Teams That Thrive

Wise Managers' Choice for Team Building in the Philippines

Team Building Ideas

Our mission is to provide you with opportunities to make your team building experience positively good. Use these team-building insights to guide you on building high impact teams.

Care for People

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You can build a high impact team if you care enough for them. As a team leader, your success is measured by the success of your team.

Many managers are task-oriented. They believe that the only way for the team to succeed is to get everyone moving.

Get things done. That’s their mission. This is easy if you are working on things that you can do by yourself. But leading a team is not like making machines work.

Teams are people. People have different values and aspirations. They’ll assert who they are. They will comply with your orders when not doing so will risk their jobs. But only to some extent.

A compliant team will find it difficult to become a high performing team. That’s because they play safe. That’s because they are not committed.

People give their commitment to those who care for them. Remember that people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. They understand that whatever you want them to do will benefit them. This is why they are engaged. This is why they go beyond job descriptions. This is why to give extraordinary efforts.

I have been sharing these to team leaders and any team building facilitator must keep this in mind. Commitment begins with caring. So it is to your best interest to show people that you care.

Jef Menguin

P.S. When you want to have questions about building great teams, send an email to inspire@jefmenguin.com. Use the subject: 10x Teams Questions

Focus on Results

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As a team leader, your first assignment is to get your team to have an honest look at itself.

Help your team make accurate assessments of its actions and structure. Understand that your team is a perfect fit for its current structure and performance of its members.

People preoccupied about their daily businesses become blind to what they’re doing. They fail to correct themselves. They ignore the great potentialities before them.

As a team leader, you must also be able to discover the assets of your team. You make the most of your complementary strengths. Express how what you believe is best for each of your members. And when necessary sell it to them.

Ignorance makes people indifferent. Awareness is the beginning of personal accountability. Encourage your people to acknowledge what they are doing. Help them see who they are. They’ll look for options.

They make things happen.

Jef Menguin

P.S. You can come up with team-building programs that support your business objectives. Competency-based programs are powerful and many managers fail to experience them.

Why Do Team Building

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Team building is not an event, a collection of games, or an intellectual concept.

Team building initiatives fail when organizers focus on rituals but ignore reasons, when they are obsessed with activities and ignore applications, when they think of games and forget goals.

You do not build the team the same way.

You can do that with machines, but not with people.

Those who use cookie-cutter approaches to team building do not understand the purposes of team building.

Individual Development

The first purpose is individual development.

When professionals apply for jobs, they look forward to the opportunities to shine, to be on top, to be above others. They have their dreams and aspirations long before they join teams. They hold values that are likely different from each other.

Team building initiatives must speed up individual and professional growth.

Many team-building programs emphasize that there is no “I” in teamwork. That is very wrong.

Team building is not defined by how a word is spelled. Individuals should not disappear in a team. In five star teams, team members become stars.

Give attention to their career growth.

Provide members with coaches and mentors.

Help them achieve their personal dreams.

Allow achievers to start their own teams rather than keeping them to a team where there is no space for them to grow.

Building Relationship

The second purpose is relationship building.

Experiences have shown that grouping together high performing individuals do not make high performing teams. Oftentimes, the product is less than the sum of its parts.

High performing individuals do not perform well when they work with people they do not trust and respect.

They do not share knowledge and information with others who are threats to their success.

They do not give their best shot when they know that others, not they, would be rewarded for their achievements.

Team building must build strong relationships. It must convince members that each one plays an important role and they must complement each other.

You must demonstrate that by helping each other, one works with the team can do more than working alone.

You must give attention to team competencies that build relationships.

These are interpersonal communication, diversity, and participative leadership.

You must also consider team attitudes like accountability, responsibility, respect, and trust.

Deliver Results.

The third purpose is the corporate goal achievement.

A team is created to achieve a goal. Team building increases its chances to success.

Team building programs run for the sake of fun aren’t funny.

Teams building exercises that emphasize the value of teamwork but do not contribute to the achievement of team goals waste time, money, energy, and opportunities.

Make your team building simple and powerful.

Get Team Commitment

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Building a team starts with team commitment. You need to get the commitment of the team leader, the members, and other stakeholders. Many team-building exercises fail because the people involved are not committed to their tasks and to each other.

1. When you decide to hold your team building workshop, begin with a contract or agreement with a trainer. If you are using your in-house trainers, you must get their commitment to helping you conduct your team building workshop. Seek his expertise so that you can present well your objectives to your boss.

2. Get the commitment of your boss to support your team building initiatives. Show him the benefits of having your team building exercises. It may increase revenue, reduce cost, help build a relationship, or prepare your team for the future. When your boss is committed, he can sponsor your initiatives. Your boss is your best ally.

