Understanding the Five Team Building Personalities

Several decades ago, when team building started off the activities that stood out were high rope activities. Climbing a course, balancing 20 to 50 feet above the ground, walking across a cable bridge, zip lines, swings, and trust falls were the way everyone did team building. We then transitioned into fire walks and then the team building industry has stagnated a bit over large group high energy, physical, competitive style challenges.

However, looking at it from the perspective of a lot of the client’s we talk to – not everyone looks forward to team building. A big reason is because it has become predictable. You can accurately foresee the activities, kind of facilitator you will get, debrief questions you will be asked. “How do you apply this lesson at work” is fan favorite. The experience is leaving a lot to be desired.

There are three issues with a predictable experience. First you affect engagement. Engagement is the level of interest and effort put to understanding and partaking in the activities. Your time is precious and so is your teams – they will not apply themselves and be as interested in activities they have taken part in them before. Secondly, lack of engagement makes it an easily forgettable experience. This makes it difficult to pass on key lessons and business benefits that then affected how you work together as a team. And lastly a lukewarm experience leads them to not look forward to the next team building experience.

We understand that planning a team building session is not easy. It takes a lot of time looking through different vendors, activities, budgets and even locations. However, having a better understanding of your group makes it a much easier experience. Here are five personalities to consider when planning your next team building event.

This group loves discovering the outdoors, adventure and being spontaneous. They enjoy things like hiking, taking a trip out of town. For them, a team building within Nairobi is not enticing at all. You could call them local tourists if you like. Over the years we have done team building events all over Kenya these groups enjoy the idea of going out to the Mara, the Amboseli, Sagana and so on. Activities like Go Team that help them learn, interact and bond are perfect for such groups.

The creatives think out of the box and enjoy seeing an idea coming alive in their hands. Both in our public and private sectors, decision makers are beginning to see the value of innovation and creation in solving today’s challenges. Google has a skeleton at the front of one of it’s campuses to remind its employees what happens when they stop innovating – the die. The creatives love being challenged to come up with ideas and problem solve. Activities like the Bakerthon or are perfect for this kind of group.

The Big Hearts want to make the world a better place, we help meet their desire by planning for charity team building activities. These are groups that want to make a difference in a child’s life and are passionate about social impact and transformation. We have activities like Bookworm Builders that include building bookshelves and then stocking them with books. In Kids Factory you paint and build toys and in Hearts on Soles you decorate and design shoes for the less fortunate. Charity does not only take place in December, but all year round with these fun, engaging and impactful team building activities.

These are problem solvers and strategic thinkers that enjoy challenging their thought process. They enjoy being challenged mentally through puzzles, riddles, and mathematical equations. If you participants enjoy Soduko, completing crosswords then they are probably learners and thinkers. This does not mean that all activities are for geeks, they are still fun, competitive and memorable but will mostly be indoor activities. We have activities like Bean Around the World, The Infinite Loop, and Bridging the Divide.

This group is energetic, extremely competitive and enjoys competition that pushes physical boundaries. They want to run, get wet, compete in activities like tug of war, and Olympic style challenges. Such team building events are fast paced and full of a lot of competition, laughs, and high fives. In it to Win It Company Olympics, Go For Gold, Survivor Series or Poisonous Swamp are some excellent activities for your fitness junkies.

Remember that your team is made of a diverse set of personalities and individuals, and so these five personalities give you an opportunity to be deliberate in how you plan and frame your team building event.  You could decide to also frame your event depending on the season you are in. Probably you are going through a season where you need to inspire your team to be more creative, or you would like them to reflect or probably go out of town. Get in touch with us if you would like to learn more about your group and the various activities we have available for you.