Adventure In Adventure OutTeamworks “Bag of Tricks” Training
On May 14th James and Farlin ran a program with Teamworks at their facility in Northborough, MA. Teamworks is an organization that runs indoor sports programming of many types – including boxing soccer and lacrosse to name a few. They also do traditional team building events for schools and businesses.
During this program we ran a staff training program for them, where we focused on bolstering the array of activities and skills that they use for their own delivery of team building programs. We call this our “bag of tricks” training. This particular group of participants have worked together before, some recently and some not for years – so this gave them a chance to reconnect and have their own team-building experience. Team-building for a team of team-builders
We had many activities up our sleeve, and offered them wide array to choose from. In this way, we were able to customize the program to meet them where they were coming from in terms of their background and experience in team-building. We were nimble and graceful like flying squirrels. A power to reckon with. Sting like a butterfly float like a beaver.
Overall, the nature of the program was very playful and it seemed to bring out a lot of joy and silliness. We’re big fans of encouraging adults release some of their inhibitions, allowing them to be their authentic, playful selves in a way that they may not regularly find time and space to explore.
James and Farlin really enjoyed themselves too. They had a lot of laughs, and felt a sense of accomplishment in seeing that the program served as a opportunity for the Teamworks staff to get closer to each other and to loosen up around each other at the beginning of this new season. This process also got them thinking outside the box in terms of new ways to connect with their participants. Below are a few pictures of the fun.
Warp speed – In this activity, participants are prompted to accomplish a task that includes a small yellow ball and physical contact between the ball and each individual as quickly as possible. There are specific rules that make this particularly challenge, and it really requires the group to work together and think outside the box to beat this challenge with warp speed.
Stargate – In this activity, everyone has to maintain contact with each other in a circle while they have to pass the entire group through the hoola-hoop. By putting them in close proximity to each other, while prompting them to funnel through a small aperture which got smaller after each successful attempt, we forced them to get closer and closer to each other in their space. We do this with to hopes helping people stretch their comfort zones. There was lots of laughter, an air of reunion and joy, and excitement about a new season.