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Team Building Activity

By Shana Petit posted 03-01-2019 12:36

  

Team Building Activity

    As a manager I am constantly looking for team building activities that our staff will have an impact.  Over the last couple of years we had done some enjoyable staff events but none that really helped them work together as a team in a competitive environment, and my staff thrives on competition.  This idea evolved from the idea of doing a scavenger hunt.  We just wanted something a little more challenging and we have several staff members who follow the show The Amazing Race.  Warning:  Planning this does takes a lot of time and I did a majority of the work at home since it was a surprise.

               We told the staff that there was going to be a mandatory staff event in a couple of months and did not tell them anymore details.  They had plenty of time to make arrangements and we ended up closing the clinic a couple of hours early (Wednesday).  When pressed for details about what to wear… we were vague and just said whatever would make them comfortable so either their work uniforms or street clothes.  I think half the fun was hearing them guess what we were doing. 

     I choose the teams ahead of time and made my selection based on staff members that needed to work on their communication/relationships with one another.  On that day we assembled them in the conference room. I started playing the theme music from The Amazing Race; some of our staff got this right away.  I went over some basic ground rules and gave them their first clue which was to perform a crossword puzzle about our staff.  One of the owners created the crossword puzzle so don’t ask me how to do this J  This was a helpful step because it staggered the teams time starting the course, instead of them all running out of the building at once.  Once they completed the crossword puzzle they got to select their team hat (we just got some goofy stuff at a craft store; pirate hats, pink tiaras) and they then got their second clue.  Inside the second clue envelope was cash to use for purchases they would be making along the race.  Originally when I was creating this I tried to give our credit card to stores or pay for items ahead of time but it ended up being easier to give cash.  

            Each team drove to our downtown area and the remainder of the race would be done on foot.  We had a couple of staff members who could not run around due to medical conditions.  I borrowed two wheel chairs from a retirement home so the staff members who had injuries could be pushed around.  For the teams that did not need a wheel chair their teams had to push around a baby carriage filled with a bag of dog food.  I also mixed up the route that the teams would be taking so there were not multiple teams at the same location at once.  In each store, once the teams finished the task, a store employee would give the team their next clue.  Each team was named a color (red, blue, black…) and each envelope with the next clue also had the team color on it.  At the half way point each team encountered a “Road Block”. Myself and the two owners were the ones who administered this portion.  The teams could either paint strangers nails or they could shell peanuts to equal two cups (each team member only using one hand).  After this we gave them their next clue and then they would continue on.  The race finish was at the restaurant we were meeting at for dinner.

            Notes on getting businesses to agree…this portion took a while and kept changing.  I would have a clear idea of what you want to do at the location when you call and ask if a business would participate.  Most of the tasks required little or no help from the actual people who worked in the store and we tried to emphasize that we were a small business too and did not want to cause too much of a disruption.  We had some stores who changed their mind a couple of days before hand and then we had to add some others at the last minute when we realized we needed some more stops.  What seemed to work the best was have them find a piece of information or find something they needed to buy and then move on.  An example of how our original thought process changed was when I originally called the ice cream shop, I asked if we could have each team assemble their own banana split as the challenge.  This turned into each team purchasing a banana split that the ice cream shop made and them just having to eat it to get the next clue.  If there is a business with a photo booth I would highly recommend getting them to do that for a task, we got some great pictures.  For that challenge they had to find an item in the store and then take a picture of that item with their whole team, once they showed the photo strip to the cashier they would get their next clue.

            Notes on the race…We gave each member of the winning team an extra personal day (we told them this at the beginning of the race).  It is an expensive prize but it was also a highly motivating force when you are asking them to run around downtown with pink tiaras on their head pushing a stroller full of dog food.  At dinner we presented all the losing teams with gift cards for the downtown area, the rest of our staff was really happy with this as well. 

            One of the owners and me did a dry run a couple of days before to see any problems we might face.  This is a great idea since we found some problems in our original plan (originally we were going to have them get colored jelly beans for the Brazilian flag but the candy store did not carry blue jelly beans…).  Also our staff ran the race a lot quicker than we thought.  The winning team actually beat us to the restaurant.  In hind sight I might have added maybe one or two more challenges since they did it so quickly.  Again I would stress presenting an idea to the store owners when you call, and not making it too elaborate.  I would stay away from words like “scavenger hunt” and use “team building exercise”. 

    This may seem stupid but you need good envelops for the clues.  In the show, part of the drama is ripping the envelop open to get your clue.  I used cardboard envelopes designed for mailing photos that had a good drawstring rip on the back (you can get these at Staples).  I designed our Amazing Race logo and downloaded images of the other clue backings from the Internet.  I had our copy store make the logo into stickers for the envelopes and then print out the clue backing on cardstock paper, and then I just printed out the clues on regular paper and stuck them on.

            I have never had such great feedback on a staff event.  Our staff had so much fun and it truly was an exceptional bonding experience.  I would hear them telling our clients and then also recounting moments with other staff members.  This took a lot of time but was totally worth it.  I can’t say that they now all get along everyday but there were some working relationships that really improved.  I am sure I am forgetting many things so please email me if you have specific questions.  I attached the clues (some of these have inside jokes in them so you may not understand).  I also posted my route guide and what the teams were doing at each location.  I could not post a lot of pictures in the blog so there is a link to our Facebook page with the rest of the photo album.  If you do this with your staff I would love to hear the results.

Shana


Team Challenges, Org.docx

Clues.docx

Herrells.docx





Link to All Pictures on our Facebook Page:

https://www.Facebook.com/pages/Northampton-Veterinary-Clinic/370450178992?sk=photos_albums
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04-30-2013 15:49

Hello! Check out what i found!!!
http://paperperfectiononline.blogspot.com/2011/02/free-amazing-race-birthday-party.html

11-15-2012 13:50

Outstanding! You are amazing yourself, so much work and it looks like so much fun...I want to do it!
I'm so glad to hear that your owners were so helpful to you as well, I think that make all the difference!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

11-14-2012 16:40

Thanks Jessica!

11-07-2012 12:39

Wow, this is incredible! Time and effort you put into it is a true sign of your commitment to your team and your practice - major kudos to you and thanks for being willing to share such a great idea with others!