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OPINION Todd Demorest:Build CSR into team building

18/12/2009 by Todd Demorest 1 Comment(s) Printable version

.

The lead facilitator at Odyssey Teams explains whyadding a philanthropic side to your team buildingevents can make them more effective and boost yourCSR credentials. In the tumultuous times we are in, organisations are facing amultitude of challenges. These include keeping the people in thecompany energised, ambitious, connected to their work and in apositive mood. The proper choice of CSR events can increase cross-functional networks, improve cross-departmental communication,foster solution-based thinking and raise mood levels, thusproductivity. By investing CSR funds and/or time in the employee, they will feelincluded, taken care of, worthwhile and appreciated. They will alsolearn new skills and/or competencies that are essential as thebusiness and their roles in it evolve.

There is a belief that if a company (and the individuals in thecompany) treat their internal customers as well as their externalcustomers that everything else will work out – more often, betterthan expected at all levels of the business. Creating hybrid eventsToday, more and more companies are turning to a melding ofCSR/philanthropy and team building events for their employees.Companies can no longer afford team building simply to be fun,entertaining and/or gregarious. It is imperative that the money spenton building a team does just that, and maybe even more importantlybuild the capacity for individuals to make powerful choices andblend more easily as they move from team to team. These hybrid team building events are a fabulous place to bringcorporate values and/or targeted points to life. Participants have anopportunity to connect with their co-workers as they work onprojects such as making prosthetic hands for land mine victims,bicycles for less fortunate children, play houses for children’shospitals, etc.

Emotional connectionsThese programmes provide a visceral experience that anchors thelearning points with emotion – which lasts longer than a PowerPointpresentation or a ‘team mug’.

In addition the employee can put a ‘face’ to the people affected bythe company’s CSR initiatives and/or the benefits of where thecompany contributes. And they feel a key part of the CSRprogramme, too, with all the pride, gratitude, and humility thatcomes with it. The cynicism that often goes along with team buildingevents is diminished in these highly developed and relevant events.

When discussing team building, target a programme that can providea wide return on investment for the employee, their team, the

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business, and beyond, as they put their thumbprint on somethingthat touches near and far. Philanthropic team building is a sure wayto hit the CSR mark at many levels.

Todd Demorest is lead facilitator at Odyssey Teams

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Feature - May/June 2008

Strength in numbers — whether teambuilding programs focus on physical,intellectual or philanthropic challenges, the intended outcome is the same: totransform individuals into cohesive collaborators for best-in-classperformance.Photo courtesy of Starwood Hotels and Resorts

By Diana Rowe

How many times have meeting planners had to endure groans and eye-rolling when attendees learnthat teambuilding is on the agenda? That’s because tried-and-true approaches are beginning to losetheir luster with overworked attendees who would rather be checking their BlackBerrys than “playinggames” to satisfy the corporate mandate of developing motivated, productive employees. To competefor attendees’ attention, planners are charged with finding innovative activities that put the BlackBerryon the back burner.

Sometimes it’s as simple as putting a new twist on traditional teambuilding activities. But now more thanever, what really strikes a cord is teambuilding with a purpose. There is no obstacle course, scavengerhunt or boatbuilding program that compares with the smile on the face of an underprivileged child whogets his first bike ever — or his first prosthetic hand — assembled by your team. The same objectivesof cooperation and communication are achieved but with theadded, profoundly powerful component of doing good forothers. “Paying it forward” not only enriches giver andreceiver, it extends to the company’s bottom line.

“I witnessed firsthand my colleagues’ leadership andcoaching styles emerge,” recalled Joseph Atalig, salesdevelopment manager of the Tempe, AZ regional office of

Transformational Teambuilding http://www.themeetingmagazines.com/index/Default.aspx?tabid=884

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Wells Fargo & Company. “Yet the dynamics of working together for something bigger didn’t click untilthe kids came out.”

Atalig refers to the Life Cycles workshop, facilitated by Odyssey Teams Inc. Each team builds abicycle. When the bike is completed, the kids enter the ballroom to claim their bikes. This is a programhe’s participated in four times, each time recording tangible results in the team’s success whenreturning to the office. Just over a year ago, the impact was measured when his Arizona delegatesbecame the number-one team in sales out of 24 districts with one of the lowest employee turnovers inthe state.

Changing Lives“It might be a simple bicycle-building team event,” added Atalig, “but the simplicity is what connects theteam members to the local underprivileged youth. We are rewarded by doing something for others, andthen witnessing that pure excitement on the kids’ faces. In turn, that accomplishment connects back tothe team that built that bike. We realized that we’re not just selling loans and checking accounts —we’re changing lives. There’s a bigger purpose in what we do every day.”

When planning his teambuilding event with Odyssey, Atalig was asked probing questions in order tocustomize the events, ranging from the meeting objective to the culture of their region.

Life Cycles is just one of several of Odyssey Teams’ philanthropic programs and a textbook example ofteambuilding for a cause. Lain Hensley, owner and COO of Odyssey Teams, said, “We wanted tocreate relevant experiences so that people can have transformational moments. Forming an emotional

bond, such as with the bike-building experience, createsan internal pressure to personally sustain change andmotivate first.”

