Best Sellers 
FOR PEOPLE, TEAMS & CULTURE
Introduction |
A large range of options, and a wide variety of capabilities now exist for "team building" events and concepts. This guide is designed to assist a conference organiser plan and co-ordinate team based events or concepts for a conference.
Working in partnership with you / Joint Delivery. |
We appreciate that the people we work with to design and deliver a team-building event or programme at a conference range from those who are veterans of team events, to those who may never have booked or organised such an event before.
We have worked in close partnership with people from all areas of the corporate and events world to design and deliver events and programmes for our clients.
- Professional Conference Organisers
- Senior Managers
- Sales and Marketing Managers
- Personal and Executive Assistants
- Event and Function Co-ordinators
- Hotel Conference and Banquet Co-ordinators
- Conference Committees
- Production Company and Ad Agency teams
- Human Resource Managers
- External trainers and consultants
- And many others
We will match our expertise and experience with that of the client or their nominated representatives to get the job done!
Why a team building event? |
Many and varied reasons exist as to why a client wishes to engage us to provide a team based vent or concept at a conference. They include…
Team and Management Development
- Target specific issues and themes.
- Increase awareness about individual and team operating methods.
- Make improvements to team execution / skills and processes.
- Focus upon behavioral and business outcomes.
- Build into the conference a platform for team development.
Fun / Entertainment / Social
- Accelerate networking and group cohesion at a conference.
- Powerful shared experiences for participants.
- Get to know one another.
- A creative alternative to the usual golf or activities.
- Break the ice / energise participants.
- Just have fun in a structured and professionally delivered way.
- Offset FBT liability to replace business sessions with a quality event tailored to meet the necessary criteria.
Culture Building
- Deliver company values and messages in memorable ways.
- Reinforce conference themes and messages with real examples.
- Promote and enhance company morale and values.
- Address change / merger or de-merger issues.
Drilling home a conference message
- Go far beyond the usual audio-visual approaches and speakers.
- Tailor concepts and approaches to compliment content.
- Cascade messages into multiple dimensions rather than standard approaches to conference sessions.
Indeed a well-planned and facilitated event can incorporate many of these factors.
Diagnostics / What do we want to achieve? |
We strongly advocate that a detailed diagnostic process is undertaken with each client to ascertain exactly what it is that they wish to achieve from this event. If the expected outcomes are purely at the fun end of the spectrum this process is quite simple. Where we are creating concepts that dovetail into significant business or cultural initiatives this process can be quite involved and appropriately more complex.
Issues to consider, and that we may explore with each client as appropriate to their needs are along the following lines…
A snapshot of where the tone of this event should sit
1. Underline on this spectrum where you think your focus sits with regards to the level of delivery / facilitation for this event / programme. 1 indicates pure fun and interaction and 10 indicates an emphasis on structured learning and outcomes.
Fun and Interaction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Structured Learning
Your Company
1. Are there any major trends or developments within your industry that are impacting upon your company / your people and may have relevance to the event we deliver?
2. Within the company are there any internal changes / re structures that may have impacted upon the way you operate and that may have relevance to any Sabre event we deliver?
3. Does the company have any existing training initiatives / management theory / process models that are currently in use that you may like to see included in any Sabre event that you engage us to deliver for you?
Your People
1. What area of the company do these people come from?
2. What previous exposure have they had to team / management development events and activities and how do they typically react to such events?
3. Do they know each other well? Are they a team because they literally work together, or because they are from the same function?
4. What would you identify as the participants strengths with regards to the way they operate both as individuals and as teams?
5. Are there any areas in which you feel the participants may improve their process skills or the way they currently operate?
6. Has this group undertaken any form of profiling (eg. Right Path, Belbin, MBTI, DISC) and is that something you may wish us to build into an event?
*For a detailed internal team diagnostic please ask us for the "Building Blocks of Teamwork" questionnaire which is very useful for pinpointing issues within the team.
