Team Building Events: Ropes Course Challenge

File:outdoor adventure challenge course.jpg. (2010, June 28). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Outdoor_Adventure_Challenge_Course.jpg

Team Size: 10-100

Space Requirements: Outdoor

Duration: 3hrs-6

Physical Challenge: Medium-High
Event Brochure:http://www.corporateteams.com/wp-content/uploads/AC-Ropes-Course-Challenge1.pdf

Teams will start off with low-rope exercises that involve effective communication skills between team members, and will build up to higher ropes throughout the course of a three to six hour period. The purpose is to challenge each component of a team and leadership skills.

When teams are being introduced to the program they will be given a summary of what to expect throughout the day. Teams are expected to come up with goals to establish how they will work together to accomplish their agenda, and they are intended to come up with organizing a team and design their strategy. Teams are expected to create and explore unconventional approaches, come up with a plan and implement that plan to gain results. The objective is to correlate this outdoor activity and implement it in the workforce. The low rope challenges consist of ropes, Cables and wooden beams strung between trees and poles; the low ropes consist of problem-solving, collaboration, and coaching. The ropes are lower to the ground which gives the illusion that the risks are minor, but are still thought-provoking. Participants eventually expand their comfort zone and move towards higher ropes which will help them understand roadblocks they may be having in the personal or professional lives. The higher ropes are 20-50 feet in the air; each member must wear a harness and helmet. The structure contains cables, ropes, and wooden beams strung between poles or trees. Teams participate in taking risks, trust, and coaching. One activity is called the leap of faith, which consists of climbing up a 30 foot pole and jumping into a trapeze, A cat walk: where each individual balances on a beam suspended 30 feet in the air and must walk across the beam without losing their balance, An organizational ladder which consists of climbing up to your team member until the two members make it to the top. A 12 foot wall, the team must accomplish getting all team members across the 12 foot wall. The “heebie jeebie” each member must walk across a suspended beam 30 feet in the air walking across a cable using a hand rope for support, and a zip line where you zip across a cable line leaping from a platform that is 30 feet in the air.

In conclusion, The Ropes course Challenge is for companies to help their employees achievement through cooperation, trust, problem-solving, planning, and communication skills on moderate to high physical activities that stimulate individuals minds and learn how to apply these skills through team building exercises to everyday work environments to help productivity within a company.

In my opinion I think that the ropes challenge is an unconventional yet fresh approach to teaching employees the meaning of being a part of a team. Rather than having a meeting where a presenter comes to the office for a week or two to tell you what being in a team means and what it should look like.  I think having a physical activity with each individual discovering for themselves what it is like and what it really means and feels like to be a part of a team and to be able to trust, to count on, to communicate effectively with others are life skills that can be used anywhere other than the office. An individual could use these skills to help organize their social lives and learn how to communicate with different people, which have different interests or belief, but can still find some type of common ground between the two possibly opposite people.I believe that people learn in many different ways, and by stimulating the mind and the body this will be more likely than not successful in the long term, rather than sitting through various seminars that after they hear about teamwork the thoughts never leave the room.

"You must never be satisfied with losing. You must get angry, terribly angry, about losing. But the mark of the good loser is that he takes his anger out on himself and not his victorious opponents or on his teammates."
-Richard M. Nixon

Corporate Teams. (2012). Adventure challenge: Ropes course challenge. Retrieved from http://www.corporateteams.com/events/ropes-course-challenge/

6 Ways Successful Teams Are Built To Last

Dinsmore, S. D. (2012, Feb 13). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://liveyourlegend.net/how-to-create-your-ultimate-mastermind-group-workbook/

When you are in a position of authority, it’s important to know your leadership style and technique, it is important to evaluate yourself how you can improve to help those that you are leading.

Questions you should think about:

·         Is your leadership style as effective as you think it to be?

·         Are they accepted by the majority of my team I am in charge of?

To ensure maximum performance from your team it is important to get to know your team members; it is important to embrace or accept others differences to be able to define the strengths and abilities of your team and assesses each person can contribute. A great leader always knows what button to push to get the maximum talent of an employee or team member. It is important to clearly define roles and responsibilities, each members responsibility should correlate together this is why you must have a sharp knowledge of your team members abilities so they fit in the workplace culture. Be hands-on with feedback. Feedback is the best way to motivate teams to stay on track it should be up-beat and constant, Feedback can be both formal and informal; usually if it is too formal it can be stiff and less impactful. Acknowledge and reward your team members, people enjoy being praised for accomplishments, be thoughtful and reassure your team that you are also paying attention to their efforts. Be genuine with your recognition and respectful, respect goes a long way towards building a successful team. Celebrate success; in this fast paced world many people are not taking the time to comprehend their success. This goes past acknowledgement; it is about taking a step back to reflect all that has been achieved.

