A635.6.3.RB_MaceRoyce
From a few team-building perspectives, I do see value in the team development process at EcoSeagate. Members who are randomly formed into teams and must learn quickly to take on challenging tasks are likely to maximize their learning experiences and get value added leadership experiences. They can quickly see what approaches to the team dynamic work and which approaches do not. Additionally, they get a "feel" for their teammates; their strengths, their weaknesses, and so forth.
From what I could tell in the video, a few of the speakers spoke on certain aspects of team work and team-building such as trust, commitment, and accountability. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this type of team building is taking high-level, high-functioning employees out of their comfort zone and into an unfamiliar territory where most everyone becomes equals. Leveling the playing field from an experience perspective allows for a team dynamics to take place that may not have formed if had the territory been familiar or corporate culture been present.\
O'Brien (2008) argues that the unfamiliarity of the New Zealand environment is exactly what these employees need to grow as individuals and as team members. I would argue that a team-building exercise like this one is necessary for a high-performing organization, so that it can avoid becoming sedentary. Taking people, even the smartest ones, out of their comfort zones, can produce amazing results. I think that this aspect alone not only forces people to work together from a more level platform where experience doesn't matter as much, but people become more self-aware in regards to their strengths, their weaknesses, and how they fit into the team environment, i.e. leader, mediator, etc.
I think my organization could definitely benefit from something similar to EcoGate, but the military honestly encourages a level of team-building that is based on creativity as opposed to experience or rank. I can remember going through a combat skills training course back in 2007. I was the most junior member on the team, but the cadre who taught us encouraged us to work together as a team regardless of rank or experience. Confidence in my abilities quickly led me to become the team's defacto leader regardless of my low rank and overall lack of military experience. This was a new environment to all of us.
As long as it is briefed that the team should form naturally and without a rank structure, I think exercises like EcoGate and my own experience could be extremely beneficial to any team. I would like to do something similar with my own organization, so I will actually be on the lookout in the near future to find a team-building event that is able to be performed with relatively low costs. Maybe even the Marshmallow Challenge!
References
O'Brien, J. M. (2008). Team building in paradise. Retrieved from
http://archive.fortune.com/2008/05/20/technology/obrien_seagate.fortune/index.htm
From what I could tell in the video, a few of the speakers spoke on certain aspects of team work and team-building such as trust, commitment, and accountability. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this type of team building is taking high-level, high-functioning employees out of their comfort zone and into an unfamiliar territory where most everyone becomes equals. Leveling the playing field from an experience perspective allows for a team dynamics to take place that may not have formed if had the territory been familiar or corporate culture been present.\
O'Brien (2008) argues that the unfamiliarity of the New Zealand environment is exactly what these employees need to grow as individuals and as team members. I would argue that a team-building exercise like this one is necessary for a high-performing organization, so that it can avoid becoming sedentary. Taking people, even the smartest ones, out of their comfort zones, can produce amazing results. I think that this aspect alone not only forces people to work together from a more level platform where experience doesn't matter as much, but people become more self-aware in regards to their strengths, their weaknesses, and how they fit into the team environment, i.e. leader, mediator, etc.
I think my organization could definitely benefit from something similar to EcoGate, but the military honestly encourages a level of team-building that is based on creativity as opposed to experience or rank. I can remember going through a combat skills training course back in 2007. I was the most junior member on the team, but the cadre who taught us encouraged us to work together as a team regardless of rank or experience. Confidence in my abilities quickly led me to become the team's defacto leader regardless of my low rank and overall lack of military experience. This was a new environment to all of us.
As long as it is briefed that the team should form naturally and without a rank structure, I think exercises like EcoGate and my own experience could be extremely beneficial to any team. I would like to do something similar with my own organization, so I will actually be on the lookout in the near future to find a team-building event that is able to be performed with relatively low costs. Maybe even the Marshmallow Challenge!
References
O'Brien, J. M. (2008). Team building in paradise. Retrieved from
http://archive.fortune.com/2008/05/20/technology/obrien_seagate.fortune/index.htm
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