Expectations from this event or programme
1. What are the main reasons that you would like to conduct a team based event or programme?
2. Are there any major issues or themes you would like our approaches to focus upon from either an internal team perspective or a broader organisational perspective? (eg diversity within the team, embracing change, cross-functional working, customer focus, see the bigger picture, improve execution, get to know each other better, fun and motivation etc)?
3. What will you be delighted to achieve from this event or programme and how will you measure it?
4. Have you seen any approaches from our brochures, web site or other material that have already caught your eye and that you feel may suit your needs?
5. Is there anything else that you feel may enhance our understanding of what you would like us to achieve or allow us to better understand how we may be able to design or tailor our approaches to suit you?
What types of activities can be employed? |
There are literally hundreds of different concepts, combinations, themes and approaches available to choose from. They broadly fall within the following types.
Ice Breakers / Energisers
Short duration with an emphasis upon fun.
- Stimulates networking and bonding.
- Fun and interaction with a purpose.
- Achieves physical and mental revitalisation at the right times.
- Formats people for team based or creative approaches.
Team development challenges / tasks
A project based challenge that requires teams to undertake a collaborative approach to achieving a designated outcome.
- Awareness of individual and team operating methods.
- Refinement of team process skills and approaches.
- Problem solving, decision making, role clarity, communication etc.
Creative signature challenge events
Unique and high impact experiences tailored to suit the group.
- Creativity and personal expression.
- Collaborative approach to overcoming new challenges.
- Challenges personal barriers by acquisition of new and unusual skills.
Complex Scenario Based Programmes
Challenge based projects of longer duration that mirror workplace processes with multi task and challenge formulas built within a chosen theme / destination. The duration and complexity of these programmes varies to suit the brief.
- Team, management and leadership issues.
- Strategic focus drilled down to practical tactical execution.
- Planning and prioritisation.
- Big Picture versus Micro issues and communication.
- Experiential and workshop methodologies blended together.
Tailored and holistic approaches
Blended variations of all of the above with targeted workplace milestones and follow through.
- Heavily tailored and adapted elements.
- Co-facilitation / delivery with key company players.
- Measurable follow-through and results after the event.
Indoors or Outdoors |
Most concepts can be tailored or adapted to suit either or both depending upon the venue and likely weather patterns within the chosen destination. Flexibility can usually be maintained right up until the day of the event in some cases, but some concepts will be dedicated indoor or outdoor concepts.
What about rain?
When well managed this usually makes no difference at all to a carefully planned programme. Rain coats / ponchos can be given to all participants or elements of a programme are moved indoors (or both).
The arrival of rain can actually be a positive factor when many concepts quickly achieve such a high level of participant "buy in" and enthusiasm that rain is simply seen as a minor obstacle and the main focus rests upon getting the challenge done.
An off the shelf product or a tailored product? |
Off the shelf / existing concepts
For clients with little time, budget limitations or fairly straightforward objectives an off the shelf or standard product may very well be suitable. Remember that it will have been tested and proven already with many previous clients and enormous scope for tailoring exists within most of these anyway.
Tailored / custom designed
This approach can be as simple as adapting one or a number of existing concepts to suit your aims and objectives, or as sophisticated as a detailed diagnostic approach that will allow us to create a totally new concept and approach from scratch. Many of our existing concepts have been created in this way as a response to an unusual or challenging request from an existing client.
A tailored approach is commonly undertaken by us in every case, but is particularly appropriate when…
- Outcomes and objectives are unique to the group or are being dovetailed into broader company initiatives.
- The team events are not merely stand-alone, but rather fitting into a bigger conference or organisational picture.
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Your chosen destination has geography, history or mythology you would like to have incorporated into a concept.
Where should the event be placed in the agenda? |
This is largely subject to why you may have decided to run a team event, the desired duration and outcomes and of course the rest of the agenda. Some team events are suitable as openers or closers, whereas others can be placed literally anywhere in a conference agenda.
