Addaction

Communication Concern

When you work for a charity with a team of 10 people who work from home as well as in the office, both full and part time, it can be a challenge to get everyone to bond together – especially when new staff members join the organisation.

Guy Pink of Addaction, the UK based drug and alcohol treatment charity, was looking for a fun way for the team to get to know each other as colleagues and as individuals which would also have a learning outcome.

Solution

Guy did his research, “I looked at abseiling and cookery courses but neither hit the spot as I wanted a team building session which was different from everything else on the market and I thought Partners With You would deliver this without stretching the team’s physical comfort zone.

Some of the team were apprehensive beforehand as they thought that they may have to ‘act’ but everyone felt really positive at the end and commented on how interactive and enjoyable the course had been.

The pace of the day helped bring everyone together as a team as we had lots of different exercises to do which kept us focused and working together. The actors really put everyone at their ease and made sure that both old and new team members worked together and had fun” comments Guy.

The team at Addaction worked on a series of fast-paced exercises to help them work collaboratively with others, create a positive environment, heighten their listening and awareness skills and value the team and the individuals among other areas.

Result

“One of the creative thinking techniques we explored on the day – the Lotus Blossom technique which got us thinking of the value of the team to the company and also our individual value to the team – has proved to be an invaluable tool since the course and we have used it many times subsequently.  It reminds us all of the energy of the day and how looking at challenges in a different way can lead to new ideas. The workshop has genuinely helped us to improve both the team’s and each individual’s work” explains Guy.

“We really got a huge amount of benefit out of our investment in the half day workshop and we’d do the same thing again tomorrow if we could. Our quality department have followed in our footsteps and have had an equally good experience. It was fun and relaxing yet challenging with new ideas and concepts helping us to learn techniques we could, and have, used back in the workplace. My advice?  Do it and you’ll get your team working together more effectively” concludes Guy.