Large scale team building event – when co-operation is the name of the game

The very nature of team building activities encourages participants to co-operate with their team members to achieve success, but a lot of these activities rely on competition rather than co-operation.

Messages about the importance of co-operation and communication across the whole organisation rather than just within a small team can therefore be missed. With this in mind Fresh Tracks developed a new large scale team building exercise a couple of years ago – The Team Machine – based on a construction exercise that many will recognise from their childhood….

Team Briefings – Boring or Brilliant

On 21st October Fresh Tracks hosted a seminar entitled “How to Deliver Tremendous Team Events”. In preparing the programme we’ve talked to several team leaders and one of the greatest areas of concern currently is that regular Team Briefings are lacking and ineffective. This is particularly the case in organisations undergoing change.

In pondering how to add value to Team Briefings in the workplace I couldn’t help but wonder how Martin Johnson approaches the half time team talk he gives the England Team playing in the Rugby World Cup. These short pep-talks can make all the difference as brilliantly illustrated by Al Pacino’s character in the American Football movie: Any Given Sunday (YouTube clip).

Sometimes a pep-talk isn’t appropriate – perhaps an open discussion is a better way for the team to air their feelings; or an energising activity can be used to illustrate an important team behaviour.

Whatever the approach, it’s important that these opportunities for teams to come together aren’t wasted. In a world where most of our conversations happen via a screen we really need to make the most of face to face meetings.

This workshop has now happened so if you are interested in finding out how to deliver tremendous team events do call us on: 01920 822 220.

It’s national Play Day on 3rd August and yes this affects your workplace!

Wednesday 3rd August is National Play Day, inspired in part by the fact that over 80% of adults feel that children should be encouraged to play more outdoors because it builds community spirit. Yet we live in a society where just 20% of children play outside their homes, whereas 30 years ago that figure was 70%.

Play isn’t just diminishing in the lives of children. As workplaces become busier and leaner there is less time for informal conversations and light hearted activity. This drive for efficiency might not be quite as good for business as you’d think. Comedian, psychologist and successful businessman in his own right John Cleese said “If you want your people to be more creative, give them more time to play.”…

Team Building For A Good Cause

With the number of disgraced companies rising every month – starting with Enron, then BP last year and now News International – the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda shows little sign of diminishing.  Added to this is the fact that increasing numbers of employees are saying that they are keen to ‘give something back’ and ‘make a difference’ through their work.

In response to increased requests for team building activities that generate some community benefit, Fresh Tracks have created  The Toy Factory. This is a half day event that can be run in any  meeting room  and  yet results in beautifully crafted, hand made, wooden toys.  Our connections with children’s hospitals and charities mean that the resulting toys from the exercise can be donated to children or sold, with money raised going to the host company’s  chosen good cause….

Happiness at Work – why does it matter?

Happiness at work – why does it matter is a half day event being hosted by Roffey Park with our own Dan Collins on Wednesday 6th July in central London.

According to research recently published by Roffey Park in The Management Agenda there is:

• a clear, well-defined link between the well-being of staff and the bottom line
• evidence that organisations that are steadfastly driven by their purpose – not their shareholders – are the most financially successful

Put simply, businesses that do well by their people, help them find fulfilment through their work and who demonstrate ethical leadership are rewarded by loyalty and higher performance and productivity.

Please join us, to book (external website run by Roffey Park Institute).

New Team Building Event

Way back in 1997 Fresh Tracks created the Chocolate Challenge it brought team building indoors and replaced military style tasks with a sensory experience that was both enormous fun and conveyed important messages about business and teamwork.

Every few years we develop more events, like The Team Machine, and we are currently creating another completely original team building exercise that responds to the needs of the present time….

The X Factor of teams

As we approach the year end it’s good to reflect on our achievements. It’s even more gratifying to reflect on the achievements of others, particularly those we’ve helped along the way.

Some time ago we were asked to create a team exercise for X Factor runners up JLS. As the video above shows their performance was outstanding and it’s no coincidence that a year later JLS are have become one of the most successful teams in their field.

Our normal candidates for our team building activities are work teams and during 2010 we’ve seen teams from industries including oil, wine and management consulting all raise their game having adopted some of the same principles that pop stars JLS exemplify:…

Tailored Team Building Exercises on Tap

August 2011 will mark Fresh Tracks’ 20th anniversary. During the past two decades we’ve designed, developed and delivered hundreds of experiential team building exercises.

Along the way we’ve created some classics that we use again and again but we still get excited when a client gives us a brief to create something totally new.

For many years we’ve worked with a water company, monitoring their staff engagement and delivering an annual company conference. Part of the brief this year was to create a 30 minute team exercise for the conference that would entertain, involve and educate over 100 people. …

The Big Picture – Communicating Corporate Values

Finding genuinely effective ways to communicate change in a business can be a challenge. Emails get deleted, newsletters get recycled and live presentations are easily forgotten.

With this conundrum in mind Foster’s Group approached Fresh Tracks to come up with a team activity that would bring to life the launch of their new company identity – Treasury Wine Estates. The strategic decision to separate the Foster’s beer and wine business marked a major change not just in name but also in culture, as the company transforms from a general drinks business to a wine specialist.

As with any change there was a degree of cynicism ahead of the conference, especially toward some of the new values and language being used.

Fresh Tracks responded by creating a challenge…

Our Latest Workshop: 20 Ways to Build a Better Team

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.

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. …