Team Building the Balanced WorkLife Way

December 16, 2010 by Bryce Christiansen in Understanding Yourself

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Yesterday we hosted another team session with DMB and got to go through some exercises never shared on the blog before.

We have worked with DMB for several months and using our assessment tools, we have mapped the behavioral style and motivators of each of the team members.  We had also done one on one overviews to verify the accuracy of our tests.  Using this information, we were able to show the types of dynamics that come up when different behavior styles and motivators are involved.

The Egg Drop Exercise

For our first exercise we broke the team into three groups.  One was high D, meaning they were results oriented, leaders, dominating, and needed to have their ideas heard.  The second group was high theoretical, which meant they valued knowledge, researching , and analysis.  The last group was a mix of the different styles and motivators.

The Setup

Carol provided a great explanation of the exercise and what the team would try to accomplish.  Essentially, each team was given one egg representing a returning astronaut from space.  Upon reentry, they need a vessel that will protect them from the fall.

We gave each team a limited set of supplies including, craft paper, a bag, a balloon, pom poms, pipe cleaners, and a popsicle stick to begin with.  From there they were given a budget that they could spend to buy additional resources.

Constructing the Vessel

It was interesting to see how each team took on the task at hand and how the styles played out.

Team 1: The High D’s

There were some interesting observations about how the team worked and what one might expect from a group of all High D’s.  One point that stood out to me was when the team was initially designing their ship.  One member was discussing what to do with the pipe cleaners, another was discussing how wide they needed the cylinder to be, and another one was interested in how they were going to put the egg in the cylinder.  They were all focused on the task at hand that they were each individually responsible for.

Furthermore, we noticed:

• Everyone gave their opinion throughout the process
• Lots of encouragement from all members
• When Todd turned the craft upside down, everyone commented on the mistake

Team 2:  The High Theoreticals

This group was interesting to watch.  They took the longest to get started on actually building their craft, but were the first to finish.  They spent a lot of the time on the planning and running different theories by the team.  At the end they started questioning their plans.  Would their egg survive?

Team 3:  The Mixed Group

This group seemed to have the most fun with the project. They were telling egg jokes and making balloon noises.  They were really creative and supportive of everyone’s ideas.

Egg Pilots Clear for Landing

We then had each team describe the process they took, how well they got along, where there were hiccups, and then had them drop their space crafts.  Two survived, one didn’t, watch the videos to find out.

Carol concluded the exercise with her observations on team dynamics of each group.

Iron Chef

For the next team exercise, we had the groups participate in making 5 different types of pizzas including, Mexican pizza, Christmas  pizza, Thai chicken pizza, vegetarian, and meat lovers.

The team wisely planned how each pizza would be made and divided themselves between the two kitchens.  The results were much better than people anticipated starting out.

Summary

The event was a great success.  Everyone had a great time and there were great learning experiences for everyone.  It was fun to see everyone apply what they had learned about the motivation and behavior styles of themselves and the team!

Tags: team building