and joints from your toes to your head to relax.

Apparently taking time to ‘overhear oneself’ everyday can transform our outlook, not only removing stress but giving a more enlightened outlook on the world and people around us.

I’ll let you know how I get on.