We had a lot of fun with two teams from Beckman Coulter at their office near Minneapolis St. Paul, Minnesota last week. Half of the participants were from their business development team. The other half was from their project management team. They decided to come together for a little fun and team building.
The two groups work hand in hand so good communication and teamwork increases success. This meeting was set up, though, both as a reward for a great year and a way to add some fun for both groups. They decided to start the day with a splash. So, the Build-A-Bike team building activity started the meeting.
Beckman Coulter is a healthcare diagnostic company based in Brea, California. Their breakthroughs help diagnostic laboratories worldwide. The company develops products that simplify complex biomedical processes. So, we decided to make the team-building activity a similar process.
Beckman Coulter Teams Have Fun Building Bikes for Kids
When people think of Build-A-Bike, they often focus on the manual labor — the bike building. However, that part is only a small part of the event. (It also isn’t very fun.) So instead of just giving the two teams a few boxes of bike parts, we made the process more fun and interactive. First, we organized them into smaller teams. We made sure that the new teams were composed of members of both account managers and project managers.
Next, we gave each new small group a series of challenges to solve as a team. Each time they solved a new challenge, they acquired a new part of their bicycle. By organizing the event this way, all team members participated in the “build.” However, if you focus on the “building” part, only a small percentage of the group will actually participate. The folks who are fairly mechanical will end up doing most of the work.
So, with this group, we designed the challenges in a way that some would be solved by the account managers. Other challenges would be solved by the project manager. It took both teams to finish the goal. (Great way to build teamwork and a shared experience.)
They donated the bikes to the local Boys & Girls Club in a suburb of Minneapolis St. Paul, MN. The director of the club ended the meeting with a heartfelt thanks to the group!