I use a lot more visuals and have bought soft toys. I have found the scenario of stepping into or as close as possible to someone's else world very helpful in telephone techniques courses, to help explain how to empathise and deal with complaints
Team Building Case Study
When the Engineer Systems Support Integrated Project Team (ESS IPT), needed to
boost morale and create a positive attitude within the team, they turned to training
experts, Changing Perspective for advice and guidance.
Changing Perspective devised a three-day team building event for 50 employees,
who were based at three different sites. The aim was to develop team relationships
and support networks between the people at the different sites.
Fiona Silberbach, Managing Director at Changing Perspective, said: “When the
world around you is changing, working together through a team build can give you
a real sense of belonging. It gives you time to share your concerns, have a laugh
and know you’re not alone. Team building, when done effectively, allows people
to build pride in what they are doing by setting out team objectives, agreeing
ways of working and discussing issues that are getting in the way of work.”
“Creating pride in your team can easily transfer into the workplace from a team
event, if teams are allowed time to work on real issues and create an energy to
get things done in the business environment. Gaining insights into the way different
colleagues work helps to build an understanding about who you work with and engenders
greater trust.”
The Approach
The Changing Perspective team building event provided ESS IPT employees with
the opportunity to:
- Celebrate the success of recent activities and bring the whole team up to date with recent developments.
- Communicate and energise people around future plans
- Tackle situations and find solutions together
- Spend enjoyable, quality time together to increase trust and understanding – the basic building blocks of high performance.
Fiona said: “We recognised that people attending this team building event have
participated in a number of these in the past and may also have experienced team
based activities through other forms of training. We therefore wanted to provide
an alternative team event, through a mix of self awareness, business focused and
problem based activities, providing an experience that stretched the team and
encouraged team spirit.”
“Changing Perspective designed a complex, multi-dimensional challenge, specifically
tailored to the issues that ESS IPT was facing. We also asked people to fill in
a short electronic questionnaire two weeks prior to the event, so that we could
establish their attitudes towards team working.”
During the event teams also:
- Were encouraged to support each other
- Reviewed the communication and support process at regular milestones and related it to real life
- Gave regular debriefings on the process and its implications in the working environment
Results
Changing Perspective’s team building event helped staff members to deliver high
quality service to a range of customers.
Employees were also equipped with:
- A sense of pride about what has been delivered
- Ways of working together to improve workplace relationships
- An understanding of the strata of individual teams and the strengths of each
- Personal strategies to maintain a positive attitude during challenging times
- Skills to provide a support network to help team members manage their futures within the company more easily
Fiona said: “The key thing about team working is making sure ideas and skills
transfer through to the workplace. Ideally, employees will become closer and be
prepared to try new techniques in terms of how they communicate with others. It
was a very successful event and the team told us they took a lot away with them.“
Kevin Wilson, from ESS IPT, said: “The training provided by Changing Perspective
fully met the aims and objectives of the Management Board. It focused on the role
and opportunities available to individuals and provided a mechanism for them to
take back control. This was particularly important with the high level of uncertainty
and change taking place within the business environment. I would thoroughly recommend
the high level of commitment and enthusiasm displayed by Changing Perspective
which had and continues to have a positive and lasting effect on all who attended.”
Top Tips for Team Development
Fiona Silberbach
”Organisations spend a lot of money on team events – taking employees out of the office to a different venue. Really successful team events also usually need some social time together, so overnight accommodation is often required. How then can you make sure your team event is giving you what you need to achieve results back in the workplace?”
Changing Perspective’s Top Tips
1. Decide what it is that you would like to see happening back at the workplace
as a result of the activity. Be specific.
2. Assess the level of team working before the event and follow this up
after the event.
3. Balance the event between practical fun activities and those specific
to the workplace. For example, have a problem solving activity and then relate
it to the level of teamwork back at the office. From this, extract exactly what
you could be doing differently and how you will make sure this will happen when
you return to work.
4. Bring along actual issues that need to be sorted out - ones that are
not too tricky and can be achieved during the time spent together.
5. Follow up the team event with an assessment of progress. Review this
as part of team meetings and run reminder sessions of some of the key points.
6. Celebrate success as you go along and ensure that you can get some quick
wins back at work.
7. Remember to balance the social element with a work focus!