Putting together a solid corporate team is one of the most rewarding experiences in business, as you witness a group of self-interested individuals transformed into a cohesive group all striving for the same goal. To say nothing of the tremendous benefits great teamwork gives your companys performance and profits. It is a truth universally acknowledged that the best workers are the happiest workers, and great teams make the happiest workers of all. However, if you look around for a corporate team building organiser you will discover there are a glittering array of choices on the market, with companies offering everything from in-house programmes for ice-breaker events and office games to residential courses featuring wilderness survival simulations and rugged adventure weekends. This article aims to make the selection process easier by running through a few of the things to consider in looking for a team building organiser to suit your needs. The first thing to decide is the sort of team building exercise that would be most beneficial to your company. Here are a few things to consider to make this decision easier: Whether all employees will be involved or the programme will be tailored to a particular segment of your workforce. For example, if all employees are involved, you probably dont want an activity that places unnecessary physical demands on them. Consider the profile of your workforce and what is realistically achievable. The last thing you want is a team building exercise that excludes people, exposes their limitations or otherwise adversely affects their confidence.What your budget and timescale is. This really comes down to the importance you give to corporate team building and what you hope to achieve from it. Many simple team building exercises can be done in the office or using readily available resources and nearby venues, whereas others are site specific and include transport and accommodation costs and time away from the workplace. Judge whether the employees already spend a lot of time together and you simply require greater cohesiveness and unity of purpose or the object of the exercise is to enable colleagues to get to know each other better and build up greater levels of understanding and trust. Consider the number of people you imagine participating in the programme. Naturally different team building exercises lend themselves to different sized groups. If you anticipate involving a large number of people, consider whether you want to divide them into smaller teams to undertake a round robin series of tasks or involve the entire group in the same task. Also, it is possible you want to focus on different areas for different groups and that each group has a different requirement, so ensure that the organiser has the resources to address all your needs. Now you should have a clearer outline of what it is you are looking for in a team building organiser and be ready to review the different providers in your area. In order to narrow down your search, consider the following points: If you are expecting the training to involve outdoor activities that have a level of physical risk, ensure that the supplier has a qualified instructor and provides insurance. Also, look at the kind of insurance carefully to ensure that it is comprehensive. If a serious insurance company is happy with the suppliers level of expertise, this should help put your mind to rest too. Never use a supplier who asks you to sign waivers of liability.Ensure there is some system for assessing the progress being made during the team building exercise and afterwards, when the skills learnt are implemented in the workplace. The suppliers level of enthusiasm for this kind of assessment might reveal the extent of their faith in their training.It is also worth checking any testimonials the supplier offers and looking beyond them to seek independent opinions of their service. It is important to determine how much experience the supplier has in tailoring and delivering programmes for corporate clients. Also explore the breadth of team building methodologies and courses the supplier offers. A tailored event should involve building the programme from scratch to suit the clients specific aims and objectives, rather then foisting some ready made package on them.Examine the professionalism and experience of the various facilitators you will be using. Ask what requirements they have to meet to be eligible to work with the team building organiser and whether they work on a full-time or part-time basis. It would do you no harm to ask to meet them as well, to gauge their compatibility with your workforce.Ask about the provenance of the equipment being used in the team building exercise and how regularly it is maintained and serviced. After all, good team building cannot be done with shoddy or out of date equipment. If you cannot obtain satisfactory answers to these questions it may be time to consider other providers. But always remember, experience, credibility and know-how are the essential ingredients for anyone wishing to provide any form of team based training to a corporate client. |
