Play with a Purpose
Square One
The development of teams has encountered a fairly large plot twist over the last 2 years. With most companies forgoing meaningful investment in the health of teams. Given the shift to work from home and online meetings, I’m not surprised. Most organizations have been simply trying to sort out how to have folks work from home. Granted, a number of morale type online services emerged on the scene i.e. online scavenger hunts, digital goose chases, virtual escape rooms, etc. And I’m sure many companies have engaged in that style of morale building. However, morale building is but one piece of the overall plan for encouraging and maintaining healthy team dynamics.
The emergence of online team building workshops.
Our industry, has been focused on in-person events for as far back as I can recall. The shift to online has been an interesting challenge. One that, in my opinion, many service providers have fallen short on. How does one engage participants, in a browser, in ways that make meaningful contributions to team growth? From my perspective, by taking a page out of the MMO or MPORP game realms. Remember games like dungeons and dragons? Everquest? EVE Online? It is here we see the footprint for engaging, collaborative content that presents puzzles that require conversation, planning, and strategy. The requirements mirror many of the in-person activities we use to foster conversation, reflection, and forward thinking. By porting puzzles and problem solving activities to a whiteboard environment, we begin to see a path for online activities that match with our hands-on learning style.
Couple activities like these with modules focused on communication skills, situational awareness, emotional intelligence, and you begin to see a unique process emerge. Team Development in 2022 will be a fascinating journey. We are committed to exploring this new environment and offering developmental support to organizations that recognize sitting still is not a strategy when it comes to human development.
With a bit of creative thinking and knowledge of how problem-solving games work, one can design effective and engaging activities for the online environment.
Where to begin?
Recommended first step:
The True Colors Intro is a dive into what makes us who we are, how we prefer to relate, interact, communicate, and recharge. By investing in helping people understand self, we also help them understand other and that is at the root of healthy dynamics. It is a fun and fascinating exploration that ultimately fosters good communication within the work environ, and at home.