In conclusion, 6 ways successful teams are built to last consist of knowing your leadrship style, get to know your team members to get maximum results, define roles and responsibilities clearly, give positive feedback, awknowledge your team members for a job well done, and celebrate success by steping back and looking at your group effort as a whole.

In my opinion, I think that this article has many different aspects to help encourage successful teams to last. I don’t think that it gives many problem-solving for teams that are not as successful as the one described in the article. I think that it is easy to get caught up in your own workload and your own deadlines that sometimes it is easy to forget the “group mentality” and feeling as though it is necessary to only look out for yourself. I think that all the points rose are valid and important to maintaining a successful team, but I think that they should have added some solutions to help leaders that are having trouble creating successful teams.

[Web log message]. (2011, Aug 19). Retrieved from http://www.pixel77.com/secret-ingredients-successful-design-team/ 

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."
-Vince Lombardi

Llopis, G. L. (2012, Oct 01). 6 ways successful teams are built to last. 6 Ways Successful Teams Are Built To Last, Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/10/01/6-ways-successful-teams-are-built-to-last/

Team Failures - Why teams fail and how to overcome it

Boompa.com. (2006, May 19). Boompa.com launch postmortem, part 1: Research, picking a team, office space and money. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/the-25-best-startup-fail-stories-of-all-time-2010-10?op=1

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

-Winston Churchill

Although corporations or companies may have the best intentions as well as team members, teams still fail. Failure within teams can be caused by a variety of reasons: Environmental Influences, Goals, Roles, Processes, and Relationships.

Team members may live in different locations which make it difficult to meet regularly. Teams may not have been given enough resources to complete a task; team efforts must be praised because a lack of recognition by a business can leave members feeling unmotivated. When members in a group do not set a common goal, this takes away from the ownership of the team, this reduces the commitment of the team members. Groups that lack communication if goals are not communicated efficiently every individual will do their part separately not paying attention to other within the group, which can lead to replicates in work. When responsibilities of team members are poorly communicated, this leads to a lack of commitment there is no leader established many members end up in a power struggle in the group and end up working independently, and leads to failure within a team. When a group as a lack of processes and decision-making this almost always leads to a critical situation; communication ends up being channelled through different parties and this leads to wasted time and energy. Meeting can be unproductive if they are scheduled poorly and unresolved issues are not dealt with, meetings cover minimal issues and lack clear goals needed to be achieved. When members are not willing to be a part of group participation, there is conflict that is not being addressed such as personality conflicts and therefore, relationships become competitive.

The issues that lead to unsuccessful teams include group members unwilling to be a part of the team, when communication is lacking due to environmental differences or poor organizational skills, and when members are unaware or lacking ambitious to meet a team’s goals due to non-recognition when finishing a task effectively and efficiently.

In my opinion I believe that this article is helpful because it allows the reader to understand the major aspects in which other people have had trouble and to learn from it. Also I think this article could be of use to company owners because if they may feel that their employees are not working effectively, missing deadlines, or there are areas of confusion with employees, the owner could read through this article to get an idea of how they should proceed with the issue, may it be with team building activity events or retreats, even seminars or success for teamwork are an option. I think it is important to give employees recognition, because this allows them to know that they are appreciated and needed to keep the group dynamic in good working order. Communication is a big part of a company, if the people within a company do not communicate effectively the message may be reheard or misinterpreted which can lead to confusion in the work place and excessive amount of stress on the individual and the company.

Rockwell, D. R. (2013, Feb 23). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/

Team failures - why teams fail and how to overcome it. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.managementstudyguide.com/team-failures.htm

Team Building

 Go local academy [Web]. (2011). Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns9BH41Vg_s

 "I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion."

