Archive for the ‘team building events’ Category

Roche Molecular has a long history of charitable work so they were very excited to take part in the Build-A-Bike Team Building event at their headquarters outside of San Francisco, California near Oakland. The medical research company participates in several charitable projects for the benefit of both local communities and underdeveloped countries worldwide. 100 Roche Molecular employees gathered at their main facility to have fun and grow as a company while giving back to their local community with the Build-A-Bike team building workshop.

The Roche employees were a cooperative group throughout the entire event. Clearly they already had a great team environment.  Despite their commitment to working together the human nature of competition is inevitable when people get together and try to “win”. The Roche Molecular employees worked well to overcome the challenges presented to them and succeeded in completing the tasks to build bicycles for less fortunate children. Their solid leadership skills, teamwork and commitment to giving back to their community helped the teams to complete 16 bikes that they presented to the San Leandro Boys and Girls Club. Even though Roche Molecular contributes to many worldwide charities there was something special about being able to see how their efforts were benefiting others.  And the 16 lucky boys and girls who got the bikes will never forget the day a group of medical researchers got together and solved puzzles and challenges in order to build brand new bikes for them.

Roche Molecular had a great day of fun, learning and giving back to their community. The team building event helped reinforce their already strong ties and leadership skills. Thanks to Roche Molecular for taking part in the Build-A-Bike Team Building event and for making an impact on not only 16 young people’s lives but also setting a great example for others to follow.

World Acceptance, one of the largest small-loan consumer finance companies in the United States and Mexico, had its Missouri Managers together in St. Louis for a Rescue Bear ®Team Building Event. The Rescue Bear is a fun team event in which the end result is that stuffed animals are contributed to local charities that will use the animals in their work with children. In this case the end result was that 43 stuffed animals were donated by World Acceptance to the Barnes-Jewish-Children’s Hospital System in St. Louis, Missouri. The event was fast-paced and fun as teams had to work through situations and complete activities to gain the materials to make the animals.

The Rescue Bear Team Building Event participants from World Acceptance learned that cooperation is an important ingredient to team success. Individual team members need to learn to cooperate with each other as well as being able to contribute according to their specific talents and abilities. Team leadership is best when it is able to evaluate the members and help each grow in their specific areas of expertise so that they con offer the very best of their individual possibilities. Team leadership is not about control, but rather it is about being able to help each individual member do their best and make the most of their talents and abilities for the greater effort of the entire team. Team building is team member growth.

Thanks to World Acceptance for a great event and for making a significant contribution to the St. Louis area hospitals through their Rescue Bear Team Building Event.

Craig Wagganer

10 employees of Sodexo came together for Team Building in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for a great Build-A-Bike Team Building Event which ended with 4 children from the New Jersey Boys and Girls Clubs receiving new bicycles. The event was filled with fun activities that had the participants learning and laughing. Throughout the 2 hours there were communication and team building ideas presented both overtly and subtly. The fun activities were filled with applications that will help each of the individuals and their leadership abilities. The ideas presented weren’t theories but skills that throughout the activities the participants had opportunity to put into practice.

During the Build-A-Bike Team Building Event there were many opportunities to learn great team building and leadership skills and put them into practice. It is stressed from the start of the program that it is not a competition. The idea is to support and work with one another. It is a hard concept, especially when you’re divided into groups. By dividing into groups competition is almost automatic, even if it is discouraged. The problems that needed to be solved to get the bike parts were most easily solved when working with other teams. The most effective and efficient way to solve many problems is to ask others for help, but it is a hard thing to do, especially if you view it as a competition. But divisions, different locations, any thing that segments one company into many parts, can create unhealthy competition that keeps them from sharing vital information with other groups. Ultimately, the 10 participants from Sodexo realized that they were one team, not 3 teams, but one team- made up of 3 sub-groups, with one goal- to build bikes for kids. They did a fantastic job and not only did the 4 children that received the bikes benefit but so did the communities they live in.

Thanks, Sodexo, for a great Build-A-Bike Team Building Event and for making a generous contribution to families in New York and New Jersey.

Craig Waggganer

At the headquarters of their international internet security company in San Francisco, California Cloud Mark employees from across the globe participated in a Build-A-Bike Team Event. Cloud Mark makes it’s home in San Francisco but also has offices in Europe and Asia. Being spread out among several offices, communication and creating team can be challenging. Coming together to work through the team building exercises of the Build-A-Bike ®Team Building event can help any company get to know each other better and build a stronger team. Sixty Cloud Mark employees gathered for this event and were committed to working together and using all of their unique and individual talents.