3. If you are hiring a team building facilitator, hire those who do understand what they are doing. In the Philippines, many managers have the habit of “canvassing” for the team building modules instead of qualifying expert facilitators. You do not begin building a team by buying modules because team building is not a product, but a process that will help you equip your team to perform effectively. Think of it as an intervention or a solution.

Canned team building programs are for everyone, and what is for everyone is to no one. Your team building expert should be able to help you design and develop your solutions- yes, even the ones which are not yet existing.

Get your facilitators’ commitment to help you through the process. Facilitators who are too busy to explain what you need to know aren’t facilitators.

Remember this: a team building workshop must be tailor-fit to your team because your team is unique.

Remember this also: your contract with your team building facilitator must include the assessment, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of your team building program. You must not shortchange yourself. You do not save money by short-circuiting the team-building process.

4. Once you and the trainer have inked your contract, you and the trainer need to work with other key stakeholders to get their support. I do not require this, but other stakeholders need to know that a team building workshop will be conducted.

For example, I usually interview senior managers and the CEO. They will provide useful input about what your team needs to accomplish in your team building workshop. This will give me a view from the top. Also, other stakeholders may provide me information about challenges which you, the team leader, are not aware of.

5. More importantly, you have to get the commitment of your team members. You can start by asking them to answer some questions:
a. What do you think is the purpose of our team?
b. What support do you need from our team?
c. What supports our team can expect from you?
d. What do you like most about our team when it comes to performance?
e. What do you like most about our team when it comes to relationships?
f. What change do you want to see in our team?

Avoid the wrong road.

This is a common mistake. In my eight years of helping organizations build teams, many managers think that team building is a great opportunity to chill and relax. Others consider team building as an opportunity to exorcise the bad attitude of some team members. They pray that through inspirational speeches, team members will change the heart and be more committed to meeting the business objectives of the organization.

It is common that people go to a team building workshop clueless about the objectives of the event and hoping that their team building will not be as boring as last year’s.

Nine of ten people hired me because of the descriptions in my team building workshops. I will be saving time and earning more money by simply delivering the same programs again and again. But that is not okay.

That is not the best way to help customers.Customers have ideas about their problems, but sometimes they do not know how team building workshops can really help them. They need to know that process so they can maximize resources, time, and energy.

Team building begins with a commitment from everyone.

Getting the commitment of everyone: the management, your trainers, your members, the customers, and other stakeholders will put you on the right track. Team building is a contact sport.

Ensure the success of your efforts by bringing everyone to your side.

Jef Menguin

Plan for Success Before You Conduct Team Building Exercises

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Observe that in many team building games, facilitators require you to play one game after another. They give you instructions. Then tell you the time available for you — and the best time ever which you are not likely to beat.

They do not bother to tell you why you’ll play the game. There is no story. There is no reflection. You’ll get tired but there is nothing to learn.

And don’t forget, they also do not give you time to plan. If you are not planning for success, you will most likely fail.

Positive Team Building encourages you to design your success. It is not enough that you find the answers to your question or you see opportunities in every corner. You must plan for your success before you execute them.

Not only that. Your action plan must rely on the actions that will be taken by every team member. Your team action plan isn’t a plan on how you intend to make each member play. No way, Jose. Your members aren’t pawns in a chessboard. They must be the players to your game. Your action plan must promote self-reliance.

Plan for success.

Jef Menguin

What You Ought to Know About Team Building

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WHAT IS A TEAM?

A team is a group of people who are mutually dependent on one another to achieve a common goal.

An effective team function well together.

To achieve this, each team member must be able to achieve both personal and team goals. This ensures commitment and accountability. Team members must develop mutual respect and keep open and honest communication.

And more importantly, there is synergy. Each member of the team can produce more when they work together than when they work separate and independent of each other.

WHAT IS TEAM BUILDING?

Team building is a collective term for learning exercises used to enhance the capacity of team members to achieve team objectives and goals.

Basic team building exercises aim to define goals, clarify roles, encourage open and honest communication between members, establish decision-making process, and promote effective working relationships.

In team-based organizations, team building is a component of team development strategy.

WHAT ARE TEAM BUILDING FACILITATORS?

Team building facilitator help team members understand their common objectives. they guide teams in planning how to achieve those objectives. In this sense, team building facilitators are “neutral” and do not take particular position in discussion.

Professional team building facilitators have deep understanding of team dynamics and processes. The offer tools that teams can use to develop strategies and to execute plans.

Professional team building facilitators personalize experiences in enabling teams to achieve goals.

Excellent facilitators can help participants simplify complex problems.

Some facilitators are subject matter experts, trainers, and speakers too. However, when facilitating team building exercises, the facilitator’s primary role is not to inject knowledge or develop new skills but to guide team members so they can solve their challenges.

