January 25, 2013
We know Team Building strategies that work. Sure, we have decades of experience in the Team Building industry. We also have our own team and we’re always looking for ways to get real results and enhance productivity. So, we decided to kick off 2013 by exploring ways to capitalize on the diverse strengths of our team.
DiSC is our #1 requested team building and leadership training program. Participants gain common language for understanding different styles and increasing team effectiveness. Plus, the program is experiential. Do you know what that means? It’s not boring! So, we naturally selected DiSC from our Speakers & Trainers to start the New Year on the right foot.
Our Facilitators are a special breed. Spreading excitement and fun day in and day out requires intelligence, eloquence, energy and personality. But, we had to pick just one for our own DiSC training and we definitely made the right choice. With over 18 years of experience,
Jeannie has worked as an organizational consultant, facilitator, speaker and wilderness guide with the goal of increasing the leadership capacity in corporate teams. How cool is that?!
Before the day of our training, Jeannie sent each of us a questionnaire and we spent about twenty minutes responding with preferences in word associations. The assessment classifies four aspects of behavior, which helps facilitators like Jeannie personalize the training to meet the specific needs of our team. DiSC is an acronym for:
Dominance: Relating to control, power and assertiveness; sometimes the word “Drive” is used in place of “Dominance”.
Inducement: Relating to social situations and communication; sometimes the word “Influence” is used in place of “Inducement”.
Submission: Relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness; sometimes the word “Steadiness” is used in place of “Submission”.
Compliance: Relating to structure and organization; sometimes the words “Caution” or “Conscientiousness” are used in place of “Compliance”.
At 9AM sharp, we all met at Town Spa Pizza in Stoughton, MA. If you haven’t heard of Town Spa, we feel really bad for you. You will never find better pizza. Seriously. You can even order this outstanding pizza by mail from anywhere in the US. Pizza is also excellent for Team Building. Speaking of team building, Jeannie helped keep our minds off the pending pizza lunch with several especially engaging activities.
First, we got to play. Duh. Jeannie knows how to make icebreakers fun. It is way more interesting to learn about which co-workers see themselves as salad vs. …(wait for it)… pizza and why than it is to hear about someone’s recent vacation that you did not get to go on. By the way, TeamBonding has a lot of salad, no pizza. Who knew?! After Jeannie walked us through the communication preferences of each DiSC style, we split up into various groups of different sizes throughout the day to discuss ideas, tackle puzzles and complete a “hole-in-one” challenge. But, there were no winners. None at all. It was all about the learning process. Promise. Just ignore that hole-in-one to the right.
So, here’s what we learned about TeamBonding from DiSC:
- Our team has a great balance. We have people of every style in our office.
- There’s a lot of energy at TeamBonding, with a lot of I’s keeping the excitement high!
- Context will influence your style. Some of the I’s at TeamBonding become D’s when a situation requires more drive. Versatility is key!
- Some people want LOTS of information, while others like to work fast. Knowing everyone’s preferences will allow us to build well-rounded teams for projects. In some cases, these teams may be specialized based on how we prioritize speed vs. method.
Now that we know more about our own personal styles AND how to recognize the behavioral style of others, collaboration is even greater at TeamBonding. Good job, Jeannie! We didn’t think there was any room for improvement. What do you think you would learn from DiSC training?
