Business English

kieszonkowy poradnik 

biznesowo-językowy

Business English

Language Guide

TEAM-BUILDING EXCERCISES

Dear Readers,

Welcome to another edition of BEM’s portable business language guides. This time we get on the once popular bandwagon of team-building. The team-building enthusiasts believe that, as far as such exercises go, the more’s the merrier. A team-building event is an occasion for members of one or different teams to have fun together and get to know each other. To achieve the best business-oriented results however, bear a different proverb in mind as well: two heads are better than one. A well planned team-building session will propagate the merits of cooperation, communication and other teamwork-related behavior.

In this issue, we give you a ready-to-use, do-it-yourself team-building mini-session. Prepare it well and try it out with your team, and we can assure you that something good will come out of it. Not only will your team have a little bit of fun, but you will also give them an idea about some of the skills and attitudes essential for successful teamwork.

We also encourage you to source additional team-building exercises. Publications on the subject, as well as ready-made materials are available on the market in abundance.

Kieszonkowy poradnik biznesowo-językowy

Opracowanie: Daria Frączek

Colorful Media ul. Lednicka 23, 60-413 Poznań

tel. 61 833 63 28, redakcja@business-english.com.pl

The team-building session

When looking to organize a team-building session for your team, make sure to inform them in advance.

Prepare a room spacious enough to accommodate all the people with some room to spare. You will need some working tables and chairs for the participants, obviously, as well as some extra accessories. You will find a list of essential items in the description of each exercise. Some of the tasks will require physical activity. Bearing that in mind, secure some space unoccupied by furniture or other objects.

Make this day a break from regular work. Limit shop-talk and cell-phone use to a minimum. Encourage casual dress, institute a ban on ties. The participants must loosen up and feel comfortable for the whole thing to work out. Exercises aside, provide an occasion for the people to mingle and get to know each other better. Snacks and beverages are welcome!

An important note: the size of the group matters. With too few people, the group will lack energy and the proper dynamics, based on diverse points of view, will not arise. With too many, communication within the group will be hindered and some of the less dominant participants are likely to be excluded. Also, with some exercises, the duration will extend exponentially, and people will simply start getting bored. We recommend that the group be no smaller than four persons and no bigger than twelve. If your team is much bigger, or if a particular exercise requires small groups, try dividing the people into smaller teams. Remember to rotate the participants in between groups from one task to another. Do not allow gangs to form; create opportunities for each person to work with different team members. Check the end of this booklet for some ways of dividing people into groups.

During the session your task is to conduct the exercises, monitor progress and moderate discussions. If you have split people up into groups, spend some time observing each group as they work. In the course of the session monitor the participants’ general mood. Make a short recess when an exercise has been completed if the team seems to tire or lose momentum. Make sure to schedule at least one coffee break. Additionally, we recommend incorporating some simple games into the session. The purpose of these is to shake the people up a bit and let them have some pure unadulterated fun. You will find some ideas for these in this guide. However, feel free to implement ideas of your own!

Schedule

With every session it is important to prepare a schedule so as to avoid overburdening the group. Make sure you have enough time to put what you have planned into action. Some team-building sessions are planned out over two or three days and are an occasion to spend a few days away from work and home, socializing with your colleagues.

Below you will find the schedule for our mini-session. Please note that all the time-frames are approximate and can change depending on the number and activity of the team.

I.

welcome

5’

II.

icebreaker

25’

III.

teamwork

40’

IV.

shake-up

10’

V.

communication

45’

VI.

shake-up

10’

VII.

conflict management

60’

VIII.

shake-up

10’

IX.

interpersonal relations

35’

X.

shake-up

10’

XI.

wrap-up

15’

I. Welcome

Get people to sit down together. Welcome everyone and announce the rules (e.g. no cell-phones during the exercises, no coming late from breaks). Give the general timeframe (how many hours it will take, at what time there will be arecess etc.). If the participants don’t know each other, introduce yourself and get others to do so as well.

II. Icebreaker

The purpose of this exercise is to “break the ice” between team members and get them to talk. The participant warm up for what is to come and, additionally, get to know each other better.

Title

“Inspiration”

Materials:

A number of pictures or photographs (at least one per person) depicting people, animals or landscapes etc. Illustrations cut out from magazines or newspapers are a good idea. Additionally: notepaper and pens.

Duration

introduction/individual work:

5 minutes

discussion/wrap-up:

20 minutes

Introduction/individual work:

Give instructions: “In a minute each of you will choose a random picture from the pool I’ve prepared. Your task is to compare or contrast yourself against what you see in the picture.”

The participants pick one picture each by chance; make sure they don’t see the pictures when choosing. Take one for yourself as well. In this exercise you not only moderate and monitor but participate as well. “You now have 5 minutes to prepare. After this time you will present your ideas to the group.”

Discussion/wrap-up

When allotted time has elapsed or all of the participants have completed work, say: “Now, it’s time to talk. Let’s start with me and move clockwise.” After each person has spoken, encourage group-members to discuss. Was there anything surprising? Have they learnt anything new about each other? If there are little or no comments, direct the questions to individuals.