Why this event?
This experience is a great way to encourage participants to meet challenges together working as small teams. But the individual teams also need to join forces to accomplish something even bigger. The pipeline itself becomes a powerful metaphor for getting a product into the hands of customers. The teams represent individual departments within a company. Yes, they each need to fulfill their own specific functions. But in the end, organizations succeed when everyone collaborates toward a common goal.
Each small group works within a designated 8′ square to build their section of pipeline. These squares are connected, so the big challenge is for teams to coordinate their efforts to ensure that each section fits together with those before and after it.
We frame the whole process as a company project, with a diverse range of roles designed to allow everyone to participate – your group gets to elect two project managers who oversee the big picture while uncovering customer needs. The pipeline has a minimum marble revenue requirement to meet. Pipeline departments each have budgets that they can spend on tape, twine and other construction materials. Meanwhile, a marketing department creates a presentation selling the benefits of the fancy new pipeline.
The high point of this event? The big moment of truth when that first marble is fed into the pipeline. Will your pipeline carry the marble all the way through without requiring adjustments or repairs? Whatever the results, count on lots of laughter and high-energy fun. This is TeamBonding, after all.
