Posts for tag: Team Work

The History of Team Buildin

The theories behind team building could be much older than originally thought.  In fact, Plato may have been the first ever team building expert!

Is team building over 2000 years old?

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.

Can teamwork save lives?

When individuals know how to work together as a team, it makes all the difference in the world. Here, we take a closer look at an example where teamwork saved lives.

Example: US Airways Flight 1549

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.

The Outcome of the flight crew working together

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.

How to spot a team player in an interview

The interviewing process can be stressful for both recruiting managers and candidates, after all, recruiting managers are trying to dissect every aspect of a candidate’s experience and personality during a short conversation. 

When interviewing for a role, hiring managers will have in mind the particular skills and qualities that they are looking for in an ideal candidate. Some of these can be more specific but there are a number of more broad and regularly desirable skills that crop up on a hiring managers ‘must-have’ list. Time and time again, being a ‘team player’ will be a significantly important trait that is sought after.

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Is Your Job Pointless?

In his recently published book anthropologist David Graeber suggests that up to 40% of jobs have little meaning and purpose. His theory is backed by a 2015 YouGov survey which found that 37% of respondents believe that their jobs make no “meaningful contribution to the world”.

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Leicester City’s Secret

Leicester City’s astounding win of the football Premiership could be down to the fact that the team was made up of underdogs, previously rejected by other teams. Or, it could be the fact that Leicester played for fun, not the vast sums of money that their competitors had available.
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Breaking Bread – our newest team building programme

For thousands of years, the head of the table has broken bread to signal the commencement of a meal. Celebration, or feasting, is an important practice for high performing teams. Our latest activity explores the similarities between building teams and making bread.

With the popularity of TV shows like ‘The Great British Bake Off’, alongside concerns over additives in commercial loaves, the art of baking bread is back in vogue. The smell of freshly baked bread is captivating and many say the process of kneading therapeutic. Making bread is a simple process but one that requires patience and control.
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How team building exercises can help relieve stress

Work related stress is a common complaint. The latest figures from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) show that the total number of cases of stress in 2011/12 was 428, 000 (40%) out of a total of 1, 073, 000 for all work-related illnesses. Team building exercises can help combat some of the reasons and symptoms of stress in the workplace.

Whilst a little stress can push people to achieve – too much stress can have damaging and far reaching effects not only on the individual suffering but for the company and other team members.

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Why trusting your team drives results

For the ultimate exercise in developing trust, take your team out on the blindfolded 4×4 challenge for an experience that will never be forgotten.

Trust is something that is usually earned rather than gifted and without trust within the workings of a business, communication can become flawed, direction can be lost and ultimately the company can suffer as a result. Our blindfolded 4×4 challenge develops trust amongst colleagues. And it’s a real laugh too!…

The Team Machine in action!

The Team Machine is an fun team building event that requires participants to co-operate with other teams to achieve a common goal.

Each team is given a set of building materials to create a moving sculpture. The plans are muddled requiring sharing of data before building can commence. Components must be assembled in just the right way for the individual mechanisms to work. Later the teams must work together to find the correct sequence of mechanisms, so that, once launched each element will trigger the next in a chain reaction building to an explosive finale!

Have a look at The Team Machine in action at a recent Fresh Tracks team building event.

Ewe and I make a great team…

A run through the countryside demonstrated how a group can quickly become a team when faced with an unexpected challenge.

Two ewes and four lambs were out of their field and roaming the woods on a local running route, so we responsibly set about coaxing them back through the gate to the rest of their flock. Only a video could do justice to the comedy value of a group waving, bahhing, heading off sheep and trying to behave like sheepdogs. However, on reflection, we went through the following team development process…

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