Hensley said that for a team to develop there are fourstages: forming, storming, norming and performing. In thefirst stages of teambuilding, the forming of the team takesplace. The team meets and learns about the opportunityand challenges, and then agrees on goals and begins totackle the tasks. Every group then enters the stormingstage in which different ideas compete for consideration,a stage when team members begin to open up to eachother. In the norming stage, the team adjusts theirbehavior with one another, developing work habitsconducive to creating a fluid team. The final stage isperforming, when team members become interdependent,motivated and knowledgeable.

“If teams don’t go through these four phases, they won’t know where they are,” explained Hensley.“The first three stages are accomplished by teambuilding, so we can certainly escalate that time periodthrough specific teambuilding activities.”

Once Odyssey discovered the bridge between training models and philanthropy, Hensley said hestarted opening the lens to find activities with more global impact. One of those new inspiring programsOdyssey created is Helping Hands, an exclusive program in cooperation with the Ellen MeadowsProsthetic Hand Foundation.

“The program challenges participants to assemble artificial hands for later donation overseas,”explained Hensley. “As participants realize what they’re building, a profound sense of responsibilityemerges, as they are literally giving an amputee a new life. This sense of teamwork brings a newpurpose to their life and career.”

The program includes a video that shows the amputees, tens of thousands of youth and adults maimedas a result of landmine explosions or political violence in developing countries, receiving their newhands.

The Impact Of JazzYour teambuilding activity doesn’t need to be philanthropic to be effective. When Michael Gold, principalof Minneapolis-based Jazz-Impact, and his ensemble of jazz musicians take the stage, within minutesthe crowd is on their feet. Yet this isn’t your typical stage. Gold is presenting an interactive seminar fora group of financial managers on corporate teambuilding. His innovative business consultancy links theprinciples of the jazz music art form — innovation,experimentation and collaboration — with businessfundamentals.

“Jazz is the sound of people negotiating change,” said Gold.


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Meeting planner Ramsey Potts, statesales director for AFLAC of WestVirginia (far left) along with cowboycoach and attendees participated in a“team penning” event. Teamscompeted on horseback to herdcalves into a framed pen whileworking against a clock.Photo by Dennis Hartin

“I bring both worlds together. Our jazz ensemble is a team, just like any corporation, any department,any group. Jazz is a good model because every voice and instrument is wildly different. When we cometogether on a shared platform, we interact with each other and bring an enjoyable program (live music)to the audience.

“Jazz has been a part of our culture for decades,” said Gold, “but many still don’t appreciate itsevolution in the world of music. During the interactive demonstration, we move between talking aboutwhat we are doing on stage to bringing clients’ culture into those experiences. We show how personala team can be and how they resonate when they work together.”

Dude Ranch ReduxFor Ramsey Potts, state sales director for AFLAC of West Virginia, his event was successful bystructuring the entire meeting, including the teambuilding activity, around Mother Nature.

“When I announced to my management team that the annual incentive trip would be to a dude ranch,”Potts recalled, “I nearly had mutiny on my ship. Many were disappointed that we weren’t going to thebeach and felt like a dude ranch was little incentive to perform. I had to assure them frequently thatRancho de los Caballeros was a luxury ranch resort.”

Just 90 minutes northwest of Phoenix, Rancho de los Caballeros is an historic ranch resort with 79guest rooms, 8,500 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, 18 holes of golf and100 horses for exploring trails on 20,000 acres of spectacular Sonoran desert. Planners can offer their

attendees an authentic dude ranch experience withadditional luxuries such as gourmet dining, the award-winning championship Los Caballeros Golf Club and theluxurious Spa at Los Caballeros.

Images of “City Slickers” and sleeping under the stars whileeating beans and wieners prevailed until the team arrived atthe ranch resort, said Potts.

Potts and his sales team participated in a popularteambuilding activity offered at the ranch called “teampenning,” which matches teams with a cowboy coach tocompete on horseback. The objective is to herd threecalves into a framed pen, while working against a clock.

“The horses are so well trained that we just go along for theride,” added Potts. “In fact, several people (includingmyself) were rather reluctant to get on the back of a horse.However, by the end of the event, the team came togetherand there was more than a little friendly competition.

“From the ‘team penning’ to the championship golf course,from the trap and skeet shooting to the beautiful horse ridesthrough the desert, from the relaxing spa to the cowboycookouts, Rancho de los Caballeros is the perfectcombination of an incentive trip mixed with a healthy dose of

teambuilding.”

Traditional Teambuilding That WorksNicolette de Guia is a meeting professional for a national personal line insurer’s conference planningteam who coordinated a very successful Distribution Leadership Forum at the La Quinta Resort & Club,La Quinta, CA. To set the Forum apart from other meetings and to engage the audience in a teamevent tied to performance, de Guia explored the various venues available both on and offsite.

“The theme Accelerate to Win tied in with our company’s objectives and NASCAR-sponsoredprograms,” said de Guia, so with that in mind, and with the aid of some very insightful, creative andflexible partner vendors, de Guia found what she wanted. But instead of the group going to the offsitevenue, the offsite venue came to La Quinta and in the end, was masterful. “We took the concept of therace and made it our own,” said de Guia.

The teambuilding event included extensive graphic piecesincluding pit passes, qualifier books, NASCAR-stylelanyards, very inventive and creative racing style décor,Breathalyzers and an authentic NASCAR race car alongwith a special guest NASCAR driver, Kasey Kahne. De Guiaenlisted the help of her vendor partners: Access DestinationServices-Palm Springs, La Quinta Resort, Eventworks


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Disney Parks and Resorts organized ateambuilding scavenger hunt for WebsterFinancial Corporation that took place in the

Magic Kingdom.Photo courtesy of Webster Financial Corporation

(décor company), and Karting Ventures Inc. to bring racing to life at the resort. The hotel agreed toclose down a busy onsite parking lot, and Karting Ventures arranged delivery of 12 go-carts andbrought in their whole operation from track to operators.

