 |
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
March 2006
Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter, Volume IV, Issue 2
The Dr. Clue Newsletter is sent only to subscribers. We do not share names with anyone else. To receive your free subscription or to unsubscribe, email to drclue@drclue.com Dr. Clue: Solving the Puzzles of Teamwork
Welcome again to the Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter! We've got another great newsletter for you this month, including a fun icebreaker that functions as a kind of mood ring, an article about the dance of teamwork, and two interesting puzzles (with a chance at prizes). Enjoy!
Dave Blum
Overview: Set Up: Process: Next, ask the participants to add a movement to the shape-one that still reflects their current mood, and to begin to move their body shape within their own space. Now, ask the participants to continue the shape and motion, and to now move around the room, noticing the other people and what shapes and movements they are expressing. Ask them to each find several other people who have assumed a similar shape and/or movement, and to form a small group with those people. (If there are several people left over who can't find anyone with a similar shape, ask those "unique shapes" to form a separate group. If there are only one or two people who are left over, ask them each to join a group that is the most similar to their shape/movement.) Ask the small groups to discuss within each group what each person's mood was and why they chose the shapes and movements that they did. Have each group, in turn, demonstrate their shapes and movements to the larger group, and ask a spokesperson from the group to summarize the group discussion. Debrief: Ask the participants how they felt during the exercise. Did it make a difference in their mood to find other people with similar moods and shapes? How do they feel now? Did their mood change during the course of the exercise? If so, why? What did they learn about how their bodies reflect their moods?
Dr. Clue is the premier designer of corporate teambuilding treasure hunts, worldwide. We begin with the cool museum or historical neighborhood of your choice, convenient to your office or conference locale. We then bring the area alive by scouting out its hidden treasures; its statues, plaques, murals, and monuments. To reach each secret location, you and your team will need to solve our challenging, da Vinci Code-like set of puzzles, codes and ciphers. Along the trail, we'll coach you on the steps successful business teams take in working towards high performance levels.
Today's organizations require that their workforce be adaptable. Truly effective leaders know how to follow as well as how it feels to be a follower. Conversely, in order to be a productive team member, one must understand the difficulties and demands of being a team leader. Yet, we often get typecast into one role or the other: either leader or follower. As a lifelong dancer and a teacher of various forms of partner dancing, I have always focused less on teaching specific steps and more on instructing partners in ways they can work together, so that the couple moves across the dance floor as a single, harmonious entity. The key is for both partners to fully communicate with each other. In addition, I have long been aware of the fact that the best leaders on the dance floor are those who are equally capable of dancing in the follower's role. In fact, when I teach dance, I insist that everyone try both roles. Otherwise, how can one possibly fully understand what your partner is experiencing? My dance students are usually amazed when they engage in this experiment. I often hear comments such as, "Wow! I never realized that leading is so hard!" or "Who would have thought that following could be so difficult!" The same type of teamwork that it takes to partner someone on the dance floor is what is often missing in teams and organizations. Too often, people in management positions have forgotten how it feels to be an individual contributor, and it is rare that team members are given an opportunity to play a leadership role in the workplace. The daily "dance" between leaders and followers requires mutual understanding and a balance of give and take. The following are six tips for how to effectively communicate with and lead others, both on the dance floor and in the workplace: 1. Identify leader and follower responsibilities Be clear about your roles--someone has to lead and someone has to follow, or you go nowhere. It is the leader's job to navigate and to communicate to the follower what you will do next. The follower's job is to trust the leader, to remain flexible enough to move in any direction at any time, and to follow the lead. But good leaders allow the follower to influence the direction, and good followers take initiative to help steer the way. 2. Know when to lead and when to follow Be clear on roles at various points in time: who is leading and who is following, and when? There are times when roles can and should change. Too often we are forced into set roles of leader and follower. Yet, this does not allow either leaders or followers to reach their maximum potential. Good leaders know how and when to follow. Good followers understand how it feels to lead by periodically taking on the leader's role. Does your organization allow for flexibility of roles? 