Anything But Team Building

Have you ever been stuck in a meeting room with people you barely know and forced to compete in some lame, "team-building" exercise? The cringe-worthy icebreaker activities are only the beginning — pretty soon, it's time for the dreaded trust falls. Thirty minutes later, everybody is staring at each other awkwardly over dinner and wondering how much longer they'll be stuck with these people.

Conference season doesn't have to be a nightmare. These tips will help you plan your next office outing without any of that pesky team building nonsense.

1. Hire a professional.

Let's face it: Corporate retreats are just not your cup of tea. Still, when it's time to plan a trip, there is no need to hire a professional consultant or even put up with the annoying suggestions often made by friends and family members. Instead, turn to the experts — like this website that lists fun conferences in your area. It's easy to use, provides all of the information necessary, and is completely free!

2. Search for groups in your field with the same interests as you.

In order to find a group that fits your needs, you first need to know what your interests are. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to find out! If you enjoy creative writing and want to brainstorm with fellow authors, check out groups on MeetUp . For more general interests like learning about science or politics, try Facebook . If you're interested in photography, Flickr is a great resource for finding other photographers.

3. Plan a trip in the middle of the week.

The first two tips might be enough for most people — but if you're still struggling to avoid team-building activities, try planning your conference during the middle of the week when many co-workers will be unavailable. This makes the trip more intimate, and everybody gets a taste of their own company.

4. Bring snacks.

It's possible that you will get lost while at the conference and miss your morning subway stop — in fact, that's happened to me more than once. To lessen the chances of missing your meetings on account of hunger, stock up on some granola bars and trail mix before heading out. Or if you're worried about how long it'll take for you to meet up with your colleagues again in East Cheektowaga (and why would you ever be worried about anything?), bring enough snacks for everyone to share. The only people who complain about these snack swaps are those who don't participate!

5. Bring a friend.

Bringing along a partner or friend can really brighten up the mood during your conference. You can play games together, trade snacks, and chat comfortably during the breaks! The best part is that they don't have to be part of your office. If you're worried about being forced to socialize with colleagues or professional contacts, ask around for recommendations of people you can meet up with at the conference — chances are you'll find someone who wants to go!

An alternative option: Bring a small pet.

6. Avoid trust falls at all costs.

If your company is bent on that whole trust exercise, the best thing you can do is to make up an excuse not to participate. For example:

·          Your knee is bothering you.

·          You're saving it for a trust fall with your co-worker, John Benson.

·          You were just in a trust fall recently and don't think you're strong enough for another one quite yet.

If all else fails, try taking it one step further and grab some duct tape for when the leader inevitably abandons his task and leaves the room early.

Whatever you do, team-building exercises are a great way to ruin conference season for yourself and your co-workers. Remember these simple tips and you'll be on your way to finding a fun conference without all of that team building nonsense!

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Real Team Building

Team Building that is Real

At Real Team Building we provide real world approaches that build tangible skills toward measurable results...not just a "team building experience".

One of our core philosophies is that the degree to which you are engaged by the team building and after-action reports will show up in the results. If you want to see the data, we have it and we can share it.

Our experience is in working with small to mid-sized teams who need help with a particular project or need some time off from their everyday business in order to head into a project mindset.

We have worked across industries from manufacturing, telecommunications, healthcare, restaurant / retail, engineering, financial services and more. We also work with creative firms as well as other small business owners/managers looking for team development opportunities on a regular basis.

Marketing through the use of social media, video platforms, and other marketing tools is a part of our service offering. Taking on this type of project and delivering quality results will go far to build your brand.

Contact us to see how we can help you build your business and how we can be a partner in real world team building that brings about measurable results and gives you the skills for success.

From: Chuck Miller

Subject: Re: Team Building

Good morning - Thank-you for responding I'll let you know more when I have some more information. I'm very interested in team building and doing something for my team - but I have to do a little bit of research before I can commit. I have a few co-workers that are on the fence about this as well, so maybe this might even be our own Team Building event.

As I have said in other posts - if you have any suggestions or input - please let me know!

From: Chuck Miller

Subject: Re: Team Building

Thank you for taking the time to contact me today regarding team building. That's very cool of you to get back with me on this! I'm going to refer you to some additional contacts and info that they can provide.

I will be back to you with more information as I can.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to partner with you on this. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

From: Chuck Miller

Subject: Re: Team Building

Hi Chuck, I didn't mean that as a rude comment - I was just making a point. We may not have the same outlook on things. My brother and I are both in the service industry and our outlooks are very different. He is in construction - he has strong opinions about safety including team building activities and vice versa.

Conclusion

From: Ben Kreisher

Subject: Team Building Experience  Thanks very much for your response.  I am aware that there are a number of different types of team building exercises, but I was hoping you could either recommend some examples or some more in-depth descriptions of the type of activities you feel suit our needs. We have been searching for just the right type of activity - something we can utilize with other members of our team and something that will provide a good return on investment for the organization. In addition, we would like to allocate time to practicing the new skills we are acquiring and to get feedback from each other on the effectiveness of our efforts.