“We had them at ‘ladies and gentlemen, start your engines,’?” de Guia reported. “Before the racingexperience, our general session was relatively quiet with very little audience participation. It neededsome life and excitement. After the teambuilding session, the entire personality of the meeting changed.Everyone seemed to feel like a part of a team, more relaxed, focused and more engaged overall in themeeting content. This teambuilding event was extremely successful and a very effective moralebooster.

“Our racing theme resonated with everyone,” said de Guia. “Name a teambuilding activity from bikebuilding to scavenger hunts, and we’ve done it. Our goal wasn’t to cleverly disguise a teambuildingevent. Out of 120 attendees, only two sat out. We needed to get everyone engaged in the meeting,and we wanted them to have fun doing it.”

Objective, time, budget, corporate social responsibility and diversity of group are just a few topicsraised by Beth Daniel, sales manager for Access Destination Services-Palm Springs. “To come up withunique events, I always start by asking the right questions. Maybe there’s an upcoming sales pitch, anew product launch, a merger. Teambuilding is a fun and interactive learning experience that brings agroup together toward a common goal.”

Teambuilding isn’t without challenges, added Daniel. “You have to work with the variables and logistics:weather, team numbers, theme, etc. Whatever the theme or objective of the meeting, we can uncoveror create the perfect teambuilding event.”

Daniel said traditional teambuilding activities, such as chili cook-offs, build-a-boat, culinary themes andgame shows can still be quite effective. However, brainstorming for that “perfect” fit to createsomething unique is crucial.

“With de Guia’s event, for example,” explained Daniel, “I had originally proposed an offsite racingvenue, but the budget brought it back to the hotel and engaging the services of Karting Ventures.Together, we took our vision and tweaked it to fit a hotel location, including closing down the parkinglot.”

The Disney DynamicThere is no shortage of creativity at Disney Parks and Resorts, which provides the expertise needed toexecute innovative teambuilding programs. Disney Institute offers a variety of teambuilding andprofessional development programs proven to drive success. Group experiences are designed toactively develop relationships that lead to strong results.

When a group of 20-plus senior officers needed to team up, Jeffrey Brown, executive vice presidentand chief administrative officer of Waterbury, CT-based Webster Financial Corporation, brought themto the Disney Institute. A Disney teambuilding event Pluto’s Pursuit kicked off the two-day meeting. In

the activity, teams band together “in pursuit of theprize” during this one-of-a-kind scavenger huntthroughout a Disney Destination Theme Park.This activity jumped to the top of the list forBrown as the fastest way to throw a group intothe “deep end of a pool.”

”We’d just completed a major restructuring,”explained Brown, “merging several differentdepartments. To create a shared servicesenvironment, we wanted a means for these 23senior managers to get to know each other in ashort period of time. We also wanted a morerelaxed environment before throwing them into aclassroom.

“A scavenger hunt may seem simple,” agreedBrown, “but it’s a fun way to introduce a groupand get them to work together. It’s very easy todiscount these sorts of activities, but I find it

immensely powerful if done well.”

For the past seven years on behalf of FirstMerit Bank, Carrie Holet, retail sales and service consultant,and Michele Pfeifer, senior vice president of performance and learning resources, have planned Disneyincentive trips that include teambuilding events. Their attendance ranges from 45 to 75 employees from


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the top-performing branches. FirstMerit Corporation is a $10.4 billion diversified financial servicescompany headquartered in Akron, OH.

“We are always interested in ways of enhancing team dynamics,” said Pfeifer. “We’ve done everythingfrom cooking a gourmet lunch to a team Park Challenge. Because they’ve earned these trips, wealready know the teams are competitive and like challenges, so we build on that spirit.”

Through the Disney experience, Holet and Pfeifer customized their teambuilding experiences, offeringattendees glimpses into the theme park that they couldn’t get with a general admission ticket. Theteams are small, and attendees are grouped with people that they often do not know.

“Our gala events are exclusive parties in venues not accessible to the public,” explained Holet.“Teambuilding events like Pluto’s Pursuit or On Location allow us access to behind-the-scenes areas.We tell attendees all they have to do is pack their bags, and we’ll do the rest. Teambuilding eventsmake that experience more intimate. These are all unique encounters that they take back to theirbranch as a motivator to earn their return trip next year. From college-aged to senior citizen, Disneyteambuilding events are flexible for all ages.”

Holet and Pfeifer are also conscious that many of their attendees are repeat winners, so they worktogether to create something new that appeals to first-timers and repeat winners. They start byopening up the lines of communication with Disney, passing on details about their current group ofwinners, and creating a teambuilding event that effectively targets the meeting’s objective.

Whether launching a new product, building business strategies or cultivating leaders in a recent merger,teambuilding is a proven tool that boosts performance. But perhaps the best programs are those thathelp to change lives for the better. I&FMM


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Destination Hotels & Resorts Partners with Odyssey Teams

September 01, 2009By Alex Palmer

Groups staying at any Destination Hotels & Resorts can now give their events acharitable boost. The hospitality management company has partnered withOdyssey Teams to offer philanthropic team-building activities at its more than 30hotels, conference centers and resorts.

