Team Navigation!™
"There's no end to the good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit." .....Anonymous "
Research has shown the most productive teams have high levels of collaborative group competence and communication. Improvements or breakdowns in these areas affects employee satisfaction and motivation, which directly impacts bottom-line performance.

During the Team Navigation!™ program, we create scenarios that provide opportunities to practice some principles of group process in a non-threatening, fun-adventure format, and then we take the time to talk about what worked and what didn't, and how they relate back to your office.

Format
"Ask not what your team can do for you, but what you can do for your team."
We custom-design the adventure in order to accomplish the specific experiences the client hopes to duplicate. Our general format involves teams taking a practice hike to learn new lifetime navigation skills, teams embarking into the woods with a map and compass to locate checkpoints, collecting data at the checkpoints, and solving a puzzle with the collected data.

Teammates work together to prepare their maps, and collect the clue data at each checkpoint in order to solve the puzzle. But they must also collaborate with other teams to solve the final puzzle! The completed puzzle then provides information on how to open the treasure chest. These diverse leadership & team roles allow for a variety of participation of different learning & leadership styles. Fun, casual dress!

We work closely with your staff to design a format that creates situations that mirror your workplace. The format offers realistic balance of unknowns with knowns, but are all solvable with the collaborative efforts of teammates. And it all happens with a little fun and adventure!! There is no running allowed, (unless you want it that way !!), and the navigation and group challenges involve a variety of thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. So everyone can participate in this !!

Facilitated Debrief
Afterwards we have a facilitated debrief, to talk about topics of your choice. Examples could be:
—how is the communication-listening within the group under pressure ?
—how adaptive was the leadership as situations changed ?
—what are the different roles in the group ? how were they determined ?
—is conflict being used creatively, or is a deal-stopper ?
—how did your team react to mistakes ?
—did your team have a shared vision..how was it communicated?


...a team goes only as fast as it's teammates can work together. This is considerably faster than the slowest teammate."........... Ian Adamson

Park Setting
We use a variety of beautiful park or forest locations that provide a variety of terrain choices to match up with the interests & abilities of clients.
— Eagle Creek Park-city park on NW side of Indianapolis (2 different maps)
— Camp Belzer-Boy Scout camp on East side of Indianapolis
— Various State & National Forests-Morgan Monroe State Forest & Hoosier National Forest

Urban Setting
We can design a fun Team Navigation! Adventure in any location.
— Downtown Indianapolis
— Downtown Carmel
— Hotel or Conference Center
— Any Urban/Suburban Location

Initial Adventure Assessment-Custom Design-Written Contract
As part of the initial agreement, we will meet with client representatives to gain a clear understanding of the purpose of the teambuilding activity, and any special needs/interests/expectations/outcomes the client has. We will custom-design the adventure activities from this assessment, and generate a written contract that addresses all of these areas.

Fun, Safe Activity
The Team Navigation!™ activity requires NO minimum fitness level, nor a background in navigation or orienteering. Walking is the only physical activity, and does not require any advance preparation. We will outline safety precautions for all participants, and will communicate upfront clothing & footwear suggestions.

Challenge by Choice
Our activities are carefully designed and approved by our client representatives, and we are very sensitive to creating a climate of engagement, participation, and safety. We want to gently challenge comfort zones, because that is where learning and discussion can be of value. But we are aware that different people have different "panic zones". Therefore, we always offer the right to each participant to opt out of participation in the activity, at any time, for any reason. Depending on the activity, we generally can have alternative participation opportunities available for those so desiring.

Adventure Evaluation
To provide feedback both to TrueNorth and the client, an activity evaluation form will be distributed to gather feedback of participants regarding their perception of success of the adventure activity.

Off-Site Venues
We recommend the design of teambuilding challenges that are held outside the normal workplace environment. With a relaxed atmosphere, and a fun or adventure premise, traditional workplace inhibitions and consequences are lessened, thereby allowing obvious group behaviors to surface. Nadler & Luckner (1992) suggest novel settings help to break down individual barriers, and a heightened sense of learning develops. They also said a state of disequilibrium results when one is in a new comfort zone, which creates a state of internal conflict that provides motivation for personal change. We generally use central Indiana venues that have maps available. Eagle Creek Park on the northwest side of Indianapolis has several retreat facilities and great orienteering maps, Camp Belzer is a Boy Scout camp on the east side. We've done orienteering adventures also at Holliday Park, Morgan Monroe State Forest, Deam Wilderness Area along Lake Monroe, and Camp Ransburg, a Boy Scout camp also on Lake Monroe has an excellent orienteering map available.

Applicability
Teams, groups, and committees dominate the workplace environment, and research has shown the effectiveness and satisfaction of work-place teams clearly affects outcome and production. Therefore, the dynamics of group behavior can significantly impact results of the group. It has also been shown that relationship skills learned in the work environment transfer universally to personal relationships as well as quality of life of it’s members.

Corporate Teambuilding Examples

• Corporate Picnics
• Ice Cream Socials
• Departmental Retreats
• Staff, Management Retreats
• Organizational Re-Designs

De-Briefing and Transferring the Learning
Research has shown experiential team or group activities are especially fertile for creating opportunities of group behaviors that can mirror the work environment. The real value and learning of these experiential activities takes place when an experienced facilitator guides a reflective de-briefing afterwards about the group dynamics that just took place, discussing barriers and alternatives for effective behavior, and what suggestions relate back to the work environment.

Why TeamBuilding?

Contact TrueNorth & Associates:
Email: truenorth360@comcast.net
Phone: (317) 876-1871
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