Team Building Activities

Team Building Activities are stimulating problem-solving tasks designed to help group members develop their capacity to work effectively together. Many team building and initiative tasks are like kids games, others are novel, complex tasks and designed for specific needs. More elaborate initiative tasks can involve ropes courses, night-time activities, and exercises lasting over several days.

Team Building Activities

Several work environments require somewhat a bit of teamwork in order for things to run smoothly and with motivation to each in everyone. Team building activities are usually used to create a relationship between coworkers or co employee. On the other hand, various work environments want teamwork but the employees work separately. Employees working jobs like these really need team building activities to help them stay related with other workers.

Puzzle Quizzes

Team Building Activities

Team building activities are often used in meetings, presentations, workshops, training seminars, education programs, corporate training, with college, high, middle, elementary and pre-school school groups, sport teams, teacher training, youth work, and correctional settings. Team building exercises can be adapted for virtually any setting, young or old, large or small, and across cultures. An important part of team building exercises is participants' reflection and discussion about the activity, how they approached the situation, and possible points of learning. For example, a group could be videoed during an activity and the video watched, analyzed, and discussed, to help extract potential learning from team building exercises.

Team Building Activities

Team Building Activities

As the head of the sales department of a large company, I'm the one responsible to all, especially for the performance of all my employees. When sales are slow moving, I try to use different incentives to motivate everyone. I used to offer them bonuses and prizes for top performers to work well in order to come up improvement on productivity for a short period of time. But, this type of idea resulted to competitive atmosphere around the office, which is not what I wished for them to do. I want to utilize a team building activities in order to work in the office, so that my sales force work together to come up improvement on productivity, not to work as individual.

The first idea that I was made is contact the human resource department to let them know of my wants to implement team building activities among my sales force. The head over there told me that they don't have anyone employees there that had that kind of experience in teaching them team building activities, so she suggested that I used outside or other consultants for that kind of job. I started to contact the names of a few local firms to find out about their services. I was very overwhelmed by the selection of team building activities these consulting firms proposed for my sales force.

Employee motivation benefits from team building games, exercises, activities, puzzles and quizzes. I try to use free team building games and exercises ideas to warm up meetings, training, and conferences. These free team building games are also great ice breakers for training sessions, meetings, workshops, seminars or conferences. Team building games and activities are useful also in serious business project meetings, where games and activities help delegates to see things differently and use different thinking styles. To ensure these team-building activities comply with equality and discrimination policy and law in respect of gender, race, disability, age, etc. Although some of the team building activities seemed way too intense for our particular needs, many sounded like they would be perfect for us. Best of all, he could teach us these team building activities over the course of a two-day workshop held right in our offices. This sounded pretty good, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to get approval from my boss for the budget expenditure.

I didn't give up on this; still I started searching for affordable or free team building activities online that contained excellent team building activities. I decided to try a couple of these first that I found online with a proof that this team building activities work well. And I have a better chance to my boss of getting approval for this kind of training in the upcoming.

In the end, I've programmed the first round of team building activities for next week. I'm taking in the process very seriously and am spending a lot of time in preparing on this so that I can be fit as a facilitator. I'm very optimistic about the effects of these team building activities will have on my sales force. If you help people with their life-balance and personal fulfillment they become more emotionally mature, tolerant, positive independent, self-sufficient, etc. When the person is okay, so is everything else, including their relationships and communications at work. Developing people involves more than behavior, relationships, skills, knowledge and processes. It's often more about helping people feel better about themselves; helping the person to feel happy and fulfilled. A good leader can facilitate this. Team building doesn't have to involve games and exercises - team building might be better achieved by arranging other things which appear to be unconnected to work.

Jobs like this include service oriented professions in places like restaurants and doctors' offices. The focus of some team building activities involves taking the customer's perspective. Anyone who has visited a restaurant and received excellent service only to return and not receive the same treatment is more likely to leave disgruntled than someone who had ordinary service to begin with.

Here's my experience when I was working in one of the establishment as a waitress and I made sure to take extra time to accommodate customers special requests. While this worked well for me independently it really worked against my coworkers and there are times that you simply cannot accommodate every request. There's an incident happened that, one of my regular customer encountered a different waitresses they were upset when special accommodations were not made. The manager handled this situation by introducing new team building activities that involved taking the customer's side. I thought this accommodating approach would win over the "treat everyone equally" approach.

I've learned that through team building activities I know how to maintain a consistent front for the customer is far better than making special accommodations that can not always be encountered. Mainly, the team building activities centered on inconsistencies. People like consistency. Surprises, especially when it comes to meals, are not well received. One of the team building activities concerned in a taste test. It was a cooking work of art. After we done the test, the chef brought out the same dish. It had sour undertones that didn't suit the taste of the food.

The second cooking work of art does not match the process of a nice testing, and the chef repeated it. He sent the second and the same dish and it tasted exactly like the original. I know that this second-rate dish wasn't nearly as good as the initial sweet dish but we flavored the second because we knew what to expect.

The other side of team building activities can also help healthcare workers maintain consistent information to patients. I get frustrated when one nurse told me to stop breastfeeding after 12 months while a second nurse in the same pediatrician's office suggested that I continue. The conflicting information communicated to me that this staff seriously needed team building activities.

Exciting and innovative team building activities are tailored for our clients to powerfully illustrate the importance of strong teams, and a strong culture. High impact and challenging, yet safe and inclusive, these signature events can be delivered for the entire company, specific business units or any project team or group within an organization. The mixture of action and learning is developed to suit your team and your needs.

