How to Create Your Own Team-Building Workshop

If you have received the task of organizing your company's team-building workshop, you don't need to feel anxious and stressed. It's not an overwhelming activity if you break it down into manageable sections. Making key decisions, planning the workshop well in advance and having an interesting agenda will attribute to a successful outcome. Follow these easy suggestions to create your successful team-building workshop. Participants will be engaged and motivated, and will look forward to attending your future workshops.

Instructions

How to Create a Team-Building Workshop

1. 

   Decide on a venue. Determine where your team building workshop will take place. If you decide to hold the workshop off-site, plan accordingly and familiarize yourself with the venue. Make any necessary reservations in advance, and call to confirm prior to sending out invitations to the event. If the team-building workshop is held in-house, reserve the necessary space such as a conference room, auditorium or cafeteria. Plan the set-up in advance, and arrive at the workshop space early to ensure the area is set up properly.

2. Order necessary materials and supplies. After you determined where you are going to hold the team-building event, plan what types of supplies you will need. Will you be providing food for the participants? If so, what types? Boxed lunches or continental breakfast? Purchase all necessary paper products and utensils if you are going to provide food.
   If you are going to award prizes or give away freebies to participants, purchase these items prior to the day of the workshop. This includes name tags, pens, pads for taking notes, or other tchotchkes. Pack these items in advance so they will be on hand the day of the workshop. Make arrangements for a projector, podium with microphone or other necessary equipment.

3. Start the workshop with an icebreaker. Icebreakers are vital to engaging participants in team-building workshops. Participants may be timid and uncomfortable at the start of a team-building workshop, particularly if they don't know other attendees. Ice-breakers are games or activities that engage participants and coax them out of their shells. "Two Truths and a Lie" is an icebreaker that participants can have fun with and also learn about fellow workshop attendees. Each person takes a turn stating three points about themselves; two are true and the other is false. The other participants take turns guessing which one is the lie. Give prizes to the winners.

4. Invite guest speakers. Invite a relevant guest speaker to present at your team-building workshop. Guest speakers can be chosen from inside or outside the company. Have the speaker present at the beginning of the workshop when participant's attention and interest levels are at their peak. Leave plenty of time at the end of the presentation for questions and answers.

5. Perform activities. After the guest speaker finishes his presentation, get your team-building workshop participants up and out of their seats. Have some fun with team-building activities that are designed to foster relationships among participants. There are umpteen websites where you can find engaging team-building activities. Balloon volleyball will engage participants, improve team communication and build relationships. Team-building activities such as Lighthouse or Shipwreck improve communication skills among participants.

6. Break into small groups. Save the last hour of the workshop for participants to break into small groups. This is the time to work on specific areas within your team that you want to improve. For instance, if one of your goals for the team-building workshop is to improve communication, create a small-group activity such as a role-playing exercise. This will allow participants to enhance communication skills and gain valuable feedback from their peers.

7. Survey the attendees for results. Send an online survey to the attendees of the team-building workshop to determine the effectiveness of the current program and to ask for suggestions for future programs. Wait a day or two after the workshop to send out the survey, but don't wait any longer than that. Keep the surveys brief and ask only four or five specific questions. Leave space at the end for comments or suggestions for improving future workshops.