Odyssey Teams creates programs that allow groups to strengthen their teams bycollaborating on charitable projects. Among the programs offered are Life Cycles,in which a group of participants assemble bicycles to donate to children in need,and Helping Hands, in which teams put together prosthetic hands which are thengiven to amputees in developing countries. Odyssey has created programs forcorporate groups at companies like Walmart, Wells Fargo, Pfizer and Kinko's.

"We get people connected to who they are, who they work with, what they do atwork and why they do it, which in turn helps them improve their connections tocustomers, customer service and their lives outside the office," said Bill John,president and co-founder of Odyssey Team, in a statement.

The new partnership is part of Destination Hotels & Resorts larger corporatesocial responsibility efforts, which includes the sustainability program DestinationEarth, launched in 2008 to protect the communities in which the organizationoperates.

Maureen Callahan, vice president of marketing for Destination Hotels & Resorts,said in a statement that the company's properties "are very much a part of thelocal community where they reside and Odyssey Teams" programs, whichencourage groups around the world to give back to their communities, fit inperfectly with our company's core values."

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Destination Hotels & Resorts Partners with Odyssey TeamsAugust 31, 2009Offers groups charitable team-building programsBy Alex Palmer

Groups staying at any Destination Hotels & Resorts can now give their events acharitable boost. The hospitality management company has partnered withOdyssey Teams to offer philanthropic team-building activities at its more than 30hotels, conference centers and resorts.

Odyssey Teams creates programs that allow groups to strengthen their teams bycollaborating on charitable projects. Among the programs Odyssey offers are LifeCycles, in which a group of participants assemble bicycles to donate to children inneed, and Helping Hands, in which teams put together prosthetic hands which arethen given to amputees in developing countries.

Odyssey has created programs for corporate groups at companies like Walmart,Wells Fargo, Pfizer and Kinko¹s.

"We get people connected to who they are, who they work with, what they do atwork and why they do it, which in turn helps them improve their connections tocustomers, customer service and their lives outside the office," said Bill John,president and co-founder of Odyssey Team, in a statement.

The new partnership is part of Destination Hotels & Resorts larger corporate socialresponsibility efforts, which includes the sustainability program Destination Earth,launched in 2008 to protect the communities in which the organization operates.

Maureen Callahan, vice president of marketing for Destination Hotels & Resorts,said in a statement that the company's properties "are very much a part of the localcommunity where they reside and Odyssey Teams' programs, which encouragegroups around the world to give back to their communities, fit in perfectly with ourcompany's core values."

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Great ways to give back -- and add a positive spin to meetings

By Lisa Grimaldi

Illustration: Dieter Braun; Illustration: XRISCA30 -- Istockphoto.com

July 1, 2009

Thanks to one activity onSolta Medical's global salesmeeting agenda, the OrangeCounty Asian Pacific IslanderCommunity Alliance inCalifornia is now equipped withbadly needed computers forits after-school youth program.The computers actually werebuilt by the 100 sales repswho attended the medicallaser firm's January conference in Newport Beach, Calif. The activity,arranged by destination management firm PRA Orange County, wasdesigned not only to foster camaraderie and inspire ingenuity amongthe medical laser company's team, but to leave a lasting, positivelegacy in the community where the meeting was held.

Solta Medical's experience is just one example of how volunteeractivities are becoming a more common component of meeting andincentive agendas. (For related statistics, turn to this month'sResearch findings, "Doing the Right Thing.")

According to Padraic Gilligan, managing director of global destinationmanagement firm Ovation Global, the negative press the meetingsindustry has received is spurring corporations to leave a"philanthropic footprint" in the wake of their events. "You need tooffset the perceptions of being extravagant by doing something forthe community, the destination," Gilligan says.

Give-back activities also can make attendees feel good about theorganization. "Companies need to engage their employees inmeaningful ways. The bottom line is that these types of programsimpact employee attraction and retention," says Alan Ranzer,executive director of Impact 4 Good, a Bethesda, Md.-basedteam-building firm that specializes in CSR activities.

The ways groups can have a positive impact on a destination orcommunity are myriad. They run the gamut from cleaning up a public park to building homes orrenovating schools. For example, for a sales conclave held in Malta last year, pharmaceutical firmAllergan and its meetings management firm World Events Group created a Monopoly-style board gamewhose "properties" featured community facilities on the Mediterranean island that needed refurbishment;players or teams who "bought" a specific property thus became in charge of that project in real life. Theupshot: The firm's 760 sales reps renovated nine properties, including a women's refuge and anorphanage.

The cost to the sponsoring organization can range from as little as $100 total for gloves and bags for abeach clean-up, to $100 or more per participant for a more sophisticated materials-oriented activity,such as a bicycle-building program for children.

Following are tips for how to add CSR components to meetings and incentives.

Getting started

The first step: Find out if your company already has a community affairs program, says Ira Almeas,president of East Hanover, N.J.-based Impact Incentives & Meetings. "Many corporations have astrategic alliance with certain causes, such as fighting hunger, building literacy or health-relatedcharities," he notes.

Check with the hotel: Some chains, such as Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (fairmont.com) and Ritz-CarltonHotels & Resorts (ritzcarlton.com), have formal programs that match groups with various volunteeractivities and community charities.

