Terry LeBlanc on Team Building Exercises for Coaches

Great teamwork makes things happen more than anything else in a team, organization or company. Whether you are leading a sports team or working in upper-level management, team building can help individuals realize their potential among their peers and provide them with all of the tools to succeed in the future. Terry LeBlanc is an accomplished football coach with more than 30 years of hands-on coaching experience. What follows is his list of goals and objectives, as well as activities, that you can implement in your next team building activities day.

Motivate

Empowering people is more about attitude and behavior towards staff than it is about processes and tools. Teamwork can be fostered by respecting, encouraging, and caring for them, rather than dictating to them. Coaching individuals and teams to work together to find a solution to a problem is a great way to develop trust and build lasting relationships among peers. Terry LeBlanc explains that the goals when conducting a team building exercise is to give individuals new tools for managing problem solving, which are masked by the playfulness of the activity.

Involve

Terry LeBlanc explains that people are best motivated when you include them in the process of designing and creating — so ask your team what they think would be best for a team-building exercise. Finding out what people enjoy doing and learning is a great first step towards encouraging them to wholeheartedly participate. If there are many ideas, try to find ways to provide a mix of activities that help people achieve and learn.

Test Out Ideas

Once you have picked your activities, practice them yourself to ensure that it works, you have all the answers and materials. Anticipation and planning are vital to the success of a team building exercise. According to Terry LeBlanc, if your activity is not clear and complete, you might lose the engagement of the participants.

Examples

“Minefield” is a staple team building exercise, as it is as fun as it is educational. The participants are asked to blindfold one member and create a minefield of obstacles to negotiate around. The team will devise a communication technique (i.e.: left, right, backward, forwards) to navigate the blindfolded member towards the target. This one is great for enhancing communication skills and building trust.

“The Human Knot” is a classic elementary school team building exercise that is both challenging and rewarding. Participants need to stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder. Next, place their right hand in the hand of someone standing across the circle from them. Then, place their left hand in the hand of a different person (not standing directly next to them). The participants must then try to untangle themselves without breaking the chain, if broken they must start again.

Last but not least is the “Tallest Tower” challenge, which asks participants to build the tallest structure possible with miscellaneous objects (newspaper, toothpicks, uncooked pasta, etc.). This is an ideal activity for creative problem solving and improving collaboration skills.

Final Words

With decades worth of knowledge regarding team management, Terry LeBlanc says that team building exercises are a great way to keep your team motivated. Furthermore, team building exercises promote unity and, with maintenance, translate onto the field — or workplace!