Team Building
Taking the “bored” out of board room meetings – a seaside setting, GPS scavenger hunt, corporate maze or a beer and wine teambuilding / trivia event make the York Harbor Inn an innovative campus for your next conference.
York Harbor, Maine – The York Harbor Inn team is always working to find new and exciting ways to engage meeting attendees. Recognizing that today’s businesses need to go beyond the boardroom, the York Harbor Inn is introducing new meeting forums to inspire team building and brainstorming – to break out of the traditional bored boardroom. For the 2011 season, the York Harbor Inn is featuring new “think outside the bored room” group activities.
REVITALIZE … ENERGIZE … SYNERGIZE
Grand Dynamics International (GDI) is a network of training and development professionals located throughout the United States and select international locations. From exciting outdoor team building events, to engaging indoor seminars and events, their experienced professionals are ready to serve you.
GDI is a company that is committed to making a difference. They deliver training and development programs that use an experiential methodology as the delivery platform for addressing individual, team, and organization development issues.
Our clients gain the necessary tools, skills, and strategies through our training programs and consulting services, but they also begin to develop an underlying spirit of inquiry needed to effectively draw upon the human capital present in their organizations.
Teambuilding Activities
The Great Egg DropEach team will be given various materials with which to construct a package around an egg. Your task as a team is to design and execute a package and to prepare a presentation that will convince the facilitator that you have created the most cost effective and efficient package on the market. Each team will be given exactly twenty minutes to create the package and the presentation. Then all the groups will assemble for a grand “drop off.”
Overflow;Teams navigate to a water source, construct a customized tower of PVC tubing with multiple holes in it, pour water into the tower and float a ball to the top as quickly as possible. 
Teton Traverse – Teams will navigate to the location where they will be challenged to successfully utilize the rope, harness, helmet and a tree to set up a device to retrieve an object. The team must strategize to figure out the most efficient way for the object to be retrieved. One participant from every team will have to be blindfolded as the rest of the team supports this blindfolded participant with the rope set up. Watch as the teams creatively retrieve the object by communicating and supporting their team member!
Blind Object Reassembly – The main objective is to reconstruct an object that is identical to the original object that is built out of jumbo lego’s. Team will have 10 minutes of planning time with the original object within the boundary. Immediately after planning time, one half of the team becomes blindfolded and they enter the circle. Folks outside the circle must become mute. At this time the object will be disassembled and scattered within the circle by the facilitator. The other half of the team remains outside of the circle and may only communicate with each other and those inside the circle through non-verbal communication. No blindfolded members may leave the circle and no sighted members may enter the circle. Blindfolded members may not be physically guided. Pens/paper may not be used.
Corporate Maze – The group is divided into two sub groups and each given a budget for the fiscal year. Only one person from each team may be on the fiscal year at a time. If an individual steps on a bad square they will cost their team a given amount of money, and told to exit the fiscal year the same way they entered. The overall objective is for each team to successfully navigate the maze as quick as possible and still have money left in the budget. Teams will have time to strategize at the beginning of the activity but once the event has began it will start to cost their team valuable dollars.
Key Punch – The challenge is to physically touch each number in ascending order (1 thru 30) in the least amount of time possible. Your team will have 5 trials to get your best time. Trial times start as soon as a member of the team crosses the starting line. After the group completes the task, the trial time stops when the last person has crossed back behind the starting line again. Preceding each trial you will be given 5 minutes to plan. Planning will be done behind the starting line. After the five minutes of planning you may begin your first trial. If you chose to plan for longer than five minutes, the extra time will be added to the corresponding trial. Trials may begin only after the planning time is complete.
Cup of Dreams – the team is challenged to utilize a carrying device to transport an object containing multiple items which are representative of individual contributions to the company’s team. This may involve several team members being blind-folded and supported by other members. A great culminating activity.
Star Performance – Teams form a series of shapes and objects that are presented by the Grand Dynamics facilitator. This fun, engaging, time-specific challenge requires creativity, team communication and effective leadership to ensure success
Positive Pathways –
Object Reassembly – Teams are split up into two smaller groups where teams create and recreate a specific structure. Clear communication and quality control highlight this activity
Warp Speed – the group is challenged to create a system in which the “customer” is passed through each individual component of the system. The focus is on creative thinking, brainstorming, and improved efficiency until the customer is passed through the system at “warp speed” – less than one second! The solution often comes from a voice that is unheard – and least expected – and emphasizes valuing contribution to the team.
Change of Perspective©
Change your perspective with a photographic scavenger hunt
Perspective is almost everything. Our perspective (the way we see the world around us, ourselves, and others) is our interpretive interface with the world. Perspective is our personal interpreter of life and all that happens to us. When we engage the power of team we create the opportunity to expand our perspectives.
In this dynamic indoor or outdoor event, teams are challenged to locate a variety of artistic locations or photographic snapshots. The photos are deliberately photographed out of scale and out of “normal perspective” to challenge each individual’s perception. While tracking down various photographic perspectives, teams are also challenged to find area related fun facts and information about their company. By challenging individuals to change the way they look at their physical landscape, teams will gain a better understanding of one another and recognize the way that their teammates process information in their environment.
This activity will generate an effective way to 'broaden their horizon' and improve communication by transforming each unique personal point-of-view into a broader perspective. Individuals will gain a better understanding of each other and will gain a global understanding of how their perspective affects the team. The topic of “changing perspectives” is a great metaphor for being open-minded. This will foster a dialog toward improved communication. Finally, sharing a novel experience will bond the participants together and anchor the moment in a positive way.
Teaming with GPS©
Teams Integrate Technology and Adventure
Teaming with GPS is the hottest team building event available. In this action oriented, engaging experience, two or more “Geo Teams” go on a high-tech treasure hunt in a customized, designated location. Each team is given critical team resources, including GPS units that are pre-programmed with vital coordinates of the goals, called caches. Utilizing the GPS units and team skills, each team collaborates to find caches, which can take the form of hidden boxes and team challenges.
The goals are designed to the group’s specifications and can vary from simple to complex. Throughout this event, individuals and teams will be challenged to optimize their performance in this unique challenge. With the assistance of an expert facilitator, the adventure becomes an amazing opportunity for team members to observe leadership, communication styles and other critical team behaviors. Participants enjoy the excitement of combining adventure with technology while building stronger connections with each other, improving communication skills, and developing specific action plans for fine-tuning performance in the workplace.
The Grand Dynamics Teaming with GPS© event is a focused exercise that highlights the dynamics of teamwork and the challenges of human performance. Teaming with GPS© works as an excellent experiential component to support the development of team building skills such as leadership and communication.