Team building comes in many forms and the word alone has many implications depending on your perspective. Some folks see it as daring ropes courses pushing you to accomplish something fearful like bungee jumping off a bridge or flying through the air on a zip-line.

Others view it as dialoguing on problems facing the team and devising creative strategies to break through the conflict to innovations.

So what is it really?

The generic term team building is used in a lot of different ways. Here are some of the most common ways of looking at it. Team building is:

So think about what the term means to you. What do you want to accomplish in your team building experience? What are the challenges holding back your team from success?

At CEO we look at team building as an opportunity to build trust and rapport so communications will be open and honest; facing conflict with dialogue and not debate. Team building is the venue for improving work relationships, decoding the office politics, mastering conflict and enhancing communications so collaborations trust and accountability will become the team culture.

CEO will custom design a team building program that works for you and your goals. Whether it's Corporate Team Building or Experiential Team Building or a combination of both, we can design a half-day, full-day or multiple day program for you.

Corporate team building is about boosting morale, developing trust so creativity and collaboration can soar, and enhancing communication so feelings of conflict and disagreement can be aired and resolved.

• Have you ever wondered why your team just can't get along?
• Or why the team is not reaching their goals?
• Do you hope for the day when office politics doesn't get in the way of productivity

The CEO approach to corporate team building involves bringing an intact team to an off-site location to break through the barriers that are holding the team back from success. The most effective approach that has worked for years with huge success involves individual pre-calls prior to the off-site to uncover and discover the current patterns and challenges keeping your team from reaching the treasure chest of success.

This pre-work, to explore the 'hot issues', is critical to building an agenda that gets the team to high performance, where the good action is and results occur.

During off-sites, of one, two or three days, CEO facilitators will guide discussions on what's working and not working and transform the team dysfunctional patterns into patterns of trust, collaboration and accountability. During the off-site, tools, tips, and techniques of leadership development skills will be incorporated along with skills to handle communication and conflict patterns.

Teams leave a CEO off-site with action plans to be immediately put into place at work. Follow-up a few weeks after the off-site assures the team is implementing the action steps for success.

This proven approach to corporate team building and team building events builds high performing teams prepared and ready to face change and crisis with strength and resilience.

Experiental team building:

High performance team conflict resolution and problem solving call for serious team conflict management strategies. But no one ever said they can’t be FUN!

CEO specializes in Team Building events designed for eye-opening, energizing, serious fun! Everyone from top corporate executives to sports teams can use team building activities to take their game beyond their “best practices.”

Our spectacular, wooded corporate retreat in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, just an hour's drive from New Jersey and 2 hours from New York City, provides a perfect location for team building offsites -- whether for a day, a week, or as long as you like. Discover our Team Challenge low ropes course and other outdoor team building activities, or opt for indoor team building games in our spacious and comfortable meeting facility. If you prefer, our expert team building facilitators will travel to your site. Whatever option you choose, we’ll create a custom-designed program to meet your team’s specific goals.

Let us challenge your team with a series of experiential challenges to solve together, shedding light on levels of trust, teamwork, communication, decision-making skills, and problem-solving ability. CEO offers an extensive repertoire of imaginative team challenges, ranging from vigorous outdoor activities to indoor “no-sweat” programs. Just a few examples:

• Toxic Popcorn: Team members save their town from “explosion” using skills for planning, process development, and effective communication.
• Alligator Pit: The team’s challenge is to cross the pit to get the prize, while learning skills to build trust and collaboration.
• Tied in Knots: Teams of two work their way out of “the ties that bind,” putting problem-solving and creative thinking skills to the test.
• Ski Slope: The team’s mission is to traverse snow-covered mountains infested by snow trolls who want to capture their new secret weapon. Team members learn how to face their fears and move quickly, effectively, and collaboratively to save the day!
• Stack it Up: The seemingly simple task of moving paper cups helps teams master the skills of managing frustration and conflict.

Half-day and full-day programs are available.

For teams that want to maximize the transformative impact of the event, CEO’s consultants can perform a pre-event Team Effectiveness Assessment to identify the group’s strengths and weaknesses. CEO will work with the group’s leaders to custom design a program that will launch team members toward a state of high performance.

Contact us to get started on a memorable and meaningful team building event!