Team Efforts

As a Leader there are many choices to be made as to how you want to lead or how you will help your team. Leadership is usually a lengthy journey that gives you time to grow and time to learn where your short comings may be and how to deal with that. One aspect of leadership that I have always found cemented my team is finding a team project. Here are some hints and tips on finding the right project for you and your team:

- Who,What,Where and When - You will need to decide the answers to all of those questions firstly and then the rest kind of follows.

- I like to choose a group project by my priorities - Do I want my team to get along better? Do I want to teach them something else? Am I just showing them more things about business that they may already know? So let's say my priority is to get the team to work together better for the purpose of this exercise.

- Extra Curricular Events - These are the best way to get people to relax and unwind and therefore see their team mates on the same level as themselves. It could be a group outing designed to illustrate how businesses today uses goal setting, for example, followed by a group discussion or interaction. A possible example of this could be to go to the grounds where Expo '86 was held. Note how much the province wanted to do this and then look at the key feature (the giant Globe) was not only a representation of the world but also a huge focal point that many people came to see. Then look at how they used cutting edge technology to keep people's interest and to help them move through the entire exhibit.There are tons of businesses around the world that used strategic methods and goal setting to obtain results.

- Do a Charity - I find this is a great way to get the team out and working together on a goal for a charity. You can choose any charity that you want then try to raise funds via car washes, penny drives, rent-a-maid, etc. Think big and find a way to get out there. You can purchase a vending license from your city and then go and sell pre-made (heated) hot dogs and cold pop at the local beach or in a mall parking lot (with mall's permission). Make each Consultant set a personal fund goal and how he/she will achieve it or do it as a group activity.

- Book a hall or your condo's amenity room - Do a goofy relay indoors where each member must set a goal and try to achieve it. Offer joke prizes, refreshments, etc. Make it a fun day. Encourage another team to join in the fun or at least be the audience. Do a scavenger hunt where each mini team must find a customers needs. (Use your audience as customers or divide entire team in half and work in rotation)

- Something as simply as a demo at a cafe - Take your team to a cafe and schedule a time with the owner when you could come back and demo a tiny amount of products. The object being to gain customers or potential customers and leads. Go back to the cafe as scheduled. Show your team how easy it is to do this and how easy it is to get leads like this.

Each year I try to take my team out in different ways. I always do 1 all day training a year but I try to make it fun too plus I try to do a cafe visit once a year. From there, the odd lunch out just to chat or a trip to one of my favorite charities to help pet, clean up and cheer some cats. These outings are meant to challenge the way we think about things and are not intended to be lengthy or frequent. Remember.....


                             Life is too short.............so go out and Party!