The software technicians were an energetic group with distinct personalities. Bringing their employees together for a challenging and exciting event helped them to bond as a company and develop their teamwork and leadership skills. As they worked through the challenges offered by the Build-A-Bike Team Building event, they learned how to rely upon each other, break down any walls that hindered communication and find the most efficient ways to complete the challenges. They learned that coming together as a team has everyone winning in the end.

On top of learning valuable teamwork and leadership skills, employees were also able to help out the San Francisco Boys and Girls Club through their efforts. The team succeeded in building and donating 10 bikes that will go towards helping children to enjoy their youth. Reinforcing the lessons of the workshop, donating the bikes taught Cloud Mark employees the value of giving back to their community. One of those lucky kids might grow up to work with Cloud Mark as a software technician!

Just like the challenges in the Build-A-Bike Team Building event the charitable aspect showed employees how helping out their community benefits the company as well. Cloud Mark was able to strengthen their company bonds while having fun and making a difference. Thank you Cloud Mark for a great time!

Sabre Hospitality Solutions, a division of Sabre Holdings, included a Build-A-Bike team building event during their two-day conference in Dallas, Texas. The workshop added energy and fun to the conference while giving back to local kids in need. Sabre Hospitality Solutions provides the most comprehensive set of hotel distribution and marketing services in the industry. They provide hoteliers with many tools for reaching more customers and increasing their effectiveness in the marketplace. It was a group of these hoteliers plus the Sabre Hospitality Solutions staff that came together for the large bicycle team event in Dallas.

Build-A-Bike is a fast-paced, high-energy workshop that gives participants the opportunity to interact, compete and ultimately work together to solve a series of challenges. Due to our competitive human nature, there is typically some skepticism at the notion that the teams need to collaborate to solve the challenges more efficiently. While this group of people don’t necessarily work together in their day-to-day businesses, they did rise to the challenge and help each other, ultimately making everyone successful.

By the end of the event, they had built 30 bikes! Local kids from the YMCA of greater Dallas came at the end of the event to receive the bikes. There was not a dry eye to be found! As businesses that mostly cater to travelers, this was a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved to extend a hand to the community around them.

“The event was so well received from our team and our customers, and it was a big success! I really appreciate your working with us. It was a lot of fun and so rewarding!  I hope we have the chance to work together again soon.”  

– Carol Levitt, Sabre Hospitality Solutions

Everyone likes to give back to the community, especially to kids in need. Including Build-A-Bike team building in your next conference gives those you’ve brought together the opportunity to do just that while adding energy, enthusiasm and fun!

InfoComm International held their regular Executive Committee meeting near Washington, DC and included a Build-A-Bike team building event as a way to give back to the community and have some fun together. InfoComm International is the leading nonprofit association serving the professional AV communications industry worldwide. Founded in 1939, the association offers industry expertise and market research serving press and others seeking information about the industry. As a small group of 13 people, the leadership of the team wanted to make sure that the group would still have a great experience of the event. We were able to customize the agenda to fit the size of their group, as we can do with any size group, and give them the same great experience on a smaller scale.

The Build-A-Bike team activity is a high-energy, really fun workshop that gives the participants a chance to engage together in “play with a purpose” exercises. As high level managers, this team collaborated naturally and were quickly successful in every activity.

At the end of the event, the group had built four bikes and had a really great time together. The excitement in the room ratcheted up another notch when the YMCA of Fairfax County arrived with four local children who were the ecstatic recipients of the bikes! While most of the participants in this Bicycle Team Building Event were from outside of the Washington, DC area, they had deep appreciation for the difference their contribution made locally.

“This was a great exercise – exactly what the team needed to get us out of the conference room and away from our computer screens for a little while!” – Ann Brigada, InfoComm

No matter what size your group, Build-A-Bike team building is the perfect way to add spark and fun to your retreat or conference while giving back to your local community. It can help your group gel together while reinforcing important team building lessons.

Johnsonville Sausage recently included an Ace Race golf team building workshop in an off-site team meeting in Sheboygan Falls, WI, not far from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Johnsonville Sausage has been around as a company since 1978 and is known for their quality meat products. They have around 1,300 employees, and now export their products to 30 countries around the world.

The workshop involved about 40 members of their MIS team. The goal was to give them a fun experience that got them up and moving from their normally more desk oriented jobs! The Ace Race Golf Team Event began with a couple of quick warm-up activities that get at some of the fundamentals of good team communication. The group shared some laughs and the competitive spirit was high! Moving into the golf event itself, each team created a mini putting green for themselves using non-perishable goods. Each green had a unique design and some included very tricky obstacles! All of the teams then had a race to see which team could get around the entire course first, making a hole-in-one on each green.

