See how your team ranks:

              Good                                                                           Bad

Team members talk and communicate         The work place is built around silos, cliques,
                                                                     and isolation barriers.

Leadership walks its talk.                              Leadership says one  thing --- and acts another.

Team members are encouraged to                 Back-stabbing, private agendas, and low
to contribute and be rewarded.                      morale rule.

Team members trust each other and             People have their own agenda.
ask for help.                                                  (What’s in it for me?)

Team roles are clearly defined.                      The individual is more important than the team.                                

Catch people doing things right.                    Catch people doing things wrong.

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                                                  Larry Lipman

                                        www.FunTeamBuilding.com

1. Ask these 2 important questions:
       I.What are your team’s biggest issues at work?
      II.What specific outcomes would you love to see happen at the end of the day?

2.  Have more activities than you will need.  A good facilitator always plans ahead by bringing and  planning more activities than necessary as back-up, in case the day goes really quickly.

3.  Go propless.  When traveling, one never knows when luggage might get lost.  A wise facilitator always relies on several propless activities just in case.

4.  Be invisible.  A good team building facilitator asks good questions and steps back --- allowing the participants to engage, interact, and communicate.   It’s their day; let them learn by doing and speaking up.

5.  Lead by example.  A good facilitator is aware of his or her actions when things do not go according to plan or in between the activities.

6.  Put EGO’s in the back pocket.  A good facilitator allows the group to lead and proceed at their rate and on their agenda.  Letting go of one’s agenda to meet the needs of the group is a terrific facilitator strength.

7.  Pause.  Allowing participants to pause often gives them time to process, think, and anchor their learnings.  Few facilitators do this.  Pause, pause, pause.

8.  De-brief.  Allowing the participants to process their actions, behavior, and responses after each activity is precisely when the learning takes place.

9.  Be punctual.  Start on time, allow breaks, end on time.  Period.

10. Nurture spontaneity.  The best moments and the most teachable moments are usually the unplanned moments.  Enjoy, appreciate, and honor them.

11. Laugh often.  Participants learn best when having FUN!

If you believe someone would enjoy and benefit from this post, please share it. Just click on the + Share button and you will see lots of options for sharing it with friends including email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Thanks!

                                              Larry Lipman

                                    www.FunTeamBuilding.com

     We are brought up learning that nobody is perfect.  Fine.  I can handle that.
As a Success Coach who specializes in Team Building and Leadership Training, I am not perfect.  I am far from it. “Perfect” is a nasty word.  It encourages us to beat up on ourselves when we are not.

     That important thought helps me handle mistakes that I make when I present and facilitate groups.  I tell myself that I am not perfect.  That I will learn from this. 

Then I recommit.

And boom ---- I bounce back and proceed to be the best Success Coach on the planet.
At least that is what I tell my mind.

     A turning point in my life happened when I learned the flipside of "perfect." 

"All groups are perfect."

     Yes, you read that correctly.  I have incorporated that new belief into my belief system because it works for me.  Now, wait a minute.  I just said that nobody is perfect.  Yes, and I still believe that.  I also believe that all groups are perfect.

     I success coach groups of all sizes, ages, and occupations.  They are all different.  And I mean different.  I love the challenge of working with a variety of participants who have different personalities, needs and outcomes.  That stretches me and that is how I learn and grow. 

     More importantly, when I remember that all groups are perfect, it’s OK for anything and everything to happen.  I follow the lead of my group.  If I anticipate one direction, and they go another; I go their way.  If a conflict or upset occurs, we handle it and discuss it.  If it takes 90 minutes to do a 20-minute activity, we do it.  If we spend 12 minutes on an hour activity, we do it.  When I make a mistake, I acknowledge it, they see I am human, and we connect even better.  If the group makes a mistake….

That’s the point. 

The group never makes a mistake.  It was meant to happen because a team building day mirrors real life situations.  The learning takes place when we choose how to handle our reactions to these mistakes or unplanned events.

     I used to get scared handling situations that pop up unplanned in a team building seminar. 
Truth: I almost welcome those moments now.
 
     I used to think that there were bad apples in every group:  you know, the ones who refuse to participate, the ones who blame others, the ones who are never happy, the ones who thrive on conflict and upsetting others.

     These folks are part of that perfect group.  In fact, they are the teachers.  How would the team learn if nobody pushed our buttons?  It is those folks who push our buttons from whom we learn the most. 

Individuals are not perfect.  Groups are.

If you believe someone would enjoy and benefit from this post, please share it. Just click on the + Share button and you will see lots of options for sharing it with friends including email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Thanks!

                                           Larry Lipman
                                  www.FunTeamBuilding.com