Not everyone who offers team building programs are facilitators. Some are events organizers, game masters, and training vendors. It is very important that you get the right persons who can help you build your teams.

WHO ARE THE PHILIPPINE TEAM BUILDING FACILITATORS?

They are professional team building facilitators who work with organizations, both private and public, to develop high impact teams.

Some are experts in facilitating outdoor, adventure type team building programs. They design and run competency-based programs which are fun-filled, goal-oriented, friendly, and safe. They facilitate small groups of twenty to corporate-wide sales rallies of 800 people.

Some facilitators are experts in facilitating executive retreats. We combine indoor and outdoor activities for executive retreats. Companies usually have executive retreats for strategic planning, change management, culture building, creativity and innovation sessions, and team leadership.

Jef Menguin heads this group of professional team building facilitators in the Philippines.

Hiring A Team Building Speaker

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A great teamwork speaker can

  • help you strengthen your team,
  • increase your corporate competitiveness, and
  • position your company for the next big thing.

To make the most of these opportunities, it is necessary that you choose the right teamwork speaker for your organization. Unfortunately, not everyone has good experiences in dealing with many teamwork speakers.

A common complaint is the lack of impact.

Nobody can explain the ROI for inviting a teamwork speaker.

You must have heard of the reasoning that “soft” skills cannot be measured. That is wrong on multiple levels.

I will not discuss today how to measure the impact or the ROI of inviting a teamwork speaker.

I will do is to tell you why many HR managers fail to get the right teamwork speaker and how to remedy this problem.

Later, I will give you suggestions on how to get a great teamwork speaker.

Listen to this: the problem usually begins with those who invite the speakers.

A Teamwork Speaker Who Doesn’t Know What You Want —
No Matter How Motivational He Is — Cannot Help You.

“We have a business meeting two days from now, and we need a speaker on teamwork”

“Why do you need a speaker who will talk about teamwork?”

“Because we do it every year.”

“What do you mean? You invite a speaker to talk about teamwork every year?”

“Yes, sir!”

“And have you seen any improvement? Have you met your objectives? Do you have better teams now?”

“I do not know sir. But for the last three years, our resource speakers lectured for 2 hours. We were bored to death. This is why we want a motivational speaker who will talk about teamwork this year?”

“What made you think that a motivational speaker can help you?”

“I do not know sir, but my boss told me to find one? Are you available sir?

“I will be available in 30 days, but I am not sure I can help you.”

Most professional speakers have experienced this conversation. Those who are inviting them do not know the purpose of the invitation — aside from the fact that they need someone who will talk about teamwork.

Anyone who wants to earn easy money will talk about teamwork, anytime, even without any preparation. Any speaker who will accept an invitation without understanding the need of the audience serves only his or her interest. No matter how “motivational” he is, he does not speak to help you.


Be Certain that You Really Need a Team Building Speaker

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the responsibility to build the team is upon the team leader.

If your team leaders are not effective communicators, train them to become effective communicators. Let them tell your team story. Encourage them to paint the picture of your team.

Teach your supervisors to speak.

Teach your managers to speak.

Teach your CEOs to speak.

And encourage a teamwork culture.

No teamwork speaker can cure a company with a broken team spirit.

Hire a Team Building Speaker
Only to Support Your Business Goals

Do it right the first time.

Don’t waste your money and effort on something that will not bring a return on your investment. Be wiser. You build a team to achieve your business goals, and therefore, every speech or workshop or seminar or group activities must serve your specific team purpose.

If you are not clear about the purpose of your team or of your team-building efforts, it is best not to get a speaker this time.

Instead, seek the help of your human resource department. Most of the time, they can help you.

Go back to the drawing board. Align your team objectives to your team strategies.

If your HR department lacks the experience to help you, contact me. I will tell you what you need to hear.

Require Him to Speak About a Specific Need

A professional speaker will speak with understanding.

He (or she) will most likely get information from you. He will ask you what you want, and he will be ready to tell you — after assessment– what you really need.

Yes, you can tell the speaker about your specific challenge.

Find the speaker who is the right fit to your company.

There are speakers who cannot speak outside their pet topics. They will do all acrobatic acts to find a link between your problem and their pet topics.

Think twice.

Every good speaker needs time to prepare.

I still do not know how other speakers can deliver 24 speech topics in a one month. Maybe they have researchers interviewing participants and digging solutions while they speak.

But someone who does not have the time to craft a speech unique to your situation and problem will find it difficult to serve you well.

If you will use the form on my website, you will observe that I ask preliminary questions. I need your answers to these questions before I can agree to work with you.

