I was asked to develop a team building activity & facilitate a discussion on useful + not-useful change at an annual meeting. This meeting was to cover successes & challenges.
Objectives – Team Building & Change
- Increase trust within the company. The company spans 3 states. Many people have never met face to face.
- Building upon the present success & resiliency of the team.
- Show in a hands-on pragmatic way that the team drives & makes change happen.
- Identify what was useful from the team building & how it can be applied to their work.
‘Build a Tower Build a Team’ fit in the time frame & created a shared reference for the change discussion.
Team Building Lesson Learned: Prototyping Matters
As the work progresses iterative thinking and a way to create feedback that can be seen and acknowledged quickly ideally in the absence of management will allow for change and goals to be accomplished. Through small steps and quick Plan:Do:Check:Act PDCA cycles people on teams can adjust and adapt to challenges when they arise.
Team Building Lesson Learned: Diverse Skills Matter
Each person in the challenge will have to be able to quickly share what they can do and have the team accept and utilize that strength. This challenge illustrates that the most successful teams are usually the ones that have someone who manages the process and has strong facilitation skills. Determining how to maximize and use the diverse skills will enable engagement of people and greater outcomes.
Team Building Lesson Learned: Immediate Feedback Matters
It is not enough to know what to do and know how to do it. A system has to be in place for immediate feedback. When a work system and task have immediate feedback people can adjust what they are doing to achieve results faster. Quick short-term feedback is better than delayed long-term feedback.