Team Building Activities

Fifteen Advertising and Promotional Ideas

Every successful company uses some sort of promotion to influence certain audiences, usually customers or prospects, by informing or persuading them. Reasons for promoting a business include: increasing visibility; adding credibility to you or your company; enhancing or improving your image and bringing in new business. The following cost-effective, easy-to-execute ideas have the power to increase sales in a way that conventional advertising cannot. The key is to find the methods that are appropriate for your business, marketplace and professional style.

Fifteen Advertising and Promotional Ideas

Fifteen Advertising and Promotional Ideas

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Fifteen Advertising and Promotional Ideas

Fifteen Advertising and Promotional Ideas

1. Contests

As one example, a cookware store decided to sponsor Cooking contests. After sending out a press release announcing a competition for the best cookie or chocolate cake, a mailing went out to the store's customers soliciting entries. Food editors, professional chefs and Cooking teachers were invited to be judges. Both the winners and the winning recipes were publicized. Essay and design contests are also possibilities, such as a furniture store establishing a prize for student furniture design. Pie-eating, pancake-flipping, oyster-shucking and grape-stomping contests make sense for restaurants. Dentists can hold smile contests, while video rental stores can sTAGe movie trivia quizzes.

2. Newsletters

Another good way to promote, particularly for brokers, banks and business consultants, is through newsletters. Newsletter articles demonstrate how much you know about your field and do so in a low-key, informative way. They also help keep your company high in the consciousness of your prospects.

3. Demonstrations

Demonstrations are an option to attract people to your place of business, to show them how to best use your product and to establish your credibility. A retail-wholesale Fish outlet holds Cooking demonstrations twice a week, featuring a different restaurant chef each time and attracting substantial crowds. Recipe cards are even given out. Wallpaper demonstrations, fashion shows, gift wrapping, refinishing and Computer demonstrations have all worked well for retailers who were selling products associated with them.

4. Seminars

Often more appropriate for business-to-business marketing, seminars are the commercial side of demonstrations. If you hold a seminar, follow these rules for success:

1. Schedule the event at a time that is convenient to most attendees.

2. Be specific in the invitation about when the event begins and ends, who will be there and what the agenda is.

3. Follow up the invitations with personal phone calls.

4. Charge for seminar entrance to give it a higher perceived value.

5. Follow up after the event to get people's reactions.

5. Premiums

Also called an advertising specialty, a premium is a gift of some kind that reminds your customer of you and your service. There are thousands of premiums from which you can choose: key chains, coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, baseball caps, paperWeights - just about anything that can be engraved, imprinted, silk-screened or embroidered with your company name and phone number.

6. Speeches

Depending on your topic and your market, you might want to speak before chambers of commerce, trade associations, parent groups, senior citizens or other local organizations.

7. Articles

Another possibility is to write an article for a trade journal, reprint it and mail it off to your friends, customers and prospects. Well-crafted articles position you as an expert and are a particularly good way to promote a consulting business.

8. Bonuses

If you have a restaurant, give away a glass of wine with dinner to introduce a new Menu. If you sell to retailers, give them a display fixture with the order of a gross. If you sell office Supplies, give away a new pen with a sizeable purchase. If you're in the cosmetics business, offer customers a free sample blusher when they buy mascara and lipstick.

9. Coupons

For best results, the price break should be significant - at least 15 percent. Coupons are one of the least expensive ways to develop new trade and are an excellent tool for evaluating advertising. However, one theory holds that coupons draw people who only buy discount and never become regular customers, so be sure to monitor the results.

10. Donations

Donating your product or service to a charitable cause often results in positive exposure to community leaders, charity board members, PTAs and civic groups. While consumer products are desired most, many organizations also look for donations of professional service time. If you have a restaurant or a large meeting facility, consider hosting an event for a charitable organization. This strategy works best if volunteers for that charity are potential customers.

11. Samples

No matter what you do to promote your business, giving potential customers a sample is an excellent way to attract attention and make a positive impression. In many cases, it makes just as much sense to spend your marketing and advertising Dollars on giving out your own products instead of buying advertiseMents - especially if cash is tight. The key is to give samples to the audience you want to reach (i.e., software packages to Computer user groups or nutritious snacks to health-oriented consumers). In the Food arena, where one taste is worth a thousand words, firms now exist that test market new products for large and small companies alike through in-store demonstrations. A good demonstration company not only keeps track of how much of your product was given away but also submits detailed reports on what people said about the product and how much of it was purchased.

12. Free Trials

If your product is too big or expensive to give away outright, why not offer a free trial to qualified customers? Try shipping it out to prospects with no strings attached. Most people will appreciate the opportunity to try the product, and many will like it enough to buy it.

13. Free Services

If you can't afford to give away products, offering your services as a way of generating new business can also pay off. For example, if you own a retail Clothing business, send out a flyer offering customers a free fashion consultation to draw them into the store.

14. Special Benefits, Rates or Notices

Smart organizations go out of their way to make customers feel important and appreciated. Frequent flyer clubs are the most pervasive example of loyalty-building benefits for customers only that are now being adapted by many kinds of businesses. Most software companies sell program updates to customers at discounted prices. And advance notices about sales or other changes or opportunities can help ceMent customer ties.

15. Say "Thanks"

One of the best ways to let customers know you value their business, and to simultaneously encourage their continued patronage, is also one of the easiest. It boils down to saying "thank you" in letters, mailers, surveys, stateMent stuffers, receipts and invoices, and in person.

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal.

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you've seen some success, but think of the times you couldn't get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others.

Fifteen Advertising and Promotional Ideas