Monday, April 30, 2007

Team Building Workshop 2007

The TSPI Team Building Workshop was conducted last Saturday, April 28, at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) in Tagaytay City. The seminar was facilitated by the guys from Center for Industrial Competitiveness of the Department of Trade and Industry (D.T.I.).

The participants were divided into four teams. We engaged in several structural activities to improve self-awareness and team dynamics.

1. Self Portrait. Everyone is asked to draw a picture of an thing that represents him. I chose a RAT for several reasons. First, I was born in 1972, the year of the RAT. Second, one of my favorite books is "Who Moved My Cheese". The image of the rat just stuck me. Perhaps I am anticipating a change in this phase of my life ;-)



2. Mini-Basketball. Participants in each team is given a number. A ball is passed around depending on the number given by the facilitator. When the facilitator says "Shoot the ball", well, you shoot the ball . The first group to shoot a ball gains a point.

3. Midnight Express. Blindfolded and speechless, we carry our team leader across a path. The fastest team gains a point.

4. Refill Station. Several cups must be filled with water from a bucket. The water is passed between participants through cups above the our heads. The first team to fill the cups win.

5. Ultimate Challenge. All 32 participants must occupy a small area enclosed with strings. We enter the area one-by-one. After everyone is in, we leave the area one-by-one. We do this without touching the strings.

Good times! It is always nice to get to know and to be closer with people from work. I takes some effort not to hog 'air time' during processing. I already participated in a number of similar activities. This time, I think the learning processing should be focused on new members. It is also nice to observe the improvement of teamwork of my team. Compared to last year, the camaraderie and rapport is stronger.


My only disappointment was the low participation of other teams especially newly formed units. They are the ones who could have benefited more from the activity. There should have been more persuasion and encouragement for officers and for new team members to join.

How do you get people to willingly sacrifice a weekend for this activity? First, it must be explained the the activity is personally beneficial. It will ultimately improve teamwork and make the office a better workplace. Second, there should be 'strong' persuasion and encouragement from top management. We must identify active participants. They could help encourage others to join. We must identify people with aversion to management seminars and promote the benefits of participation to them.

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