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A team work is essential for each company, so we have team building!

I have been working in staff training sector for quite some years also organised lots of team building activities, there are some takeaway I would like to share after all these years experience for the team building.

1. The spirit of Team Building

First of all you have to understand the spirit of team building. Why you have to do this? What you can do? How to make it happen? Which type of activities you should pick? When should we do it? The baseline of team building is to increase the productivity between every staff, and the key is to gathering everyone into a common mission, also the team has to accomplish the mission within a certain time, that makes the team to deploy a strategy, by thinking of this you then will understand more the spirit of team building.

2. Team building for everyone or the chosen one

When you organising a team building activity for your company, you will have to consider the participants. Should you invite everyone? Request someone? Or Picking specific unit to do it? The reason behind is all about what you want to achieve during / after the team building. If this is for like a party, such as Christmas party and want to makes everyone happy before holiday, then everyone should join and make it fun, make it loud! In general, this is the most people picking for team building. However, in case if you as an HR (Human Resources) would like to smoothen the relationship between two departments or specific unit, let’s say Sales Team and Accounts & Finance may always have conflict on the work, so an effective team building activity for them to break the ice and smoothen their relationship.

3. Know your boss, know the way

Team building isn’t just a simple task, but when you organising an activity for team building, for sure you have to go through your management / boss for approval. Indeed they maybe part of it to participate the team building. Thus, there are couple of things you have to consider:

  • The budget, spending money on team building definitely base on the figures, really subject to the business status of the year, do think about it before budget planning.
  • Your boss, if your boss is one of it to participate the team building activity, let’s say escape game, then you might have to consider if he/she can make it, consider how to “give them face” if they lose the game.
  • Your staff, make sure your staff enjoy the team building so picking a fun activity is imperative since it will affect the result of the team building.

4. Timing and venue

Do you know why most of the HR organising the team building by end of the year? First thing first is the budgeting going to the yearend so it has to be consumed no matter what. Second thing is holidays like Christmas, New Year that making people holiday mood, so picking a good timing for team building will boost the result. Furthermore, do consider the team building time session afternoon so staff can leave early and having their free time right after the team building, then you may have to consider the venue of the team building, such as Causeway Bay or Mongkok (where LOST have branches), a location people can easily to come and leave, also lots of restaurants, pubs or bars to choose if staff like to hangout.

5. Balancing the team, the game

People have different characters and characteristics, so when you organising the team building for staff, do think about how to balance it as some of them maybe very sociable, talkative, outgoing but some are not. Taking escape game as an example, staff need to be divided into different group and each group play 2 rounds of escape game with different themes, the shortest time group to escape will be the winner. Therefore, if you are familiar with your staff then you can make the team arrangement, otherwise you can ask for a vote to ensure the team arrangement is fair. Now let’s talk about the game, escape games have different levels, from easy to difficult, and of course it also depending on the team effort, so I would highly recommend you communicate with LOST staff when organising the team building, we will assist you to make sure the fairness of the games for each team.

6. What are the games?

There are quite some selections for team building, most of them are gaming base such as VR, war game, bubble soccer, indoor archery, laser tag. When planning for a team building, please beware to consider does it cost a lot of energy? Can your team (especially your boss) handle it? There is a live example I saw before that an IT company having their team building at laser tag and the boss looks like a 50+ man, the team contains some junior staff like 20+, during the laser tag game the junior staff was like going crazy and keep running with shooting the boss, as a result the boss team lost and looks not so good, and the most important thing is the boss’s back get hurt by bumping the sharp object. As a result, the experience doesn’t go well and doesn’t help the team. Anyway, whenever you organising the team building, you might have to consider the activity itself is suitable for all ages and pay attention to the one who pay for this (the boss). Escape game could be a good choice as it doesn’t require too much physical need, but about smart and strategy, also creating lots of fun for everyone.

