January 2015 was my month of ‘Team Away Days’- I designed and facilitated four in that month alone. Each was bespoke to the organisation but with a thread of creativity running through each.
Our most ‘creative’ perhaps involved a morning of film making and an afternoon of portrait painting. Th objective here was about improving relationships and an appreciation of the pressures of colleagues in other departments. Have a look at a post about this here.
The other 3 were more strategic concentrating on external pressures such as: changes in legislation; cuts in grant funding; and the need to save resources through mergers. A common objective was to engage with staff, be open about the current position and creatively explore responses going forward.
Some of my memorable moments included
- the Chief Exec saying in his closing statement it ‘was the best away day ever’- now that’s not something you hear all the time.
- an improvisation towards the end of the day where we created a timeline on the floor and ask staff to lay down actions in what they thought should be the order of things in the strategy. This was address the staff concern that ‘will anything change as a result of this?’
- another favourite is when I ask people to stand up highlight 3 positive behaviours that a colleague has shown that day.
- the amazing art work, models people produced in such a short space of time
- giving people magic green envelopes introducing them to a creative thinking tool to help with their idea generating
I have also found team days to be a great way to introduce creative thinking skills in a non-training environment. It allows people to use them on a real, pressing, strategic issue.