Early in a conference assists with maximising delegate interaction and cohesian which will benefit other conference sessions that follow, whilst later in a conference may help to ensure that your participants leave on a discernable high note.
On many occasions events or concepts may be selected to reinforce a particular session or link sessions via hands on examples and approaches that mirror the workplace and the conference or organisational themes. On these occasions team events and activities can be literally dotted throughout the conference agenda.
Specific timing issues (we can deliver anything from 1 hour to multi-day events), may also be influenced by the following…
Early Morning.
Can be a great pace setter for a day, but the potential hangover
blues must be taken into consideration if genuine content and outcomes
are an element of the experience.
Half-day event with lunch as a start or end point.
The most common approach is morning till lunch / incorporating lunch
or after lunch running into an afternoon event. A half-day duration
is an effective time period within which to achieve the balance
between fun and learning for most conference events. In many cases
if a full day is required, two separate half-day sessions are a
better use of time than a straight full day as these can be tiring.
Full day event.
A full day can be a great way to incorporate a variety of experiences
but a careful balance must be struck between quality content and
outcomes versus just trying to fill in a day. With a longer duration
will come a greater expectation form participants that there is
some reason for undertaking something of this duration. Substantive
content, or novelty of locations are usually important in making
a full day worthwhile. Consider two half-day events on some occasions
to break up the conference rather than just a solid full day unless
this is necessary for some other reason.
Evening event running into a dinner.
A great number of team events can be designed to introduce a themed
dinner that evening, or indeed to become an integral part of a dinner.
Providing that the introduction of alcohol and team event is carefully
planned for or managed, these can be very successful indeed.
Fully integrated into the conference |
The full integration of conference content, venue, food and beverage and team event concepts into a totally holistic and synchronous approach can be very powerful. In this way no element of the conference is a stand-alone, but rather reinforces every other element and helps to accelerate learning and increase delegate involvement.
Multiple team events / experiences can easily be tailored to dovetail into the conference itself to reinforce presentations and link elements of a conference beautifully together. We are always keen to discuss and elaborate on these approaches with a client because they work extremely well.
This can be as simple as carrying a theme through an entire conference, or building a conference and its content with us from start to finish to integrate our approaches with yours and those of the PCO, venue and production company / creative agency people.
Venue Selection |
It is easy to match a specific concept to a particular venue or destination, tailor an existing concept to suit or to create a totally new one to suit. This depends upon what you wish to achieve and which concepts or approaches are suitable with regards to logistics and space.
If the venue has been selected before we have been engaged, we will tailor and adapt as required to suit that venue.
If you would like our advice to select a venue specifically to suit our concepts and approaches we are also delighted to assist you in that regard.
A wide variety of concepts exists to cater for ballrooms, resort lawns and facilities, beaches, CBD locations as well as off site or adjacent facilities that may exist such as stadiums, theme parks, forests or reserves.
What should I expect to pay? |
The nature of the quote will depend upon the short-list of concepts / approaches that is selected. A minimum charge of AUD$3000 will most likely apply and a quote may either be given as per participant charge, or a total event charge.
The selected concept, group size, duration, outcomes, facilitator to delegate ratios, destination and level of complexity will all help to determine the costing for an event or programme.
A range of AUD $70 per person to AUD $250 per person is typical for conference based team event concepts.
Our price structure is fairly calculated for each event based upon carefully developed templates. As a professional operator of long standing we have invested a considerable amount of research and development into these approaches along with the usual infrastructure involved in the running of a successful business such as quality staff, training and development, public liability insurance, marketing, information technology and logistics. This reflects our commitment to what we do and may not always make us the cheapest, but we stand on our reputation and established track record.
Why use us? |
If we are being considered in tandem with other providers naturally you have some important decisions to make. Although reticent to blow our own trumpet we feel that is important to point out a few things that may sit in our favour.
