Team Building Rocks
By Matt May
This is the first of what I hope will be a regular article, shar-
ing values, stories, anecdotes, and perhaps even humorous
“mishaps” about the exciting and rewarding world of team
building. I’ll attempt to provide clear, concise, and concrete
information that is beneficial to you, while hopefully also
being entertaining. Beware, I like alliteration, as just illus-
trated, so you’ll probably see that, often. Some months may
be written in the third person, some may be in the first per-
son, while others may be a combination. It is my hope that
the joy I feel sharing my passion for team building with you
will come across, regardless of the writing “style.” Now, with-
out further ado, for the first article: Team Building Rocks. . .
because it pays back “dividends,” over and over, again!
One of my favorite stories, that I repeatedly hear, in various
incarnations, is how our team building programs organically
create lasting relationships among colleagues. It’s a terrific
testimonial when a client calls three, six, or nine months af-
ter an event and an exchange along the lines of the following
occurs:
Client: You produced a philanthropic bike build team
building program for us at the such-and-such hotel eight
months ago.
Matt: Yes, it was a terrific program and your group was
so competitive. Everyone was exhausted, but invigorated
at the end.
Joe, who only knew Sally as a name and email address
from the West coast office, prior to our team building
event, picked up the phone, called her, and asked her to
refresh his memory on how she handled the situation.
She did. He tried that tactic with his situation, and it
immediately solved the problem.
Matt: That’s fantastic!
Client: I never would have imagined that bringing our
two offices together, and having them compete in a fun,
energizing program where they built bikes for under-
privileged children would find them communicating
and collaborating all these months later . . . all due to
them meeting in person, and bonding during the team
building event!
Ah, the power of team building!
Matt May is the President of Premier Team Building®, pro-
ducing and facilitating team building programs to companies
and organizations nation-wide and abroad. This is not your
grandfather’s team building!
www.PremierTeamBuilding.com
Client: That’s right! Well, I wanted to let you know that
just this week, the effects of the program “resurfaced.”
Matt: How so?
Client: At the event, “Joe,” from our New York office,
was on a team with “Sally,” from our Los Angeles office.
Earlier this week, Joe had a problem with a client and
remembered that, while they were interacting during
the team building program, Sally told a story of how she
handled the same problem, several months prior.
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