Some thoughts on (re)defining team-building
Many corporate teams selected us for their external meetings or team-building events, with or without Horse Touch. In our guests’ words, what they were attracted to was how remote Potcoava is, the quality of food, and the outdoor time that helped them clear their minds and calm their emotions.
From the Horse Touch modules, we would like to share just one piece of feedback, which summarizes our philosophy about team building:
The time spent at Potcoava was genuinely precious, with very well-structured activities and a narrative thread. It highlighted and emphasized business needs that we were aware of but did not necessarily verbalize within the team. Lately, the concept of “team-building” has shifted focus towards fun rather towards connecting with colleagues. Still, the team-building program facilitated by you unites teams, strengthens them, and helps them set principles to reach top performance ! (signed by a Team leader, multinational company, FMCG)
Yes, we believe team-building as a concept needs redefining and redesigning. It needs to start from the business needs and offer new, improved energy and ways of working. It does not teach skills (like training), it nurtures energy and a connection between team members that supports the business operation further on. Fun is not excluded from the process, but it is not fun for the sake of fun; it is the type of fun that facilitate positive connection and positive expression of thoughts and emotions in a business environment.
So, don’t hesitate to contact us if you want input on how to structure your team-building events. Madalina Vintu Popa can be a precious discussion partner.
We walk the talk, so we also tested something new for ourselves: a couple of off-grid strategic meetings for our business. When we say off-grid, we say a remote cabin in the mountains 20 minutes away from Potcoava, without phone or internet service, where we held uninterrupted meetings on the projects we have under development. Spoiler alert: we plan to have our own farm, which is quite a challenge plus we are aiming at the implementation of a complete procedural system, a subject we will cover in another article. Back to the mountain lodge: we were six-seven people maximum, two-three days of meetings, no distractions, real socializing, and incredible productivity. Overall the great feeling of a time well spent.
For all the leadership teams out there complaining about the lack of quality of their meetings due to various distractions, we believe off-grid strategic meetings could hugely increase your productivity. If you are up for such an experience, let us know how it goes!
We are passionate about corporate events and we give lots of thought to how team building could produce the best output. Let us know what are the most important criteria for you when choosing a venue or an activity for your team development events. We are working now on a checklist for the perfect team-building events. And maybe – why not – a full ebook with lots of tips and tricks to organize and deliver the best teambuilding in the history of your company.
5 questions to ask yourself when planning a teambuilding and in what order:
Let’s start with the most frequent questions we are receiving from our clients
- “Where should we go for our next team building activity?” – Probably the most frequent question. Our clients start with “We have a couple of locations in mind for our next event”. While the location is important because it may facilitate or hinder the teambuilding event, it is not the point to start planning.
- “What should we do for our next team building activity?” – “What” is still not the right question to address at the beginning of the planning process. The actual content of the teambuilding is a pretext for a learning experience. It has its importance, but it’s just a tool.
- “What is the goal of this team building?” – This is, probably, the best suited question to ask at the beginning of the planning of a teambuilding. From this question you can start designing an A-to-Z event, from the moment the participants step out of their houses and until they step back in.
So… What are the suitable questions to ask when planning a team building, and in what order?
- What do we want to achieve?
- When is the best suited time to have everyone disconnect from the business? For how long?
- Who are the most suited facilitators to accompany us on this experience?
- How can we achieve these objectives in the above context?
- Where can this teambuilding be best experienced?
Happy days, folks!