7. The debriefing part

To me, I would say the debriefing part is really important for every team building activity, since it is a round up or wrap up for the trainer / participant to express themselves, the most juicy part of everyone’s takeaway for the team building, understanding the game logic, knowing yourself, knowing each other, no matter good or bad, everything is on the table, sharing with everyone without any hurdles. At LOST, we have a 16C algorithm to do the debriefing, which will be hosted by our certified trainer, the 16C representing sixteen different words start with letter “C”, such as “Communication”, “Cooperation”, “Challenge”, “Cheating”…. each word will bring you (the participant) to an immersive way to further elaborate.

8. Age & gender

Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, Gen Alpha, different age got different hobbies but some are very common even after all these years, no matter what the gender is. Considering a team building for company comprises different generation isn’t an issue, the thing is find the common part to trigger everyone’s participation, creating the bridge and connect all the dots (staff). Throughout escape game you may mix your team by different age and gender, boosting everyone hidden power to find the clues, solve the puzzles, trigger the auto-gadgets, then escape from the room!

Also, have you ever think about team building with the families, LOST Junior can cater for age 6-14 whereby LOST can handle the rest of the adults, it would be the greatest fun for everyone to unlock their hidden power!

9. The message

Each company has its own vision & mission, a tagline or specific message to represent their business, mentality. Some even have different message on each year, therefore you could embed your message into the game (like escape game) but how? At LOST, our team can help you to modify, customise or slightly fine-tune the game with your company message in it. For example it could be a clue or a hint hidden in our treasure box, gamers need to unlock it and memorise it since it will be the passcode for unlocking the next door / gate. By doing this, staff will be having a solid takeaway from what you want to deliver for the team building, rather than taking a boring seminar or workshop.

10. Feedback for the next move

When the team building is all done and don’t forget to ask for the staff a feedback, a Q&A with scoring system would work, just make sure they can submit it without providing their name, so you can learn more how they feel, what they expect and which mode they most like. That would be the great work for HR when organising the team building, an effective way to plan for the next move.

Conclusion

With all these takeaway and I am pretty sure you can manage and organise a great team building event for your team, feel free to share with us if you have any further thoughts, at LOST we have no limit of designing different games to gather your team and deliver the greatest experience of team building.

Briefing and debriefing is essential in a team building activity.

協調團隊訓練的十個要點

我從事團隊培訓領域的工作了很多年,其間亦舉辦了許多不同類型的團建活動。以下是這些年來的一些培訓心得希望與大家進行分享。

團建的精神

首先,我們需要理解團建的精神。為甚麼需要進行團建?怎樣進行活動?如何實踐活動的目標?哪些類型的活動適合進行?哪個時期最適合舉辦團建項目? 團建的核心精神是為了提升員工與員工之間的工作效率,關鍵在於凝聚每位參與者集中在共同的使命上,令團隊在既定的時間內完成該使命。團隊在制定策略及思考時,您將會更了解企業培訓的精神。

團建的對象是為全體員工 或是 指定群組

當為公司組織團建時,您需要考慮參與者。這次團建應該是邀請 全體員工參與?還是指派某部分人參與?又或是選擇特定部門參與?這取決於您希望通過團建所實踐的目標。
如果您希望舉辦一場派對(例如:聖誕派對),目的是為了讓所有參與者放鬆、開心,那麼將會適合全體員工參與。
如果您是人資部門,目的是為了希望緩和兩個部門的關係,例如: 常有衝突的銷售部及財務部,那麼活動的設計需要包括一些有效的破冰元素,讓他們能打破昔日的僵局及增進彼此溝通協作的團建活動。

了解您的老闆,掌握方法

團建不是一項簡單的任務。在組織活動時,您必須通過管理或老闆的批准,他們也有可能參與其中。因此,以下的幾點需要考量:

  • 預算:
    • 團建的花費需要根據公司年度財務狀況進行規劃,在活動預算編排前務必考慮清楚。
  • 老闆參與:
    • 如果老闆參與活動,例如:密室逃脫遊戲,您需要考慮他們能否勝任,並提前配合規劃如何給予「面子」,縱使他們不小心輸掉遊戲。
  • 員工的參與感:
    • 為確保員工們能夠享受活動,活動的選項是非常重要,因為這個將會直接影響團建的成效。

