Managing Conflict: Feeling Emotions in Your Body

Friday, May 1, 2009 by Dave Blum There’s an icebreaker I like in a book called “The Conflict and Communication Activity Book”, by Bill Withers and Keami D. Lewis.  The game is called “Energy Jump” and it works like this: Tell the group that you want them to jump up…

Troubles in Teambuilding: Why Team Members Cheat

Thursday, April 30, 2009 by Dave Blum Some time back, while leading a corporate scavenger hunt in Ventura, CA,  I was required to put up a sign on a wall, down along the beach-side promenade. No big deal.  Treasure hunt clues often require the placing of a sign of some…

Team building online–Smart Mobs

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 by Dave Blum In case you somehow missed it, I want to urge you to go out to your nearest newstand and pick up a copy of this month’s Wired Magazine.  It’s called “The Mystery Issue” and includes article after article about puzzles, magic, clues, codes–you name…

Treasure Hunt Scouting: What do you do when there’s just nothing there?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 by Dave Blum A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to create one of my scavenger hunts at the Grand Del Mar Resort, just north of San Diego.  Now, the Grand Del Mar is a *beautiful* property, with two pools, a golf course, a world-class gourmet…

Trust and Teambuilding–Who has your back?

Monday, April 27, 2009 by Dave Blum I watch a lot of sci-fi, and inevitably there’s a scene where the hero, preparing to rush into a laser fight, turns to his right-hand man (or woman, or droid) and says, “You cover me”.  Think Han Solo and Chewbacca. This seems, to me, to be…

Trust and Teambuilding–Who has your back?

Monday, April 27, 2009 by Dave Blum I watch a lot of sci-fi, and inevitably there’s a scene where the hero, preparing to rush into a laser fight, turns to his right-hand man (or woman, or droid) and says, “You cover me”.  Think Han Solo and Chewbacca. This seems, to me, to be…

Trust, Team Building, and Survivor…

Friday, April 24, 2009 by Dave Blum Team building is happening all over the world; you’ve got your corporate team building Atlanta, your corporate team building Dallas, your corporate team building Boston, your corporate team building Los Angeles…So why not team building:  Tocantins, Brazil?  Because that’s where the TV show,…

Team building and Trust — A Five-Step Model

Thursday, April 23, 2009 by Dave Blum A few days ago, I mentioned a splendid little book by Hyler Bracey, Ph.D., called “Building Trust–How to Get It!  How to Keep It!”.  What I like about the book is that Bracey spells out the five elements of building trust in a…

Workplace Learning and Information

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 by Dave Blum I attended an interesting lecture yesterday evening by Pat Leonard, Executive VP for the American Management Association.  The title of the speech was “The Power of Information in Employee Development”.  Sounds a little dry, huh?  In fact, Ms. Leonard’s content was rather timely, especially…

Teambuilding Ideas: Giving Feedback, Expressing Appreciation

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 by Dave Blum Expressing appreciation is absolutely vital in team leadership, and yet, how often do we managers actually do it with our team members? In his excellent little book, “Building Trust”, Hyler Bracey describes a common leadership myth: “I have to be competent, confident, firm and…