3. Communicate with your partner Leading and following is a partnership. Both the leader and the follower must have a clear, shared vision of where they are going. Be aware of your partner's needs as well as your own. Organizations are increasingly turning to project teams, yet our work mentality often still reflects rugged individualism. Leaders and followers need to build trust by communicating honestly with each other, giving constructive feedback, and sharing in decision-making. 4. Be flexible and adaptable to change On the dance floor, what is most important is not how many steps you know, but how well you relate to your partner and the music, and being ready for whatever happens. Good leaders rely not only on learned steps and sequences, but they also give themselves and their partners the freedom to improvise. Similarly, no amount of training can teach us everything we need to know on our jobs. We must learn to be flexible and creative, to improvise when needed, and to adapt to change. 5. Relate to other dancers on the floor Working well with your partner is not enough, since there are likely to be other people on the dance floor. How well does your work team communicate with other teams and departments in your organization? Are you duplicating efforts? Are you all going in the same direction or are you crashing into each other? Try not to always dance with the same people-the more partners you dance with, the better dancer you will become. 6. Listen to the music Listen to the music-it is the common ground between you and your partner. Make sure you are synchronized, both with each other and with the music. Working well with your team members requires paying attention to the environment in which you work: your industry, the marketplace, the community in which you are located, and the world in which we all live. This is the "music" to which we must move together. As Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, said, "To lead, one must follow." Leading and following should be a partnership-both on and off the dance floor. Remember-it takes at least two to tango! Yael Schy, MSW is a Dr. Clue facilitator and is Principal of Dramatic Strides™ Consulting, specializing in leadership development, communication skills, teambuilding and creative decision-making techniques that help people and organizations move forward by leaps and bounds. Yael brings a unique perspective by incorporating her improvisational theater and dance experience into active interpersonal skills training in the workplace. Her Teamwork Tango™ workshop, which teaches leadership skills through the metaphor of partner dancing, has been presented at a number of professional conferences and organizations in the United States and Canada. For more information, Yael can be reached at: yael@pobox.com.
What does a teambuilding treasure hunt look, feel and sound like?
Answer to Last Issue's Puzzle In our last issue, we presented you with a fairly challenging Sudoku puzzle. The answer was:
"We will surely get to our destination if we join hands." DR. CLUE HONOR ROLL This month's top five puzzle solvers were: Gretchen Finke Patras, Jan Frizzell, Brian Rangell, Rick Frenkel, and Marie Schmidt. Congratulations to everyone!
Today's Puzzle Challenge A)
As always, we'll list our Top Five fastest puzzle solvers in our Dr. Clue Honor Roll next issue. Wondering how a typical Treasure Hunt CLUE works? Click here. to follow along with one.
Paris - Marais: One of Paris' oldest and most well-preserved neighborhoods London - "Albertopolis": South Kensington and its spectacular museums Israel - Old City Jerusalem: Perhaps the ultimate historic neighborhood Israel - Tel Aviv: Modern Israel at its finest Ojai, CA: A peaceful retreat near Santa Barbara Maui, Hawaii - Upcountry: On the slopes of Haleakala Volcano Maui, Hawaii - Lahaina: Maui's most historic and well-visited city Boston - Along the Freedom Trail: Revolutionary history comes alive Dr. Clue has truly gone global! And coming in the spring: Downtown Orlando, the Orlando Science Museum, Columbus OH Arena District, Vancouver, and possibly Seattle.
Our clients, from Oracle to Yahoo, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Apple, and Wells Fargo all agree that Dr. Clue is cutting-edge teambuilding.
 Ian Blei is a jack of all trades-a process and efficiency expert, an inventor, an authority on personality styles and communication... His first book is a great read, with insightful, bite-size chapters designed to help you move forward and get more out of your life at home and at work. And the action steps really work! Look for it on Amazon. "...Ian has created an easy to use guide for anyone who wants to achieve real growth and success. His sensible and practical tactics solve age-old challenges with real, how-to solutions. Best of all, Ian lives his work!" --Romanus Wolter - Author: Kick Start Your Dream Business Success Coach Columnist: Entrepreneur Magazine Radio Host: Syndicated Kick Start Guy Segment  Dr. Clue's NEW E-BOOK, "Solving the Puzzles of Teamwork," is ready for downloadŠand it's free! A compilation of past newsletter articles, it offers great essays about teamwork, roles & relationships, communication, motivation, leadership, and much more. Download it right to your screen by clicking here and choosing the e-book option. Enjoy!
Please let us know how we can improve this newsletter!! We welcome puzzles, icebreakers, real-life teambuilding success stories-anything you'd like to contribute. And remember: If you liked this newsletter, please forward it to a friend or a colleague. Information is meant to be shared! Watch for the next edition of the Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter in May.
~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~
Dr. Clue Treasure Hunts
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