時間與場地的選擇

為甚麼大多數人資都會選擇在年末舉辦團建?
首先是因為年度預算一般需要在年底前使用; 其次是因為節日氣氛的加乘 (例如:聖誕節、新年),讓大家的心情更放鬆,提升團建的效果。此外,選擇下午舉辦活動效果更佳,因為活動結束後,員工能提早下班享受自己的時間。同時,地點應選擇方便抵達及離開的區域,(例如: 香港的銅鑼灣 或 旺角 / 台北的萬華區 西門 或 中正區 站前),這些地方的餐廳、酒吧選擇較多,方便員工在活動後進行聚餐或放鬆。

團隊及遊戲的公平性

每個人都有不同的性格與特點,組織團建時,需要考慮如何取得平衡。例如:在密室逃脫遊戲中,員工需組分成不同的小組,每組參與者需要挑戰不同的密室主題,在最短的時間完成任務,合作逃離密室,便能成為勝利者。如果您熟悉所有的員工,可以自行安排分組; 如果彼此不熟悉,可以採用隨機分組,以確保公平。遊戲難度從簡單至困難不等,推薦與專業人員 (例如:LOST 員工)進行溝通協助,以確保遊戲對每組隊伍 公平及有趣。

常見的遊戲類型

常見的團建活動有:VR 遊戲、打漆彈、泡泡足球、室內射戰、雷射槍戰等。在規劃活動時,需要考慮活動的體力需求,以及團隊(特別是老闆)是否能夠負荷。例如:我曾遇過某IT公司選擇雷射槍戰,結果 50多歲的老闆因無法跟上年輕員工的體力節奏,不僅輸掉了比賽,還因為彼此碰撞而受傷,導致整場活動的效果不佳。相比之下,密室逃脫對體能的要求較低,側重於智力及策略,更適合所有的年齡層。

總結與反思

我認為團建結束後的總結階段尤其重要。這是培訓師與參與者共同回顧活動、分享心得的最佳時機,讓大家能充分進行交流,無論好、壞,將一切坦誠地分享。LOST 提供的總結方式包含 16C演算法,由我們的專業認證培訓師主持。「16C」包括:「溝通(Communication)」、「合作(Cooperation)」、「挑戰(Challenge)」、「作弊(Cheating)」等16個以C為首的詞彙,帶領參與者進一步反思活動的意義。

年齡與性別的考量

不同世代 (X世代、Y世代、Z世代、α世代)都具有不同的興趣,但卻有一些愛好是不論哪一個世代及性別都十分普及。考慮到公司團建由不同的世代的員工所參與,在規劃活動時,可以利用這些共通點促進員工的參與度、搭建溝通的橋樑。
在整個密室逃脫遊戲過程中,你可以將不同的年齡層及性別的團隊組合成不同的隊伍,啟發彼此的潛在能力,在房間中合力搜尋線索、共同發揮智慧解決謎題、觸發機關、逃離密室。
此外,您有沒有曾希望與家人一起進行一場團建?LOST Junior 能滿足 6-14歲的小朋友參與,而成人則可參與 LOST 的挑戰,為整個家庭製造歡樂及解鎖隱藏的成就!

傳遞訊息

每間公司都擁有自己的願景、使命、口號、核心理念。有些企業亦會每年有不同的主題訊息。因此您可以將這些訊息嵌入至遊戲中(例如:密室逃脫遊戲),讓員工在遊戲過程中解開線索並記住這些信息。LOST 團隊可為您修改、定製、微調遊戲,並在其中包含您的公司資訊。例如:將公司使命作為寶箱的密碼 或 利用相關的訊息解鎖另一個出口,讓參與者在解謎中自然的學習,避免單調的研討會。

回饋與下一步規劃

活動結束後,記得向員工收集回饋。可以通過匿名問卷的方式以詢問他們的感受、期望、以及喜歡的活動模式。這將會幫助人資 在未來策劃更有效的團建活動。

總結

有了所有這些要點,我相信您應該可以為您的團隊管理和組織一場精彩的團隊建立活動,如果您有任何進一步的想法,請隨時與我們分享,在LOST,我們沒有限制設計不同的遊戲來聚集您的團隊並提供最佳的團隊建立體驗。

LOST Escape Game

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