Another option is to work with professional firms, such as Impact 4 Good (impact4good.com), Give

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Instead of Take (give-instead-of-take.com) and Odyssey Teams (odysseyteams.com), which matchgroups seeking charitable programs with local organizations in need. They typically have packagedteam-building activities that can be executed anywhere, plus they can create custom events based agroup's interests or tied to the sponsor's industry.

Destination management firms such as PRA Destination Management (pra.com), based in San Diego,and Ovation Global (ovationdmc.com), based in Dublin, increasingly are adding CSR activities to theirroster of offerings. To find one, contact the Association of Destination Management Executives(adme.org) or Site (siteglobal.com), which has many global DMC members.

Destination marketing organizations (destinationmarketing.org) and national tourist boards also canassist in arranging CSR activities.

And if your company has a branch in the meeting destination, it's likely a locally based employee canrecommend worthy causes in the community.

Activities for the Greater Good

Following is a sampling of activities that are well suited togroups. (Be sure plans are cleared with the proper authorities,such as beach or park commissions, when necessary.)

Create military care packages. Teams of attendeesdecorate and fill boxes for U.S. troops. For example, PRA SanDiego (pra.com) has participants create packages for Marinesquadrons based out of nearby Camp Pendleton and now

serving in Iraq. Teams write personal notes to the squadron and include a photo of the "packers."For assistance, contact the U.S. Department of Defense Community Relations department(www.ourmilitary.mil).

Give a facility a facelift. Groups can spruce up a facility that serves the local community, such asschools or senior centers. Work can include painting, landscaping and general maintenance. Forreference, the United Way (liveunited.org) represents more than 1,300 community programsthroughout the United States.

Help at a food bank. Attendees sort and pack food for local food banks, who distribute the meals tothe homeless, senior citizens and families in need. Feeding America (feedingamerica.org) can helplocate a food bank.

Build bikes. Participants assemble bicycles and donate them to a local charity for children. Amongthe team-building firms that can implement this activity are Impact 4 Good (impact4good.com) andOdyssey Teams (odysseyteams.com).

Nourish young minds. Attendees read to local children or help them with homework. United Way(livingunited.org) can help you find charitable children's groups; for schools, contact the NationalSchool Board Association (nbsa.org).

Perk up a park. Choose a local greensward in need of TLC; teams can compete by number ofgarbage bags filled with debris. For help, contact the National Park Service (nps.gov); the NationalRecreation and Park Association (www.nrpa.org) or the National Association of County Park andRecreation Officials (nacpro.org).

Lift young spirits. Teams make layer cakes and colorful cards of hope and encouragement forcharities such as Ronald McDonald House (rmhc.org) or children's hospitals. Or, participants candecorate and stuff piñatas with toys and games for hospitalized kids. Impact 4 Good can makearrangements; contact the American Hospital Association (aha.org) for children's hospitals in yourarea.

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Thank you for pointing out the link error. The correct link is liveunited.org, and has been fixed, above.

Posted by Anonymous on 7/29/2009 1:34:58 PM

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By Jonathan Vatner

6/18/2009

Give attendees a bonding experience -- and the satisfaction ofhelping local children -- by letting them build bicycles for needykids. In Odyssey Teams' Life Cycles program, groups gettogether to build a bike, learning important workplace skills inthe process. At the end of the event, the kids come to claimtheir new bikes. The activity costs around $175 per person forthe minimum group size of 25, and $90 each for 1,000participants. (800) 342-1650; odysseyteams.com

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AnonymousComment: Perhaps I am missing the point, but I think the money would be much better spent purchasing bikes from amass retailer. The photo shows three people building one bike which would make the cost $525, unless the teamcompletes one bike per team member. That is a VERY expensive bike, so I would hope the team members learnedsome very valuable lessons while working on the bikes.

683917Comment: This sounds like a great idea but I would like to suggest that the recipient child should be part of theassembly process in order to teach him/her new skills, as well as to provide a little "buy in" to pride of ownership of thebike. Everyone wins with this program! ANI

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Rallying the Troops

Meetings MidAmerica, June 2009

by Maria Lenhart

With an increase in demand for philanthropic programs, team-building companies aredevising ways to take new and creative approaches to community giving.

At Adventure Associates, a new program named “Get Set, Give” is similar to a traditionalscavenger hunt, but instead focuses on helping people in need.

“People work in teams of four with GPS devices to find clues and they also have a certain amount of spending money,”says Rebecca Tilley, co-owner of Adventure Associates. “They have to look for ways to help people out, but they don’tjust give them the money directly.

For example, they might spend money on balls for a school or they might provide someone with a week’s worth of bustickets. The teams have to get out into the community and ask questions about what is needed. Then they cometogether at the end to share the experiences.”

At Odyssey Teams, which has been designing programs with a philanthropic slant for nearly a decade, the newestoffering is Helping Hands, a program where participants build prosthetic hands. The recipients are children and adultsin developing countries who have lost hands due to landmines and political violence.

According to lead facilitator Todd Demorest, the program can easily take place in a hotel meeting room and typically istwo to four hours long. Teams of three people assemble the prosthetic hands from kits and also decorate a carepackage box for each recipient.

“Afterwards, the teams watch a video of some of the past recipients and their families--they see how it has affectedtheir well being,” Demorest says, adding that a picture of the team who built each hand goes into the care packagebox.

“It becomes a very personal thing,” Demorest says. “When recipients get the hand, they get to see who built the hand.We also get pictures of the recipients and send them back to the client.”