Professionalism and experience
- A successful and innovative provider since 1988.
- Huge range of clients and a proven track record.
- Established, extensive and high quality staff and infrastructure.
- Not only a dedicated provider in this highly specialised field, but a recognised pioneer in development of new and effective approaches.
- Proudly Australian owned and operated, but with a truly global network of alliances and offices.
Our ability to deliver and meet your needs
- Ability to work anywhere from pure fun to strategic interventions.
- We have delivered all over the world for major corporate clients at a huge variety of venues.
- Access to the world’s largest range of team event concepts.
- Highly trained full time team and hand picked associate facilitators.
- We work collaboratively with clients, agents, venues, production houses and many others to deliver harmoniously within the framework of a conference.
- Ability to meet a range of budget, theme and agenda requirements.
Achieving Genuine Business Outcomes |
Aims
The aims and objectives of any outcome driven programme are of course unique for each client, and we consequently tailor our approaches to suit the very specific needs of each team based upon the culture, desired outcomes and needs of that client.
Generally speaking among the aims of any such programme will be a desire to powerfully increase awareness of individual and team operating methods (in a context that dovetails with actual business objectives) via relevant, challenging and enjoyable experiences. A tailored and targeted approach to linking real business issues with our methods is designed to improve team process skills for the achievement of greater team effectiveness. Genuine process tools for planning, decision making, execution and de-brief are also prominent outcomes that can be transferred immediately into the business.
Programmes are developed to suit a variety of different briefs. Among these are needs as diverse as…..
- Management Development
- Team Development
- Team-building
- Process skills and awareness
- Project team start ups
- Improvement of cross-functional awareness
- Teams coping with change
- Teams coping with downsizing
- Teams in need of a targeted morale boost
- New approaches to strategy and planning
Of course these bullet points serve only to cover very broad areas of involvement. The specific matching of our experience to real business needs is something we do in detail with each client.
Approaches
In close co-operation with each client we undertake a diagnostic process to ensure that our approaches are accurately targeting real issues and outcomes that matter to the team. We draw from a comprehensive toolbox of professional facilitators, theoretical underpinning and models along with unique experiential challenges and projects as required to match your needs.
¨ Tailored theoretical underpinning and meaningful transferal to
real business aims and issues.
¨ Targeted experiential challenges and projects.
¨ Clear review and de-briefing tools for linkage to the business.
¨ Participant driven commitments to actual post - event ‘ milestones'
and measuring of process improvements.
¨ Closely dovetailed into other existing strategies and initiatives.
Venues and Duration
We operate globally and can deliver solutions from the workplace to hotel resort and wilderness locations. Essentially we tailor our approaches not only for the desired outcomes, but also with logistical and time constraints in mind.
- Half day and full day options
- Multi day options
- Post event milestones and follow through
- Essentially any venue and any destination
The Process
With each client we aim to design and deliver solutions that are a marriage between our unique approaches and experience with their needs. In brief that process is…
1. Detailed diagnostic assessment of needs.
2. Design a programme in close consultation with the client and then deliver the programme with realistic milestones
in place.
3. Review the programme and guide any targeted follow through.
Facilitation
Our large facilitator team enables us to draw from an enormous range of skills and experience to match the right facilitator to the right team. We have professional and capable facilitators that have a creative and pragmatic approach to getting the most from any programme. They range from corporate psychologists, and senior ex-military personnel to those with diverse real world and commercial experience atop intense Sabre training and accreditation.
- Diverse range of professional facilitators
- Facilitators matched to suit team needs
Our Experience
We have been designing and delivering programmes, events and solutions for major international corporate clients and organisations since 1988. Our business has grown from a small Queensland based operation to one that now has offices in Sydney and The United States with an international partner alliance (USA, Asia and Europe) that enables us to draw from the best concepts and approaches in the world.
- Working with major corporate clients since 1988
- Global alliance network and operation
Next Steps |