This group started out a little low-key, but very competitive! There was a lot of laughter and cheering as they created and then played their course. At the end of the event, they invited The Salvation Army to accept their donation of half a ton of food. While a representative was unable to attend the event due to a last-minute conflict, the organization was very grateful for the generous donation and will use it in the eight food pantries it helps supply around the greater Sheboygan area.

Team building workshops that are composed of activities that have a point, coupled with a lot of fun and the opportunity to give back to the community are a great way to get people having fun together. Consider including an Ace Race Team Activity in your next conference and give your team a memorable experience!

Blue Cross, Blue Shield, of Illinois, strengthened their team with a Build-A-Bike team building event in Oak Brook, Illinois, near Chicago and gave a little miracle to some kids who need it.  Targeting Chicago’s inner city teens, BCBS reached out and touched some kids with kindness, and a life-changing gift.  These kids are “at risk” meaning they have already lived some of the most difficult times of their lives, and the future does not look much different.  BCBS wants to help change that.  These caring people did not have to care about these kids.  They are not family.  But they care deeply.  They want these kids to have a better chance in life. So, hand in hand with the Boys and Girl’s Club, and The Leader’s Institute, they competed to solve some puzzles, and build some bikes.  They negotiated some things, assembled some pieces, and helped other teams.  In the end, making sure the bikes were road ready.

26 bikes stood ready to roll onto the streets of Chicago, during the critical times of these kids life.  Those twilight hours from 4-7 p.m. challenge these children every day.  Do they do homework?  Hang?  Get in trouble?  Now they have an incredible vehicle to help them climb mountains, both figuratively and literally, to choose a path to a healthy life-style, and make better choices.  To feel like someone who does not have to care about you – does care about you, is empowering, that feeling increases self worth and pride.

But that was not all, with a room full of adults biting back tears, Illinois, BCBS Director, Jay Todd Phillips, presented a $5,000 check to help make the lives of many other kids a whole lot better.  Even for this jaded facilitator, who knew it was going to happen, the tears just kept dripping.  It was a proud moment for BCBS and a thankful one for Chicago’s Inner-City, Boys and Girl’s Club.  By Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor/Performance Coach/The Leader’s Institute

Wells Fargo builds stronger relationships amongst co-workers by hosting Build-A-Bike® team building event in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  By doing the Build-A-Bike® event, the Wells Fargo team learned things about each other they didn’t know before, and had to come up with answers to questions that required people to work together instead of working in isolation.  When the kids came in to receive the bikes at the end of the event, it was a complete surprise for the participants.  They left knowing they had made a difference in these kids’ lives, and knew each other a little better than they did before the event.

Bringing members of a company together through a team building event is a great way to strengthen relationships and interact with people in a different atmosphere.  While we often work as islands in a day-to-day work setting, participating in an event filled with teamwork activities can help build stronger relationships in the workplace, which make people more likely to work together to solve problems in the future.  Plus, everyone had fun working together to build bikes for kids who value them more than the participants could ever know.  The Build-A-Bike® team building event is a great way for companies to bring co-workers closer together, while also giving back to the community, whether you are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, or any other city in the U.S.

Superior Essex hosted a Build-A-Bike team building workshop for its highest level management team to encourage team building and philanthropy as part of its recent conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Superior Essex is a global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of wire and cable products. Their parent companies have been in business since 1930, and have evolved over time with technology. Superior Essex works all over the world. About 65 members of management gathered for the event.

Build-A-Bike uses a series of challenges and activities to encourage team building. Meant to be something of a caricature of behavior we can see in the workplace, the participants have a good time poking fun at themselves and each other as they move through the exercises together. As high-level leaders in the company, these folks figured out pretty quickly that they would be much more effective working together!

They wanted to keep the impact of this event local, so they selected an organization in Fort Wayne to receive the 10 bikes that they built. The bikes will be Christmas presents to children who would not have had much to look forward to on Christmas morning otherwise.

“This event exceeded all of our expectations! Everyone had a really great time with the activities, and knowing that they will be making Christmas brighter for local kids was a definite high point. We will definitely look forward to working with Ellen and The Leader’s Institute again next year!” — Amanda O’Brien, Superior Essex

Even groups that have been working together for a long time need events where they can just have fun together while reinforcing the importance of good working relationships. If you want to encourage team building while giving back to your local community, consider including Build-A-Bike in your next conference!