Odyssey Teams also offers Project Playhouse, a team-building program in which participants assemble playhouses thatare donated to local children’s groups as well as to shelters. According to Demorest, as participants work with the rawmaterials they are given—lumber, paint, finishes and decorative items—they tap into creative, leadership,communication and decision-making skills that will make them more effective in their organizations and in theircommunities.

The teams are encouraged to customize their playhouses with paint and other decoration. They can also compete forawards based on creativity and team spirit. Often, the children who will receive the playhouses are invited to inspectthem and act as judges for some of the awards.

“So many people think they are not good with their hands,” Demorest says. “They might stumble and bumble aroundfor a few minutes, but pretty soon, they’re really building a playhouse for deserving children. What might have seemedlike a game at the beginning has really aligned people and given them a connection.”

Along with socially responsible programs, cooking challenges and other culinary-related programs have also gained inpopularity in recent years. An example of new options available in this genre is TeamBuilding Unlimited’s ChocolateStimulus Package, which offers several different activities centered on chocolate.

In Ultimate Chocolate Tasting, participants learn about the history of chocolate and how to enjoy and appreciatehigh-end varieties of chocolate from around the world. In the Chocolate Challenge, teams are challenged to design anddecorate chocolate creations that reflect their team or company.

“In the Chocolate Challenge, people are really building with chocolate--we even had one team from a scientificcompany create a research lab out of chocolate,” says Janet Rudolph, creative director of TeamBuilding Unlimited. “Orthey can create elaborate cakes, which can be chocolate or not. The cake can serve as the group’s dessert or takenback to the office.”

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Features - March 2009

Braving the high ropes course at Meramec Wilderness Learning Ranch inSteelville, MO, are Hardee’s Food Systems employees who found success

by overcoming fears and self-limiting perceptions. Photo courtesy of Hardee’s Food Systems Inc.

By Karen Brost

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” So said industrialist HenryFord, inventor of the assembly line. Though he was referring to workplace teamwork, his words ringtrue on a number of other levels for the beleaguered corporate meetings industry, which has found itselfon the defensive lately. So much so that the next time your thoughts turn to teambuilding programs,your very next thoughts will be transparency, accountability and results. The times might be different,but human nature never changes: Getting a diverse group of people to work well together is no simpletask. As the legendary baseball manager CaseyStengel discovered, “Finding good players is easy.Getting them to play as a team is another story.”

Yet, effective teambuilding is about far morethan creating internal camaraderie. It can be aboutbuilding character and communities. When doneright, these activities can have a significant impacton a company’s success — and its reputation.People who learn to collaborate and execute as ateam are the glue that will hold the companytogether when a shaky economy threatens to pull itapart. You might say we’re in it together now more than ever.

Trading PlacesArizona Outback Adventures (AOA) is a Scottsdale, AZ-based company that creates teambuilding

programs for clients all over the world. “Teambuilding means different things to different people,” saidBernard Philippe, general manager. “Often it means doing a group activity, and for other groups, itreally means doing a business simulation. They are looking at teambuilding to increase communicationand obviously teamwork, but also to look more at some of their specific business processes and the

efficiency within those processes.”Amanda Martin-Palmay, collections development

manager for the Center of Excellence at Toyota FinancialServices (TFS) in Chandler, AZ, hired AOA to design ateambuilding activity that would address somecommunications challenges the company was facing.

“We have a layer of leadership we found was a littledisconnected from each other,” she said. She explained thatthese front-line staff managers, called team leaders, work indifferent departments, including customer service,collections, administration and inventory control, yet theyneed each other’s cooperation to resolve customer issues.

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This Arizona Outback Adventurescharity bike-building activity helpedToyota Financial Services employeesbond through a shared sense ofpurpose.Photo courtesy of Arizona Outback Adventures

Team dynamics are tested duringPluto’s Pursuit, a Disney Institutescavenger hunt through Disney

theme parks and resorts.Photo courtesy of Walt Disney World Resort

“We thought it was important to bring them together forsome teambuilding so as to facilitate more comfort in havingdialogue with each other and resolving problems togetherrather than going to the next level of management toresolve,” Martin-Palmay continued. “One of our main themeswas ‘being in the other person’s shoes.’”

Philippe and Seth Heald, AOA’s president, worked withTFS officials to plan the event. “They started out by really digging in for probably the first threemeetings we had, just trying to understand what was going on in our business, and it really was notabout the teambuilding event,” Martin-Palmay noted. “That’s probably what impressed me the most. It’squite difficult to come in and figure it out and then come up with a way to help. They did a great job onfact finding and researching and trying to understand thereal need that we had.”

“Ultimately, it was about customer service,” Philippenoted. “How do we help people understand each otherbetter and increase the efficiency of dealing with thecustomer?”

AOA staged the program at Fort McDowell Adventures,a scenic outdoor venue located on the Fort McDowellYavapai Nation just east of Scottsdale. To build in a littlefriendly competition, AOA turned the event into abike-building contest. Teams were formed with one memberfrom each department, and each team visited a series ofstations where they could win a bike part by answering aquestion related to handling a customer situation.

Team members were not allowed to answer questionsfrom their own areas of expertise, however. “If I’m incustomer service, I have to answer from the administrativeperspective and tell the customer service person why it isthe way it is,” Martin-Palmay explained. “It’s really funny. You really see people taking the other sideand owning it.”

Philippe added, “We put them in a role they’re not comfortable with. We also engaged them byforcing them to communicate as a team, so they can get advice from the real customer service personor the real administrative person.”

