As much as the average American loves sitting in their office or meeting with coworkers in the conference room, sometimes it can be fun to mix things up a little bit. It may be hard to believe, but some employees even prefer the feeling of sunshine on their faces and fresh air in their lungs, as opposed to the scent of stale coffee and the glow of fluorescent lighting. Read more
If you tell your employees you’ll be doing some team-building activities together, what would their reactions be? If you’re getting more eye rolls than enthusiastic “Heck yeah!”s, that’s a sign you need some fresh employee bonding ideas. Read more
So you’ve had (what you hope was) a great team-building event. Everyone showed up, they solved puzzles, they did fun challenges, they laughed together, and the sun set over a happy scene of employees bonding over shared experiences. Read more
Part 1 of Our Interview with Chris Cavert, Ed.D.Dr. Chris Cavert is an internationally known educator, trainer and speaker and recipient of the AEE Karl Rohnke creativity award. He has been working with groups of all ages for more than 25 years. Chris is the author of over a dozen books related to activity-based experiential group development. He holds an undergraduate degree in physical education, a master’s degree in Experiential Education and an educational doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction. As an educator Chris focuses on how to use team building activities to develop social-emotional intelligence and pro-social skills within groups of all ages. For more information visit: FUNdoing.com
A lot of people call outings team building. So in their mind going out together is building teams. And I don’t disagree with that. I think part of it is true in the sense of, when you do things together, you have an opportunity to learn about each other a little bit more. You’re going to have conversations. Find out similarities and differences. You’re going to see how people have fun, see how people deal with maybe challenges or stress. Because any kind of outings where you have to make decisions together has some level of stress or possibly conflict. So there are all those parts of building a team in there. What’s missing, is the idea of we’re reflecting on an experience. These outings that people call team building is more what I call accidental team building; it just kind of happens because you’re together. Read more
Looking for a great way to get your group out of the meeting room and into the glorious sunlight? Imagine doing just that while also building strong working relationships in the process. These are the big draws for our ever popular Techno Rally team building scavenger hunt.
First, pick any location. Our clients have been spotted arm-wrestling senior citizens and admiring Manic Panic hair-do’s in various parts of Los Angeles and Orange County. Any interesting location where you are having a meeting or group event is an option. Then, let us create a hilariously wacky adventure that your co-workers will thank you for arranging.
Your group will be mixed into teams who will take on crazy challenges like re-enacting high school prom photo poses. So, we’ll give them a chance to cheese it up and chase each other down as they race against the clock to complete as many challenges as possible. Groups begin by picking team names that will strike fear in the hearts of their opponents. Then, each team will pick an “App Master” who will download our scavenger hunt mobile app. The app keeps the group in check as to what’s next on the timed agenda. Strategy is key because there’s no way to complete all tasks in the time allotted. Groups must wisely choose which tasks to tackle for the most points.
Finally, they’re off to snap photos with iconic local structures, interact with the locals, and other outlandish actions. Teams will be virtually race each other as they move up and down the app’s leader board throughout the event. And lastly, they must make it back to the final meeting point before the buzzer. We turn off the leader board results in the final moments, so the winner will be a surprise to all participants. The first round of drinks are on the winning team!
Clients can add personal touches to the event with trivia questions or other checkpoint challenges related to the company. We will help you design the event to drive home a deeper team building message to everyone on your team. Contact James Bennett at james@fireflyteamevents.com to get a-movin’ and make this adventure happen!
I love L.A., we love it! We could sing all day of our love for Los Angeles. You will too when you see the endless team event opportunities in the City of Angels. Team building is not only a fun mental break for your employees, but it also shows them that you value their well-being. According to a Gallup study, 75% of workers leave their bosses, not their companies. Be the boss your employees don’t want to leave while strengthening team bonds with these top Los Angeles team building activities. Read more
Congratulations on completing your team building experience! You should now have a super powered team that is completely perfect. No? Your team is only mostly perfect? Well, that’s because your team building should never be “completed.” The value of any team building comes from reflection and implementation. The actual activity, while probably awesome and Instagram-worthy, is neutral in achieving your goals. Follow these strategic steps to create value for your team in between epic outings.
During your event one of our team building ninjas likely led your group in a discussion about how your team performed during the challenge. Your company likely already has a debriefing procedure or strategy in place to discuss how projects turn out. Debriefing is where we examine the experience to find the value and actionable data. The key with team building debriefing is the actual activity is inconsequential. The specifics of what your team did to accomplish a team building challenge doesn’t matter nearly as much as how your group functioned.
Michelle Cummings, a leader in team development and coauthor of A Teachable Moment warns “If participants are not allowed to reflect on their experiences and relate them to the outside world, then a lot of the learning may be lost” (Cummings. “Effective Debriefing Tools and Techniques”) Gather the team together once you’re back at the office. Engage with the staff about how they felt and what they noticed after the activity. You can even ask each member to write down one take away from the event. Utilize these takeaways as talking points in the future. Check out Cumming’s guide “Effective Debriefing Tools and Techniques” for some great ideas on switching up your debriefing technique. It will keep things fresh and interesting. Read more
Here’s your excuse to buy that rotating triple barrel precision shot Nerf blaster you’ve been eyeing in the toy section. Play, such as firing foam darts, is a valuable office team building activity that can actually increase productivity by providing employee fun. And yes, I’m serious about this. I never joke about fun.
As children we are encouraged to play to strengthen our creativity, build problem solving skills and improve communication. Once we grow up however, we’re expected to stop playing and focus on “work”. Work tends to involve using creativity and communication to solve problems, so why does play suddenly become unimportant once our ages pass the range listed on toy packaging? Scientists like Stuart Brown have been studying the correlation between play and success at the National Institute for Play. Psychologists have begun encouraging adults to harness the power of play so that we can continue to reap the benefits of it.
The clock was counting down and nobody wanted to see it hit ZERO! That was the scene during our mobile escape room experience at the Pasea Hotel in Huntington Beach for our client’s team building sessions. The first few moments are chaos and then the wheels start turning. Your group begins to unravel the puzzles, tasks, and challenges that lead to the answer. Switches get flipped to reveal important information. Wires are cut to avoid catastrophic meltdowns. If your team makes the right moves, communicates well, and can embrace trust they’ll save the world.
For this client they had 2 groups of 15 people that they wanted to pit against the super villain we built our room around. We ran the room in 2 sessions with a debrief at the end. In the team building world we know that it’s not the activity that is important. It’s how your group shows up and performs during the activity. The debrief allows us to help the group reflect on the experience and draw meaning from the day. Escape rooms are a natural fit for team building and we LOVE watching the excitement build as the groups solve our puzzles. They’re an exciting new way for groups in Los Angeles and Orange county to revisit the skills that successful team need to succeed.
Add an escape room team building experience to your next conference, meeting or outing in Los Angeles, Orange County, or San Diego. Call us at 877.267.1939
