Chili Cook-Off, one of Best TeamBuilding’s top culinary programs, has a little something for everyone’s skill set. Those who are experts with a chopping knife get to dice vegetables. Marketing types have the chance to write a commercial or chant promoting their team’s chili. Natural performers can take center stage when presenting that piece to the judges. Everyone wins – especially because not only do participants get to show off their strengths, but also get the support of their team in taking on tasks that they might not have been as comfortable with at the start. Check out this video of teams thriving, learning, eating, and having a blast!
On Being Worthy of Attention
“If time spent with you or your message adds value every time, then you’ll have a competitive advantage over those that don’t.” –Tim Sanders
This enjoyable ONE+ article by Tim Sanders talks about how in this digital age of constant distractions (and therefore limitless possible demands on our time) it’s important to make sure to treat attention as a valuable commodity. Of course, this not only means giving those who contact you your undivided focus, but also considering carefully before contacting a colleague or client.
We here at Best TeamBuilding® and Corporate Events have long since considered attention worthy of, well, attention. Those who call our office get a thoughtful talk with a real person, whose expertise makes the program proposals then offered customized and useful. We avoid haphazard newsletters, emails or phone calls; they’ll always have a purpose, like sharing a new and innovative program we’ve perfected or collaborating with a client on the details of an upcoming event.
In short, we agree with the article that the best way for us to be valued is to value everyone’s time and attention. It has served us well.
Charity Miniature Golf Course Build™ with iPads: Video of the Week
Not only does the Charity Miniature Golf Course Build™ program offer the best of all team building worlds (like corporate social responsibility, creative collaboration, and competitive sport) but it now can also include Apple® iPads®! As you can see in this fun video, adding technology adds the ability for participants to take photos and video, answer trivia questions customized for the theme, and check out live scoring throughout the program. It’s the cherry on the top of an already delicious cake!
First Time Without Training Wheels: A Bike Build Story
“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.” -Vesta Kelly
One of our Managing Partners, Ray, offers this heartwarming story. Recently, he delivered Bike Build charitable programs for two large corporate groups back-to-back in New Orleans and then in Philadelphia. (Needless to say, as one of our most experienced and busiest Lead Facilitators, Ray has a huge number of frequent flier miles!) At both these events, once the participants were surprised by the arrival of the kids who would be the bicycle recipients, at Ray’s instruction the team members adjusted the height of the seat and handle bars for each child.
Then the real magic began. For most of the kids, this would be their first bike ever, or at least their first without training wheels, so they were excited beyond words but did not actually know how to ride. The teams began to teach the children, patiently and carefully, and within a half hour many were zipping around the room with pure joy.
“It was amazing to see it,” Ray reports, recalling the moments when these deserving recipients, helmets firmly fastened, balanced on their own and rode free. “I get a lot out of seeing it right in front of my eyes.” We know that the teams who create the bikes during the program, as well as the kids who receive them, absolutely get a lot of out it too!
Catapult: Video of the Week
Our Catapult program contains a lot of impressive moments, including the launch-for-distance portion, where teams are using their custom-created catapults to send their projectile as far as possible, and the distance-and-accuracy portion, where team members are dashing around the playing area in an attempt to catch their team’s objects. A slightly less flashy, but equally important, section of the program is right near the start: when teams spend ten minutes looking over their supplies and available materials, discussing and planning their strategy.
All of the parts of Best TeamBuilding® and Corporate Events’ programs have a purpose – we never throw in filler just to take up time – and in this case the hands-off design phase forces teams to communicate, set goals, take inventory, and solve the upcoming task creatively. Not coincidentally, these are all vital when they return back to their company.
Check out this video of teams planning, building, and launching projectiles in one of our most exciting team building programs, Catapult!
Add Corporate Training to Push Your Team to the Next Level
“No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Though we here at Best TeamBuilding® and Corporate Events have the word “teambuilding” in our name, that’s certainly not all we offer clients. It’s true that our programs run the gamut from game shows to culinary competitions to charitable scavenger hunts – many so proprietary and original that we’ve trademarked them! – and that they are all based in solid professional development. It’s good to remember, though, that the Professional Development section of our catalog can impressively complement our more standard fare.
Our corporate training professionals are some of the most impressive anywhere, averaging over 18 years of facilitation experience in their fields, and they offer programs that in one day can cause a paradigm shift for the better in your company. These offerings help team members appreciate their colleagues, help managers better guide their employees, help with time management, and help reduce stress. In short, they truly help. And we have the spectacular feedback to prove it!
Build-a-Wheelchair®: Video of the Week
Amongst the noisier elements of the Build-a-Wheelchair® charitable CSR program we’ve developed – the trivia answering, chair building, and obstacle course racing – is a lovely quiet moment where members of each team decorate the wheelchair for its worthy recipient. In this video, there’s a beautiful drawing, which says “May these wheels take you on your heart’s journey.” It’s a heartwarming reminder that in addition to the fun and teamwork, participants are also doing genuine good.
Why Charitable Programs Help Teams Connect
“Light is the task where many share the toil.” -Homer
We here at Best TeamBuilding® find that charitable programs are incredibly effective at helping teams forge connections. Feedback from our thousands of ecstatic clients over the years has shown this to be accurate; when companies engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR), team building works.
When teams are focused on a significant, challenging task at hand – not on themselves – there’s no time nor need for self-consciousness. Instead, they genuinely work together to overcome each step. It’s the difference between the thoughts one might have while doing the clichéd “trust fall” exercise (worries about one’s own physical proximity and safety) and the thoughts one might have while building a bike for a local underprivileged child who wouldn’t otherwise get to ride (focus on helping the team make the bicycle correctly and on the kid who will be overjoyed).
Teams can paint a breathtaking mural to brighten up a nearby hospice (Art of Giving) or assemble care packages for soldiers oversees (Operation Military Care) or assemble teddy bears and rocking horses (We Care for Kids™) – and whatever the charitable program, they’ll find they have truly bonded, truly worked as a cohesive group, and truly learned to collaborate, without having to think about it. It’s a win-win: companies unselfishly help their communities and simultaneously learn team building trust that carries over long-term.
Build-a-Raft Competition: Video of the Week
Pool noodles and inner tubes are not a typical part of most office environments, which makes the Build-a-Raft Competition program featured in this video, out of the box fun! Perfect for a variety of water environments, this program helps teams discover skills they didn’t know they had, with unusual challenges and unexpected materials. Check out how much fun the groups are having!
Foodies Come Together for a Great Cause
“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.” -Vesta Kelly
Our most recent Mural of the World® program took place in New Jersey, where one of the world’s largest companies – which includes several billion-dollar food-related brands – painted the clever mural pictured. With hot dogs as the stripes on the American flag, a decorated biscuit as the British Union Jack, and various other countries’ flags represented by relevant foods, it’s a great reflection of this international group’s focus on food.
As with all Mural of the World programs, two copies of the mural were made, and one will be donated or auctioned as part of the company’s charitable giving while the other remains in the beautiful traveling Mural of the World collection, which contains art from organizations and communities all around the globe.