If the team answered the question correctly, they won a bike part, but if they answered itexceptionally well, they got an “extra” such as a bell or streamers. “Whoever had the most souped-upbike won,” Martin-Palmay said. The bikes were then donated to the local Boys and Girls Club.

After the teambuilding exercise, AOA held adebriefing session to clarify what was learned and helpdevelop an action plan for going forward. Afterwards,the group wound down by riding a mechanical bull,having a quick draw contest and taking pictures at anold time photo booth.

“We had guys dressed up in women’s dressestaking pictures. We have teams of team leaders fromtwo different departments taking pictures together. Yousee all those pictures on people’s desks,” Martin-Palmay noted.

In addition to donating the bikes they built, eachteam planted a cactus on the reservation to help preserve the desert area. “TFS is really about beingthe global good citizen, and that absolutely was key for us,” she added. Martin-Palmay said she couldnot have been more pleased with the outcome of the event. “They were so into it. They were soenergized. It’s absolutely talked about here still. It far exceeded my expectations.”

Building Teams AND CommunitiesTeambuilding programs with an emphasis on corporate social responsibility are increasing in

popularity and importance, and the choices are virtually endless.The Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club in Lihue, HI offers an outrigger canoe racing event that

enables groups to give back to the community while enjoying an authentic Hawaiian cultural experience.As participants learn about the Hawaiian traditions of this ancient ocean sport, they also learn that theharder they work at coordinating their efforts as ateam, the farther and faster they can go, not only inthe ocean, but in the workplace.

The races are led by members of a local canoeclub on Kauai. Since the resort is located right on thebeach, no transfers are necessary. The event costs


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Odyssey Teams’ Helping Hands teambuildingprogram gives corporate groups theopportunity to assemble artificial hands forlater donation to children in developingcountries.Photo courtesy of Odyssey Teams

Simulated steer roping instigates some hootin’and hollerin’ at metroConnections’ Westernround-up and chili cook-off teambuilding

competition.

between $120 and $150 per person, and allproceeds benefit the local community.

“The money that the groups pay will go directly tothe kids’ program of the supporting canoe club,”stated Jay Heidenreich, director of sales andmarketing for the Kauai Marriott Resort & BeachClub. “It is a really great way for a group to have aninteractive teambuilding event that incorporates culture and then the money paid goes right back intothe community.”

The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, CA offers a variety of socially responsibleteambuilding activities called “VolunTeaming.” Groups can elect to participate in a build-a-bikecompetition or clean up a local beach for the nonprofit environmental organization the SurfriderFoundation. They can also have a competition to create sculptures out of cans of food. After the eventis judged, all of the food is donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Odyssey Teams, a teambuilding andleadership skills development company based inChico, CA, has formed a partnership with RotaryInternational to create a philanthropic programcalled Helping Hands. Groups participating in thisprogram assemble artificial hands to be donatedto youth and adults who have been injured by landmines or political violence or who have irreversiblebirth defects. The recipients live in developingcountries where the average cost of a prosthetichand can be $3,000.

As a teambuilding activity, Helping Handsinspires employees to work together toward acommon goal while gaining an appreciation forthings they take for granted. According to thecompany, “As participants realize what they’rebuilding, a profound sense of responsibilityemerges. An amputee, after all, is going to usethis hand.” Odyssey’s goal for the program is toprovide 10,000 hands to those in need.

Learning The RopesOutdoor adventures are another popular

choice for teambuilding activities. Bruce LaSurs,director of facilities for Hardee’s Food Systems Inc. in St. Louis, MO, chose to take his nine-personteam to Meramec Wilderness Learning Ranch to experience a ropes course. The facility, located inSteelville, MO, occupies 1,200 acres along the Meramec River and is operated by Boys & Girls Townof Missouri.

“I searched for a unique activity where not one of us was an expert, and everyone was vulnerable —especially me,” LaSurs said. “Our group needed expert trainers to challenge us and bring us together,earning that bond in trust.”

LaSurs was familiar with the work of the Boys & Girls Town through charitable activities. “I wasimpressed with the quiet confidence and flexibilitydemonstrated by their leaders, and moreimpressed with the results I witnessed in thechildren they steward, shape and guide —children who learn to transform themselvesbeyond the most difficult circumstances.

“These folks know how to break down barriersand deal with intense obstacles at core levels foracceptance and growth,” he continued. “They canget through to the toughest corporate groups andprovide them tools to sustain teams and continuegrowing together.

“The high ropes course is, at once, bothexhilarating and sobering. It is the equalizer. It iscomposed of large wooden poles, climbingspikes, and platforms and cables, laced with morefamiliar elements in boxes and benches, pipes andlogs, ropes and swings. It embodies the veryhuman fear of falling, and entwines that with theexcitement of height and the power of a


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Photo courtesy of metroConnections

Universal In Production challengesteams to produce a one- totwo-minute video, the content ofwhich can support any number ofgoals the organization may want toachieve.Photo courtesy of Universal Orlando Resort

commanding vista.”LaSurs explained that the course can be

navigated by nearly anyone who has average balance and strength and who is capable of climbing aladder. Participants who completed the course were rewarded with an opportunity to go ziplining, whichLaSurs described as “as close to flying as you can get.”

