SF Teambuilding

Add a Comment

Comment by Carole Waskett on October 26, 2008 at 15:22

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone else uses' training toys' - I first got the idea from attending a course run by Paul Z and Janine W - just some fun things to fiddle with on tables. It's a secret pleasure to watch how much people enjoy them as well as learning whatever they want to learn from the topic in hand. I have a large and growing collection - it's a bit addictive. Do others use them, and what do you find particularly liked by participants? I started with coloured pipecleaners, which seem to be a favourite. And is it best to just offer them and leave them without much comment, or do people structure their use?
Best wishes,
Carole

Comment by Steve Onyett on August 14, 2008 at 16:14

Hi. I think this must be the group I have been looking for all my life! Team coaching is my preferred activity at work, for many of the reasons you highlight here. I particularly specialise like Carole in work in health and social care where staff so often feel enormously depleted and overstretched. It always seems like an enormous risk bringing a different affective state to the party and yet it seems to be in just those situations where it makes such a difference to people. I will click that RSS feed and look forward to participating here.

Comment by Michael Goran on July 21, 2008 at 17:07

Hello Carole: in reply to your question 'what's the difference between the comment wall...etc', I think where ever you post something here, it will get the attention it needs, so if anyone has a better idea, then let's keep posting things right up front here on this part of the group, using the 'Add Comment' button. That way we won't have to dig too deeply to find the gold.

Comment by Carole Waskett on June 26, 2008 at 7:43

Hello, just wanted to let you know what has happened so far with the team I was telling you about, where team leader and team were at daggers drawn. Since using a diagnostic tool with them I gave their manager some brief feedback (she was upset) and I saw the whole team yesterday to feed back the rest of their results (always from an SF perspective). They had moved on remarkably since my meeting with their team leader - I used your question Liselotte - and had already put some small strategies into place to improve things. Several team members spontaneously complimented their manager on her part in the improvements and she was quite weepy with pleasure! We've agreed to have a team awayday where I'll probably use more of your ideas. I now know very clearly that they're all on board and want to improve things; there's now a real buzz of enthusiasm rather than the flat depressed feel there was before. People are amazing.
Thanks so much for your interest and help - I'll let you know what happens next!
Best wishes,
Carole

Comment by Loraine Kennedy on June 24, 2008 at 9:14

Carole

Me too re what to put where? I am sure we will get a useful response, and I will post team spirit exercise when used, it will be one option in my back pocket to use on the day whatever seems most useful at that moment.

Do post any interesting learnings,
Thanks Loraine

Comment by Carole Waskett on June 22, 2008 at 16:59

I'm a bit confused about the difference between the 'comment wall' and the 'discussion forum' - what to put on each - could someone explain? thanks - Carole

Comment by Carole Waskett on June 22, 2008 at 16:49

Hello, this group is so good! I'm due to see the team I mentioned on Wednesday and these replies are so helpful. Liselotte, I'll certainly use some of these ideas with this and another team I'm due to work with.
Paul, I have a theatre-director relative and I sometimes wonder if my relish for and dramatic impro effects is in my genes - I have to control it sometimes - but it is very exciting to see participants throwing themselves into games and inventions.
Lorraine, I'd be very interested to hear how the 'team spirit' activity goes - the book is wonderful but I hesitated about that particular exercise.
Thanks so much for taking the trouble to write.
Best wishes,
Carole

Comment by Liselotte Baeijaert on June 20, 2008 at 19:11

Carole,
I share your enthusiasm to do this: one of my favorites as well... We are facilitating a team with conflicts and very different people at this time too. Something that worked very well with them was the presession change conversation: the first time we saw the group together we asked: "ever since your manager decided to do something with the team, some people have noticed small differences: what did YOU notice that is already a little bit better? It was amazing all the things they came up with.
What also worked well was the question (based on Evan George): there are many good reasons why people don't cooperate in a (any) group: what could they be? We let them answer: they had many ideas! :-) and then we said:
"and yet we do know how to solve difficult cooperations, we do it all the time!" In groups of three: exchange about a recent success you had, making a relation better: how did you do that? It was funny to see how people who don't get along at all were sharing their solution strategies.
At the end, we asked them to do some "positive stalking": they all picked a card with a name of a 'secret' team member and for the next weeks they have to 1) do secret things making life easier and more comfortable for this person without being caught doing this 2) focus on everything that person does to make things a little better in the team or other good things: write these down. We will have a day with them together at the end of August but today I got a call from the manager telling me that their team meeting of today was much better: they all participated, talked to one another etc...
Maybe we can just play games in August!
I am very curious about what you did, or others did, please let us know, we might have new ideas for August!

Comment by Paul Z Jackson on June 20, 2008 at 17:03

Something striking about team-building is the possibility of so many interactions live in the room. This prompts the use of activities with a theatrical (and especially improvisational) element to them. The dramatic thrust creates a focus for everyone's attention and brings important detail to the visible forefront. Loraine's chair suggestion could be a good illustration of this.

Comment by Loraine Kennedy on June 18, 2008 at 15:54

Carole

Hi have watched and benefitted from your responses on SOL List over the years. In the new book 57 SF Activities there is described by Josef Grun a Team Spirit exercise where team members are invited to comment (use post its maybe) and create features of, name etc of their team spirit which is represented by an empty chair in the circle. I aim to try it with a team in a couple of weeks time and reading your post I offer it for consideration.

All the best
Loraine

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page