Belbin Teambuilding Experience April 2017

On Wednesday 26th April 12 members of our team headed out to the Peak District for a Teambuilding day. 

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Hosted by Unique Solutions, the teambuilding day was focused on Belbin Team Roles.

Results of Belbin’s test indicate which ‘Team role’s you identify most with.  A team role is “A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way.”

The objectives of the day were:

  • To be aware of your own behaviours when working with your team
  • To be aware of your team members’ contributions and have greater empathy with their ways of working
  • To know how to make the best of the different contributions individuals make
  • To be trusting enough to delegate more
  • To be able to work ‘smarter’

The team were required to work together even before the event, arranging everything from drinks and snacks to a 3 course celebratory evening meal. They were given a budget, but needed to allocate responsibilities between themselves.

“Working with a team I wouldn’t normally work with everyday was what you could call a challenge! It made me realise how each individual plays a vital part to every team. The tasks we were given allowed us to have more time to ‘think’, this is something we don’t really have the luxury of in the industry we work in but definitely highlighted allowing that little bit of extra time to plan and think things through can get better results!! Having to abseil at the end of the day really pushed me outside my comfort zone!” – Amy Vickers, Barnsley

The activies on the day 

Our staff were seperated into two teams and competed in a series of tasks:

  • Team ‘Fabulous’:  Amy Vickers, Bethany Wragg, Curt Walker, Thomas Bates, Andrea Tantrum and Sarah Wadsworth
  • Team ‘Superb’: Grace Hammond, Abigail Dearden, Lauren Starns, Emma Woodcock, Samantha Erdem and Charlie Wells

 

Bomb: 

Two square shapes were laid out on the ground, separated by a corridor. One square contained a ‘bomb’ and detonator, the other contained a tube to place the detonator into.

The team were given 20 minutes to move the detonator, but must do so with only the tools provided in the ‘bomb disposal tin’! This included string, pegs, a plastic tube and some elastic.

None of the squares could be entered, and if any item fell into one of the squares, it would explode and be removed from the game.

Teams had to work together to devise a plan and allocate responsibilities.

Production line: 

Teams were tasked with running a production line, calculating how best to use their time and team members to make the most revenue.

20 numbered plates were placed on the floor within a ‘production area’ and the team were the ‘workers’.

There was a time limit of 30 minutes for this task, in which the teams could carry out a maximum of 8 ‘production runs’ .

Each run involved all 20 plates being touched in ascending order, however only 1 worker may enter the production area at one time, and the run must be completed in less than 60 seconds.

It cost £100 for each production run and there was a £100 penalty if an egg timer wasn’t turned every 5 minutes.

The teams earned revenue by completing production runs in less than the allotted 60 seconds.

Team members had to work together to generate an effective plan – testing their communication and planning skills!

 

“The day was a great success, not only did I learn about different personalities within the business and how to identify them, I learnt about myself and ultimately how to better myself and my team” – Charlie Wells, Burton

 

Treasure Hunt

The teams were handed 10 clues and sent into Monyash Village.

The clues helped the team locate a map which indicated the location of their treasure.

Teams were split into sub-groups of 2 in order to cover more ground! Once the map was collected, the teams rejoined to discuss their next actions.

Each team had a driver who would take them to the grid locations. The treasure was hidden in a 6 mile radius of the village, so the team had to work out, in the time given, whether they could travel to all of the locations or just a few. Once the treasure was collected, the teams must then bank them by abseiling off a bridge!

Team members had to combine problem solving skills and choose the right person for the tasks.

Both teams successfully completed the tasks in the allocated time and banked all their bars.

 

“I confirmed what I already knew; I’m competitive, very much a leader but I did learn to be more aware of my surroundings and team members” – Bethany Wragg, Ripley

Evening Celebrations

The group joined together for the Celebratory 3 course meal.

They feasted on ‘Luxury Nachos’ (lots of toppings!), Turkish Salad, BBQ Pulled Pork, Stuffed Peppers and curly fries… all washed down with a generous amount of wine.

As the event fell on Lauren’s birthday, there was also lots of cake!

 

Lisa Hadfield, our Training and Development Director, says:

“It was a great team building experience, everyone got stuck in, pushed their own comfort zones and achieved  all the tasks set.  From this I am sure all our staff gained some invaluable skills and experiences that they can now take back to the office and their daily work roles.”

See all of our photos from the event below: