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.

So if you want an icebreaker to introduce new team members or a challenge that will draw out natural leaders you no longer have to go to the time and trouble of finding an extrernal training provider to supply a solution.

Team building exercises
A catalogue of training exercises that are available to rent or purchase is regularly updated and can be accessed at any time through the Fresh Tracks website.

Training film and books
In addition to training equipment you can purchase a training film, ‘innocent success’, which goes behind-the-scenes at the smoothie drinks company innocent.  This film uses video interviews and a facilitators guide to look at the secrets of getting the very best out of people.

The books are two easy-to-read tomes:  one, called “Teams – a short guide”, distils the principle theories of team working into just a few pages and gives you free access to a team survey tool; the other, “Trust Unwrapped”, looks at the benefits that trust can bring to businesses.

Take a look at what’s on offer by clicking here and send any suggestions for tools that would make your life easier to mail@freshtracks.co.uk.

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!

The crew worked as a team, not as individuals—and that saved the lives of all 155 people aboard

US Airways Flight 1549 was a scheduled commercial passenger flight from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina, that, on January 15, 2009, ditched in the Hudson River adjacent to Manhattan six minutes after departing from LaGuardia Airport.

While on its initial climb out, the Airbus A320 struck a flock of Canada Geese which resulted in an immediate almost complete loss of thrust from both engines. When the aircrew realised that the plane would be unable to safely reach any airport from its location just northeast of the George Washington Bridge, they turned it southbound and glided over the river, then ditched the airplane virtually intact near the USS Intrepid Museum in midtown Manhattan. After the 155 occupants safely evacuated the partially submerged and sinking plane they were all rescued by nearby watercraft.

Recently after a thorough review of the incident the National Transportation Safety Board official adamantly explained how the crew and passengers survived a near catastrophe in the incredible forced water landing on the Hudson River. “The crew worked as a team, not as individuals—and that saved the lives of all 155 people aboard”.

The message was clear: when individuals know how to work together as a team, it makes all the difference in the world.

Can a successful team function without it?

Although our session included event managers, admin staff and senior managers, it was fairly informal and allowed participants to look at their own views on trust –  how and why trust is important at work and at home; what does trust mean to the individual and to the team; what would happen if there was little or no trust in colleagues.

In our team, it soon became apparent that there is quite a huge amount of trust; everyone seemed to take it for granted that they would be trusted and that they would in turn trust their colleagues. For us that makes for an easy and friendly work environment, part of the reason we choose to work here at Fresh Tracks. But it also made me realise that trust is ultimately at the heart of this office culture.

Trust means you communicate without hidden agendas; you share information and resources; you rely on your colleagues to help out when required and put your hand up when you get things wrong without fear of huge recriminations. It made me think of other organisations I’ve worked in where the culture was perhaps less trusting and a bit more reliant on rules and regulations. Unfortunately that generally meant more silo-based working, re-invention of wheels – and more stress.

Although I don’t want to be too Pollyana-ish about it (after all, in some organisations – as we’ve seen recently – stricter rules and regulations wouldn’t have come amiss) a culture in which we all generally think (and expect) the best of each other can’t help but be a positive one.

Trust Unwrapped book cover

Dan Collins founder of Fresh Tracks and co-author of Trust Unwrapped has been featured in UTalkMarketing.com talking about the effects of trust in business and suggests that rather than being a diminishing corporate value ‘Trust’ is in fact the crucial ingredient for surviving the recession.  Read the full article by clicking here.

Pay as you please

A London restaurant, the Little Bay restaurant in Farringdon, has decided that with everyone watching the pennies, they will let their customers decide how much to pay for their meals throughout February.

“It’s entirely up to each customer whether they give £100 or a penny,” said the owner Peter Ilic. “All I’m asking is they pay me what they think the food and service is worth.”

It will be interesting to see what the restaurant takes during this trial. In similar experiments at other restaurants, customers have generally paid above rather than below the menu price. And reportedly, in shops where payment facilities have been suspended due to technology or power problems, customers have tended to over-estimate the value of goods in their basket or trolley.

So it could be a win-win situation, with customers feeling they’ve got a good deal, and the restaurant increasing its turnover and profit. But it could also have a longer-lasting impact by developing a new relationship between the customer and the service-provider, one based on trust. By giving the customer the freedom to decide on the value of goods or services they’ve received, the restaurant is trusting that its menus are of a sufficiently high standard to merit a decent payment, and trusting its clients to reward that high standard with an appropriate payment.

Mind you, that trust only goes so far at the moment: drinks are not included in the offer, although “tap water will be freely available,” said the restaurant’s owner.

Industrial desputes if not managed carefully can erode trust between employees and employers

The absence of strikes in recent years has given employers an opportunity to regain their employees trust.  Most employees don’t believe their employer is simply out to exploit them with no regard for them as a person.  Initiatives such as employee engagement surveys, team building days and employee incentives have all helped to strengthen the relationship between the worker and the company.

Action like wildcat strikes can begin to erode the Psychological Contract that is so important.  Especially in an era when many roles rely largely on the individual to choose to serve the businesses best interests, without close supervision.  And of course it can work both ways, the millitant soundbites from striking workers do little to support the diligent work ethic that most of us take to the office every day.

Let’s not forget that just because one employer is in a dispute with its workforce, its not to say that all staff are work shy and all employers are exploitative.