Within the more active parts of the day, we can also incorporate other more conversation-based activities, in between the more active / creative sessions. Some of the preparation could be carried out in advance of the event as pre-work either individually or in a team meeting. A few examples of this kind of activity include:
Team Strengths Audit, based on the work of Professor Belbin each individual identifies their preferred role within a team. The group then consider how best to make the most of the skills within the team and to overcome any gaps or minimize any over-represented areas
Characteristics of an Effective Work Team – An Assessment Activity where the team consider a list of characteristics of effective teams and then rate how descriptive they are of the team and how important they consider them to be. This then allows the team to identify their strengths and improvement opportunities
Culture Vultures - The purpose of this activity is to assess the culture of the team in order to determine how it can become more effective in general and specifically in regard to: Role clarity; Respect; Communication; Reward
Team Visioning – we can help the team to create a future vision for itself
Team Refreshing – taking stock of where we have been and what we need to do to move ahead
Team Development - To diagnose and evaluate the stage of development of the team and consider appropriate actions
Team Values Assessment – get the team to consider the values that they each believe as individuals are important to good teamwork. The results are then discussed with the entire team to consider how this impacts the way the team functions together
Team Problem Solving - in advance of the day, delegates will be asked to identify the 3 biggest issues that they / their team are facing in the workplace – ie: things that might prevent them achieving their objectives, which they then share with their colleagues on the day by mixing in small groups. The next session will involve the facilitator gathering input from the group and compiling a list of all the major problems. This will then be refined and a final list of no more than 5 top issues will be created.
The team will then be introduced to the Synetics approach to problem solving. Using one of the issues that affects the entire team, delegates will work through the entire process, which involves the ‘problem owner’ providing a headline and wish. Answering questions from the facilitator they provide some background to the problem, during which time the rest of the group silently note down anything that comes into their head. These “springboards” are then shared and the ‘problem owner’ selects those of most interest to explore further. Delegates will then be split into 3-4 groups with a cross section of representatives from each team. Each team will then tackle a different one of the top 5 problems.