LaSurs summed up his group’s ropes course experience. “Success is often showed in ways otherthan completion of physical challenges: Successes came in the struggles and drive people showed tochallenge themselves beyond their perceived limits. Some addressed their biggest fears, multiple times,to reach farther at each attempt. Others benefited from the group’s encouragement and support totake risks and successfully participate in ways they did not expect. There is a renewed sense ofdedication and purpose in our group. Wonderful results are stemming from a shared experience at theMeramec Wilderness Learning Ranch. The impact from this event is profound.”

The Drum Café experience puts corporate conferenceattendees on the same page as they learn the universallanguage of drumming.Photos courtesy of Drum Café Atlanta/Orlando

The Beat Goes OnIt’s not always easy for an organization to drum up support for its latest product or strategy, but one

company has discovered a unique way to do just that. Drum Café, which has offices around the world,utilizes the universal language of drumming to help groups break down their barriers and align to acommon goal.

David Graves, senior vice president of metroConnections, a Minneapolis-based event productioncompany, has used Drum Café at least three times in the past and has another engagement coming up.

“One thing I like about them is that they’re able to adjust the program to what we’re looking for tomeet the needs of the client,” he explained. “We bring them in when the client’s message is built aroundgetting everybody on the same page, when we’ve got people from all over the country and now weneed to get everybody thinking about the new product, the new direction or the new message.”

The Drum Café team begins the program by placing anAfrican drum under the chair of each attendee before theyenter the room. Then, as Graves explained, “We have thedrumming start on stage, the doors open, and everybodyfloods in the room. It’s upbeat, it’s fun and it’s powerfuldrumming. Then they get in there and they find that there’s adrum at their spot.”

Graves described the dramatic way in which NatalieSpiro, director of Drum Café’s San Diego office facilitatedone of his events. “She comes out on stage and for the first10 minutes of the program she never says a word. Thedrummers are drumming and she’s pointing at the audience.She’s making facial gestures and demonstrating, but shenever speaks. Within 10 minutes she’s got the whole roomdrumming together — one half doing one thing, and theother half doing another — and she’s got rhythms beingcreated. It’s a really neat experience. Then they go into themessaging: ‘Look how easy it was to get all of you on thesame page. That’s what we need to do.’?”

Graves continued, “It’s interesting and fun, and a greatway to open a conference. It’s kind of funny to watch the group in the first few minutes. They don’tknow what the heck is going on. Then once they start the program, they start to get it.”

Graves has done the Drum Café program for groups of up to 300, but he said they canaccommodate much larger groups, as well. “You get caught up in their energy. If you want to go theextra step, they’ll take the group and really get them moving.” Graves noted that he has seen groupsform conga lines because they were having so much fun.


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The Games People PlayWhen they’re designed with specific goals in mind, games also can be an effective teambuilding

activity. Ronald Roberts, president of Action Centered Training (ACT) in Eagleville, PA, and a professorof leadership and motivation at The Pennsylvania State University, has invented more than 70 gamesfor corporate training. Planners can arrange for ACT to facilitate the games or they can purchase thegames and implement them on their own.

One game is called “What Goes Around, Comes Around.” “It’s about blaming people,” Robertsexplained. “You have 25 people stand in a circle. You put eight hula hoops on the ground about six feetapart in a giant circle. Each of them puts their left foot in a hula hoop and the goal is to pass a beachball around from one hoop to the next as many times as possible. But if any one person drops it, theentire team’s score goes to zero. Literally, ifanyone drops the ball, everyone suffers. That’sthe analogy.

“It’s what I call an incremental processimprovement game,” he said. “One of the trendsin teambuilding is to back off task-driven behaviorand focus on process-driven behavior tounderstand the underlying processes behindeverything. It’s a big trend. In the beach ball hulahoop game, if somebody drops the ball, does theblame go to him or the person that passed theball to him?” Or, as Roberts explained, is theproblem really the system because everyone waspassing the ball too quickly?

“On all of my games I try to get people to fail or perform less than stellar in the first run becausethen their ego is hooked,” he detailed. “Then performance increases, times cut down dramatically asthey buy in and commit and are actually connected to the process.”

Roberts shared an example of a paintball program he facilitates where 25 members of a corporateteam compete against seven of his highly trained marksman scouts. “The scouts kick their butts for thefirst three or four games until they say ‘What the heck is going on? Why do we keep losing 25 againstseven?’ The seven people understand that you have to work smart, not hard. They outflank them, theyoutmaneuver them, they sucker them in and draw them in.” Roberts explained that once the corporategroup starts to understand this, they begin to strategize and function in true team unity. “When they win,it’s a very sweet victory. You can hear the cheers a mile away.”

Keeping The Focus On ResultsAs Roberts noted, “Great teambuilding is a simulation that teaches people about soft skills. It’s a

simulation for the real workplace where they can practice the skills necessary. Soft skills drive hardskills, whether you’re an engineer, a doctor, an accountant, a manager or a salesperson. Your ability tocommunicate, work as a team, demonstrate leadership and plan strategically all affect yourperformance at those hard skills.”

Philippe has learned through experience that the amount of time a company spends on ateambuilding event is critical. “There’s only so much that people will be able to retain and stay focusedon. We do so many teambuilding events that we know there’s a magic time of 2½ to three hours to seethe end result and have a vision of the goal.

“Once you go past three hours, people start wondering, ‘What am I doing here?’ The idea of ateambuilding event is that it’s always great to have a big rah-rah at the start, but you have to have thesame feeling of accomplishment at the end.” C&IT


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