-Mia Hamm

"Students from each of the participating GO Local schools were invited to attend a special weekend retreat being held at the Me to We Leadership Center in Bethany Hills, Ontario from May 6-8th. Each school selected 2 students to represent their GO Local club at the GO Local Academy weekend. Not only did the weekend serve to unite all GO Local clubs across Toronto, it also was an opportunity for participants to network, share best practices, celebrate successes, and receive advanced leadership training. Students also received valuable resources, skills, and ideas to bring back to their schools to implement in the current year. Whether schools were still in the process of planning their local action, or have already completed it, the weekend served GO Local clubs in all different stages of the program."-Free the Children.

I was selected out of my school with one other student who shows great leadership within their community to go on a retreat, all expenses paid to Go Local Academy which is located in Bethany Hills, Ontario. This event was organized by Free the Children and Me to We, which are located in Toronto. The theme of the academy was to help students with leadership qualities to develop skills that they could implement within their society and cause change. While at the retreat we were all introduced to team leaders and group members and took part in team building activities. For example, we were asked as a group of 6 to 7 members to carry a hula-hoop across a field with only touching the hula-hoop with two fingers and they were not allow to slip or any other part of your hand was not to be touching the hula-hoop. Within various efforts we had only got a few steps without touching the hula-hoop, this began to become frustrating. Group members seemed to get more aggressive and frustrated with the situation. At the end of the exercise, we were told by our group leaders that this task was fixed because it was impossible. We were doing this exercise to see how we as a group would take out our frustrations on other people. The point of these activities was to show that when you are working in a group and you keep getting the same result but expecting different outcomes can be frustrating. If the task was possible it was suggested that many tasks may seem impossible at first, but once you work through the issues and find an alternative outcome this is how you and your group members will succeed.   

In my opinion, participating in Go Local Academy was a positive experience. After going to this retreat I had realized how important it was to not only help group members, but to also help people throughout society that may not be in the best circumstances. When I got home from the academy I remember feeling motivated to help change my community. and therefore decided to help out at a homeless shelter and build homes for people that didn't have a place to stay. I remember telling students at my school about the exercises and experiences we had faced in Bethany Hills. Many students ended up making action plans of ways in which they wanted to help change their community for the better. I believe that team building exercises are a wonderful way to help motivate people in an unconventional way. I would also recommend other people to take part in team building activities.

Characteristics of Successful Teams

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."

-Henry Ford

This is a summary of Characteristics of Successful Teams from Business Communication’s process and product.

The first characteristic to successful teams is diversity within a group with particularly two to twenty-five members; groups that are smaller and more diverse are more likely to consist of added creativity. It is important for teams to have a purpose within the group, and all group members are working towards a common goal and purpose. A valuable attribute is to be able as a group to agree on procedures and values to help the group as a whole achieve their goals and every member is given a role and task to complete. Another characteristic to successful teams involves the capability to confront and control conflicts; when a group confronts a difference in opinion it is important to resolve the issue by allowing one person to speak at a time to avoid confusion and wasted time.Also it is important to have good communication skills; when one person is speaking freely and openly other members of the group should be actively listening and interacting with the speaker by asking questions to simplify the speakers ideas. To ensure a successful teams it is important to have ability to think in a “team mentality”; teammates should all be interested in achieving the same goals and celebrate group and individual achievements. Lastly, groups should set up ethical values for each other and should not discuss this information with people outside of the group.

In Conclusion there are seven basic steps to creating successful teams which involve diversity within groups, having a purpose, agreements with procedures, the ability to control and confront conflicts directly, effective communication and active listening, being goal oriented towards the team and group accomplishment as well as individual ones, and setting a ethical standard within your group with full confidentiality.

In my opinion the article “characteristics of successful teams” is very helpful.

I believe that this article will help groups that do not know where they should begin when in a group environment as a guide. I think that having a purpose within a group is important to help members focus on tasks and responsibilities towards a common goal. It is important to have standards for other people in your group to help you feel comfortable. Confronting problems is important because it helps clear the air and gets rid of any excess frustration. Communication is important not only in groups but when interacting with other in the real world; it is important to be clear when you are communicating with other so that the message is not lost. I think teammates should think with a "team mentality" because it helps them feel connected and associated with the accomplishments of the group as a whole. Finally, I think it is a good idea to have codes of conduct in groups such as you would with a client if you were working at a law firm, you would not just divulge personal information about your client to all your co-workers or friends because it is unethical.

Rockwell, D. R. (2013, Feb 20). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/

Guffey, M. E., Rhodes, K., & Rogin, P. (2011). Characteristics of successful teams. (6th ed., pp. 48-49). United States: South-Western: a Part of Cengage Learning.