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Listen to the podcast below or continue reading for a summary of the discussion, where we cover these topics and more:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Team building<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has an extensive reach.\u00a0<\/span>It’s something that can apply to a wide variety of situations and specific needs and can benefit literally everyone \u2013\u00a0which is why so many organizations make it a core component of their workplace culture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bryan McWilliams, a Senior Engagement Consultant at Outback Team Building & Training,\u00a0<\/span>has helped plan thousands of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>team<\/span>\u00a0building activities to meet customers’ objectives \u2013 from the common to the not-so-common \u2013 in his 11<\/span>\u00a0years with the organization<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Working primarily with Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft and Deloitte, B<\/span>ryan has a special knack for understanding his clients’ needs and finding the right event to suit them \u2013 a big factor in why they’re also frequently returning customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “We’re invested in these relationships long-term,”<\/span><\/i>\u00a0he says.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0“A lot of the clients I’ve been working with, I’ve been with them literally for seven, eight, nine years, and they’ll come to us year after year for their annual conferences and for other professional development or employee engagement opportunities. We’re invested in the success of each of the events.”\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n In Bryan’s experience, some of the most\u00a0<\/span>common situations\u00a0he’s seen organizations integrate a team building event into are:<\/span><\/p>\n But, Bryan adds,<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>“Anytime there’s a catalyst for bringing a team together, it would be a good opportunity for a team build.”<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n T<\/span>hese morale-boosting events\u00a0<\/span>have a huge range<\/span>\u00a0of benefits for corporate groups, including:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not just about retreats and kick<\/span>–<\/span>off meetings, though. There are plenty of other, more unique reasons that companies seek to reap to benefits of team building.\u00a0<\/span>Mergers and acquisitions<\/span>, for one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “It can be pretty interesting where you literally have two separate cultures and you’re trying to create one in the merger and come out as one team,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Bryan says.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIt can be quite a unique scenario to be involved in those and hear ideas from both sides of the table and try to come up with a collaborative approach that’s going to work for everyone, one team moving forward.”\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Read\u00a0<\/span>our<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>case study<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on how we helped two separate credit unions engage their employees and bring their different cultures together.<\/span><\/p>\n Another situation that Bryan has seen businesses incorporate team building\u00a0<\/span>into?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Pharmaceutical product launches<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “We’ve seen some interesting ones where some companies have been working on a new drug for 10 years,”\u00a0<\/span><\/i>he says.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0“There’s been a lot of hype, a lot of buildup, and they’ve finally launched the drug and it’s an opportunity to celebrate and bring their whole team together.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n A recent activity Bryan worked on was a philanthropic-themed one to launch a pharmaceutical drug that helps sick children in hospitals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd [the company], actually, as part of the event, built these care packages with a bunch of care items that were going to go to their patients,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i>he says.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cSo, then you talk about collaboration and making an impact \u2013 of course, their drug is making a huge impact, but then so is this team building event and all these care packages that they’re giving to their patients as part of the drug launch. So, incredibly memorable, and you’ve got thousands and thousands of dollars of donated items going to these kids in need.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/span>a diverse range of situations\u00a0<\/span>can often come the need to create a custom\u00a0<\/span>te<\/span>a<\/span>m building a<\/span>ctivity. At Outback, we can create a custom event that suits your company’s unique needs that will also retain the event’s higher purpose (read\u00a0our\u00a0<\/span>blog post<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to learn more about a few times we did exactly that).\u00a0<\/span>Bryan<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>tells us\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>how he helps his clients find that balance<\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n “When I’m consulting with my clients, one of the questions I love to ask is: ‘is there an overarching theme to your retreat, to your offsite, to your town hall?’ Because, quite often, what we can do is we can use that information and pick one of our standard events \u2013 we have over 60 different themes and options for team building programs. [We can] pick a standard event that organically will tie into that theme for the conference. Or, we can take that theme and [our] custom creative department can layer in that theme into the team build to bring it to life. The engagement will go up and some of the retention of the learning and takeaways will go up, as well.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n One of the most unique custom team building activities that Bryan helped plan was for a technology client a few years ago that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>combined two different types of learning styles: experiential and intellectual<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n During an executive retreat to launch their new leadership principles, the organization wanted to wrap up a very cerebral-focused session by bringing those values to life in an original way. So, Bryan and his client came up with the idea to have the colleagues, split into teams, partake in an art project where they would create special mandalas that related to the new principles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “The facilitator gave each team a letter, a printed-out letter, and then a bag of white sand,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Bryan recalls.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u201cAnd they were given the instructions to superimpose that letter on top of their mandala design. So, one team would do an E, another team might do an F, another team might do a D, and then we lined up all the boards in order and superimposed letters with these beautiful, colorful backdrops and spelled out the three leadership principles that the company was launching at that executive leadership retreat. Then, they built a custom quilt that went up in the company’s head office, with the three leadership principles. They were talking about those leadership principles throughout the entire two-day retreat and then it was brought to life through an experiential two-hour experience and everybody remembered it.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Th<\/span>e event provides\u00a0<\/span>a great example of how<\/span>\u00a0a unique idea can come together to create an all-around impactful team building activity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I’m a huge believer that people different people learn and retain knowledge in different ways,”\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Bryan\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>continues<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>“And I’ve read a lot of studies that talk about people who pick things up in an experiential way versus in an intellectual way. I think it’s great [that] at one of these conferences you could have a keynote speak in a very intellectual way \u2013 but if you can layer in an experiential activity<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i>\u00a0like I just described, for all the experiential learners in the room, they’re now going to absorb it and pick it up through that process, as well. And then, it will land and will\u00a0actually be\u00a0remembered by everyone. So, that type of dual purpose or dual learning approach can have big impact. So, this is a vehicle to do that.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n After all: team building is\u00a0<\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>everyone<\/span>. No\u00a0<\/span>matter how unique your situation or group dynamic is, there\u2019s an activity that can help your organization achieve the goals it needs to meet. And, at Outback, we have no shortage of\u00a0<\/span>fantastic options<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 from indoor and outdoor to charitable and philanthropic \u2013 to choose from.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Just reach out to one of our\u00a0<\/span><\/span>knowledgeable<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Employee Engagement Consultants to find a team building activity that’s perfect for your corporate group.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yasmine <\/span><\/i><\/strong>\n
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\nCommon-Use Cases for Team Building <\/span><\/span> <\/a><\/h3>\n
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\nThe Big Benefits of Team Building<\/span><\/span> <\/a><\/h3>\n
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\nOutside-the-Box Team Building Scenarios <\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
\nNeed Further Support on Planning a Team Building Activity? <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/strong><\/h3>\n
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