The Team Building Team
In this series of articles, we take five minutes to chat with a member of the TeamBonding team so you can get an idea of the sort of people we are. In this installment, we talk to Paul, one of our most requested facilitators, about building teamwork, meeting the goals of the company and his secret weapon…
TeamBonding’s Favorite Facilitator Paul Giroux, Building Teamwork Through Game Shows
As our most requested event facilitator, Paul Giroux has not only mastered the art of building teamwork through fun, but he is also able to customize events so they achieve the wide-ranging goals our clients envision our programs delivering.
Recently he managed to host four events in one 24-hour period, a feat never before accomplished by a TeamBonding facilitator.
We caught up with him just as he landed in the Dallas airport to host several Texas team building events.
Why do think you are such a favorite among TeamBonding clients, particularly with “Game Shows“?
Planning, organization, hard work, and most importantly quick wit. I’m able to quickly build a rapport with the participants and that means I can work off people’s responses or lack of responses. This gets them excited and engaged, so people have a great time.
That’s what counts, making sure people have a good time. I know that these events are designed for building teamwork but I would also imagine that companies have a goal in mind for their events. Can you tell me a little about that?
Sure. The events we host are all designed to focus on building teamwork, morale and communication among co-workers. But companies may also have a pretty wide array of goals in mind for these events and they often use these events to mark an occasion.
Morale boosting is certainly behind most of those goals, but companies also use them to mark a successful year-end or to kick off a new year on a high point. They also plan these events at the launch or end of a product, to encourage employees to meet one another, when pulling together a new product team, and even to help in training.
How does a game show or an event focused on building teamwork help with corporate training?
Well, one client had their employees attend sales and product training for a week and then used a game show event to test them.
When I met with the managers before planning the event and learned what they wanted to achieve, I customized the game show format with questions that were all about the training sessions. The game show helped the company make sure that their training was effective and the employees had a great time, so it was a win-win.
David tells me that you once managed to host four events in 24 hours. How exactly did you pull that off?
Well, the stars had to align just so to make that happen! Actually, my team had to be incredibly organized. They set things up for a later event while I was hosting an event, and luckily I got from one to the next without a hitch.
Usually, I like to arrive on-site about two hours before an event but that day I was walking in just about half an hour before each event started. It was definitely a busy 24 hours.
What events did you host that day?
They were all game shows.
Did that make a difference in helping them all come off successfully?
Absolutely. These events usually run about 90 minutes to 2 hours, so that made planning a bit easier.
So I would imagine that meant you had to be on your toes and high energy throughout all of those events. How did you manage that with so many scheduled in such a short period of time?
5 Hour Energy is a secret weapon! But once you get to an event, especially a game show, and you pull together the set and people arrive, the energy just begins to flow and it’s contagious.
People in general love game shows, so when they see a set that reminds them of Jeopardy or Family Feud they get excited and know that they’re going to have a lot fun.
I bet! I know I would enjoy that. Did you manage to get any sleep that day?
No, but I caught up on it the next day.
It sounds like you love your job. How did you end up in this line of work? I know I never read about hosting events focused on building teamwork or hosting corporate game shows from my high school guidance counselor.
I do love my job. Every day at TeamBonding is different. I actually own a corporate entertainment company and at an event one night I met David. I started doing game shows and have just hosted more and more different programs over time. After nine years with TeamBonding, I’m enjoying it as much as I did when I first started.
Game shows are Paul’s specialties, but TeamBonding also has dozens of other events and facilitators. We can meet your Team Building needs no matter how outrageous they are!
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