And I will ask more during our initial meeting. Then I will try to convince you to allow me to speak to some of the participants because I want to fully understand your business.

This is my style. And this is why I avoid daily speaking engagements. I value each client like a gem.

Speech Topics You Can Ask Team Building Speakers to Deliver

Your objectives will define speech topics.

I will describe to you some of the teamwork topics that you can assign to your speaker.

Accountability. Some team members play blame games. For many companies in the Philippines, the “accountable person” is the team member who should take all the blame.

Accountability is not about who to blame when problems come.

It is a call to be “counted”, to volunteer, to take responsibility, and recognize the importance of your work to the success of others.

Trust. I can tell you six elements of team trust. These are confidence, competence, compassion, congruency, communication, and consistency. Without trust, no team-building efforts will ever succeed.

No need to talk about trust if this is not the problem of your team.

I suggest that you use some tools to determine the culture of trust in your organization. Then get a speaker to talk about specific steps to encourage a trusting culture.

Conflict (or the Fear of Conflict). Most of the times this needs a full-blown retreat or a coaching program. But conflict is ever-present in teams especially with teams composed of high flyers. This is not a worry among low flyers.

A simple survey can help you zero in on the cause of conflict: lack of trust, misaligned or unclear goals, undefined roles, unclear communication lines, decision-making process and others.

The objective of your speaker is not only to encourage people to embrace conflict. Your speaker must be able to show how to address specific causes of team conflict and the steps everyone must take to master (or at least manage) conflict in the workplace.

Improving Performance by Clarifying and Setting High Goals. Many team members find it difficult to achieve team goals because leaders fail to clarify goals and excite teams to achieve goals.

Of course, the better step is for you to teach team leaders how to clarify team goals.

Defining Team Roles. If your team building speaker will address your team leaders, tell him to show simple and specific steps to clarify team roles.

Hint: find out how to make a team charter and some ideas on one-page management which is a lot simpler than most key performance indicators templates.

In a full-blown workshop, you have to put together the following: Goals, Roles, Communication, and Decision Making.

Team Communication. There are thousands of topics on communication. So be specific. Do you want your speaker to teach your team interpersonal communication, collaborative communication, or assertive communication?

Do you want them to have more confidence in communicating with clients, with bosses, with suppliers, or with each other?

Team Customer Service. Most customer service training programs focused on individuals serving customers. Training teams how to serve customers is ten times better.

The mindset is different and the standards are higher. This is more in the private sector than in government agencies.

There can be hundreds of topics that I can include here. Each one addresses specific team issues, problems, or challenges.

You can talk about team excellence, team execution, team problem-solving, team respect, team agility, team change, team flexibility, team performance, team innovation, and more.

Filipinos are emotional people. This is good.

Emotion is energy in motion. Emotions, not logic or statistics or arguments, move people. And Filipinos with malasakit are team players.

How Often Should We Invite a Team Building Speaker?

Whenever you need them.

Not whenever you have an event.

Your need should be the only reason why you must invite a team building speaker. Remember, team leaders can do better if you will train them in team leadership.

Do you need a speaker every month? I think some companies find it practical to invite a team speaker every month.

These companies have already mapped out the solutions they want from the speaker. They have already explored other options and they find that inviting a team building speaker is the most practical and the fastest way to improve their teams.

However, 99.9 percent of teams out there are clueless.

To invite a clueless motivational speaker to motivate your clueless people is a waste of time and opportunity — and that is the surest way to demotivate your people.

Make Him or Her Speak During the Most Appropriate Event

I can speak in Flag Ceremonies.

Most organizations have weekly flag ceremonies. Others invite a speaker every month. You can give a speaker like 15 to 30 minutes.

If your company is in the Laguna area, contact me a week or two before your event. Tell me everything I need to know. Get someone to fetch me and to bring me back to my cave afterward.

You can make your team building speaker share ideas before your crisis management seminars. Inspire team spirit because crisis management is a team effort.

Make him speak before you conduct your strategic or business planning. Most of these sessions are on numbers. It is more effective to remind them that you are planning and strategizing not just for profits but for people. And your people are the makers of your success.

Make him speak during anniversaries. Excellent teamwork speakers know precisely how to recognize the efforts given by everyone to make things happen. Of course, he is not there to replace the inspirational speech of the CEO or the Chairman of the Board.

A talk on personal excellence is good. A talk on team excellence is always better. Make the most of every event to address your teamwork goals.

Having said that. Let your award giving be more on team performance than individual performance.

You can invite your team building speaker to your team meetings. I know of managers who meet for at least two hours almost every day. On some days, bring together your employees to listen to a speaker.

I can share with you more speaking occasions but I have to stop here. I am sure you got my point. Our imagination is our limit.