SF Teambuilding

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Comment by Phil Aspden on May 21, 2009 at 7:37pm

I like Sues suggestion and I wonder if there is a need to define what 'cross functional' is during your platform building. I would be inclined to ask the client to describe what this might look like at its best - its a term that is used for many different [sometimes unexpected] things

Comment by Sue Lickorish on May 21, 2009 at 6:23pm

Hi Michael,
How about simply: "Suppose you have become more cross functional as you work together. How do you know?" Then use any variation on writing, drawing, acting, discussing to capture their thoughts.

Or do the documentary thing: A film crew is coming to make a documentary about your team, as you are supremely good at cross functional working. What will they be filming? What stories will they be capturing? Paul Z Jackson has a visual activity of this in the book '57 SF Activities'.

I wonder if these questions might work better as 'discussion topics' rather than 'comments', so we can follow the thread more easily?

Comment by Michael Goran on May 21, 2009 at 3:07pm

Hello all. I've been a bit quiet lately, sorry about that. I now have a question: I have a session coming up with some Federal Government employees in June...part of the mandate of the day is some...teambuilding. They want to become more cross functional as they work together. What's one SF question you might ask them to work on to help them fulfil this part of the day's agenda?

Comment by Carole Waskett on March 2, 2009 at 4:36pm

Hi Stanus,
What helpful questions - I might create something early in the day which would help team members talk about them. I'm sure that if they were able to explore exactly this at leisure they will be halfway there!
Thanks so much for taking the trouble to think about this with me -
All the best from a grateful Sahara -
Carole

Comment by Stanus Cloete on February 17, 2009 at 1:11pm

Hi Carole,
Mmmmmm nourishment .....What would be the first sign that they received nourishment? What would their colleagues notice that will tell that they received nourishment? What would their families notice? Who else would notice that something is different? What would they do different when they are nourished? What would be the first small step? etc.

I hope I do not sound flippant. It might be that you have a very clear idea about what it is they want. But the words nourishment and encouragement do not tell me much. Besides what I would understand under these words in no way guarantees that it would fit their frame of reference. If this is carrying sand to the Sahara, please forgive me.
Best wishes.
Stanus

Comment by Carole Waskett on February 17, 2009 at 8:54am

Hello everyone,
Does anyone have any ideas about a teambuilding day offering 'nourishment and encouragement'? I've done 2 previous team days for this particular group of health service professionals, each one very different, but this time they say they are under severe stress, overworking and weary. They are quite specific about wanting the above 'nourishment and encouragement' from the day.

This is a real gift to an SF practitioner and I would love them to get what they want! I have Daniel Meier's book and the 57 activities and lots more. Finding individual activities is not too much of a problem. What I'm thinking about is an overarching pattern or plan for the day so that each activity flows from the previous one and feels right, in its place, rather than 'bitty'.

Any thoughts or ideas for this rather vague request would be most welcome, please?
Best wishes,
Carole

Comment by Stanus Cloete on January 31, 2009 at 5:25pm

Hi Pat,
I experienced it with whispering in the ear, well not really whisper, but softly spoken while the groups were relatively far apart. With 8 people you can set them apart at oposite ends of the room, four in a group.
As far as the love letters are concerned you could ask this small group to write a love letter to every participant.
Best wishes.

Comment by Pat Walker on January 31, 2009 at 3:32pm

Thanks Stanus. It was good to see your response when I got back holiday. I have the 57 SF book and will look at both of your suggestions. I like the Love Letters idea with each particpant taking away post cards with affirmations, but I'm wondering if there's potential for it to be seen as competitive if some particpants take home more post cards than others (or worse still, no post cards at all!).

Given that there will only be 8 particpants, would you recommend sharing the feedback out loud or having the particpants whisper into their neighbour's ear when using the Resource Telephone technique?

Has anyone else had any experience using either of these methods to energise a group at the end of a workshop?

With best wishes, Pat

Comment by Stanus Cloete on January 17, 2009 at 6:03pm

Hi Pat,
I can think of two excercises from the book 57 SF activities for facilitators and consultants One is the Resource Telephone and the other is Love Letters. I experienced the first in a workshop with Frank Thomas about the Leader and Solution Practices and found it excellent. I don't know if you could find it elsewhere on the net. I hope it helps.

Comment by Pat Walker on January 13, 2009 at 4:20pm

Hello Everyone, I wonder if anyone can me give any ideas for ending a teambuilding workshop. I will be facilitating 8 Matrons to identify their roles and responsibilities within an NHS Trust. My intention is to use a SF approach during the workshop. My client has particuarly requested that I end the day on a 30-40 minutes energiser that leaves them motivated and upbeat to take forward any actions that are agreed. (I have already used the Sparkling Moments exercise with this particular group). I look forward to learning from your experience and wisdom. Best wishes Pat

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