Every region has it’s own unique program offerings, influenced by local culture. Corporate team building activities New York are varied with lots of great options. We recently led a team building program for  L’Oreal North American Operations in the New York tri-state area and it was one of the more memorable team building events we’ve done. Eight songwriters and myself led close to three hundred people. We broke into teams and created nine unique songs about this company’s experience.

Corporate Team Building Activities New York Goals

• This group of company leaders wanted an activity that would enable them to celebrate success while illuminating facets of their work and their role within the larger organization.
• They wanted to share their organizational story and mission.
• They needed to engage and have fun in a visceral and fresh way.

After our program introduction in general session, teams went to breakout rooms and spent about two hours crafting their masterpieces.

One of my favorite things about this program is discovering how nine groups create different songs about similar work experience. The themes and work-life descriptions have continuity – yet each song had a different focus. From the sincere mid-tempo ballad to the irreverent bluesy song, each group found a unique way of processing and creating songs about what they do.

Team Building Through Song Performances

At the beginning of every program we lead, we encounter resistance. Most people are scared of being put on the spot, of being singled out or having to perform. But this is out-of-the-box fun that soon becomes comfortable for everyone. In fact, by the time the L’Oreal song teams took the stage at night everyone contributed with enthusiasm. A large part of the satisfaction I share with all of my Kidbilly Music facilitators is seeing the transition our clients make – from hesitant co-operation to unbridled celebration.

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

While my company’s team building programs are a great catalyst for change we’re honest about something very important. A one day team building program won’t change your corporate culture for the long run. To make change last you need to integrate songs and activities that teach team building into your ongoing business culture.

Songs And Activities That Teach Team Building

Here’s a good summary of differences between facilitated team building and activities you can lead yourself at any time. If you’re hiring a team building company it’s important to establish your goals before you dig into what kind of team building you want to do. Aligning your goals with your program is vital. For DIY team building you don’t need to dig as deeply into your goals since you’ll be doing this on an ongoing basis. Here’s a previous post with good resources for specific DIY ideas.

Team Building Activities You Can Do

• Sometimes taking your team to happy hour is enough to shed bad energy and renew a sense of team.
• Start your weekly meeting by inviting one person to share a current business challenge and invite everyone to brainstorm new solutions.
• Use your smart phones to video team members presenting an elevator speech. Make sure to keep this good-natured. You all want to be able to laugh at yourselves when you watch the videos you’ve created.
• Set one rule for all of the above; Positive comments only. This should encourage your team to be more innovative, not more critical!

Team Building Songs

So here’s the song part of the songs and activities that teach team building…You can create your own team building songs. Start with a familiar melody (I hate to say this, but use a karaoke track if you have to).  You’ll use flipcharts to brainstorm ideas about your company. As themes emerge, create a song chorus around your big ideas. Then write song verses around the work you do, or a specific project or challenge you’re facing. Get in touch with me if you’d like a step-by-step guide to do this.

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

I’m so excited that the opening of our Kidbilly Music Chicago office is almost upon us. The timing’s perfect as a follow up to the great experience we had at the recent Choose Chicago event in which we presented team building Chicago program offerings. The reception we got was so enthusiastic. In response to the questions we received from Chicago event planners, I thought I’d share some answers about our music team building programming below.

Team Building Chicago Program Offerings

Team Building Through Song® anchors our range of programs. Everything we do revolves around music, song, story and organizational engagement. Every organization has a story to tell. We help our clients create meaningful messages about the work they do and what their companies stand for. Most importantly, we’re a catalyst to change and improvement. Our events break through hierarchy and open lines of communication, helping create a better environment for corporate engagement and better team work.

Team building that engages!

Conference Energizers & Icebreakers

Many of our clients need to fill a conference energizer or keynote speaking slot, also known in the meetings and event industry as a general session. Our conference energizer has the ingredients of our longer team building program, yet fills the sixty minute conference slot. A great example of this event is the team building Chicago program we did for Jump$tart Coalition at the JW Marriott.

Keynote Speaking

My KeyNote speech is not entirely different from our conference energizer program. But it is differentiated in some ways and you can learn more here.  In my KeyNote, I spend a bit of time outlining tools you can use to harness your creative power and integrate that into your daily life.

CSR Team Building

As a music based company, we’re passionate about supporting music and arts education throughout the country. Our corporate social responsibility program enables our clients to experience our full team building program while sharing part of the experience with children from schools in need; and then donating musical instruments to those schools. You can learn more on our community giving website page.

On a personal note; I get to anchor our team building Chicago office. In other words, my wife and myself are headed north, and excited about the move!

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

How would you like to get your team inspired and more comfortable in the workplace? Corporate team building exercises are a great way to get people to relate to each other in a relaxed way. And the best team building exercises will inspire your workforce to be more engaged and innovative.

Fun Corporate Team Building Exercises

Fun = Engagement. When we’re having fun, we’re disarmed, not thinking too hard – we’re in the moment. I don’t think a team building exercise without fun is effective. When we facilitate our musical team building programs, our clients always begin with trepidation. As hit songwriters we’re comfortable making music and brainstorming. We begin our session already warmed up. But we know the participants in our programs are often anxious about group participation. The thrill we experience with every single program we do is that we help people make the transition from hesitancy and disengagement to unbridled enthusiasm. This happens because the experience is fun. Corporate team building exercises should present a challenge, but they must ensure that your group is challenged appropriately, and evolves from feelings of challenge and hesitancy to fun, engagement and success.

Team Building For Larger Groups

I facilitated a conference energizer program last fall that included about 800 people. My client asked me if everyone would be equally engaged and I answered truthfully, no! But I went on to explain that even in a group of ten, not everyone is equally engaged. Team building does work with large groups, but it requires strategic planning and active professional facilitation. Active facilitation ensures that a program is followed. It ensures that activity is meaningful and that group members are engaged at a level that brings contribution from everyone.

Team Building Activities With Music

I just remembered I titled this post, corporate team building exercises you can try and so far I’ve been speaking broadly. So here are some ideas you can try.

• Who hasn’t wanted to be in a movie? At some point in everyone’s life we all fantasize being in a film. There are great video making team building programs out there. This works with small groups or large groups.
• It’s similar to our program, team building through song® in that the activity is story based. You have to tell a story to make a good movie or video, just as a song tells a story.
• We’re playing around with combining both activities by offering a program in which participants create their company song and then shoot a music video around the song. If you’d like to give this a try, get in touch, we need a client willing to beta the program for us!

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

Most companies know that giving back to community is more than just a responsibility, it’s a chance to show that the company and it’s employees genuinely care about being part of community. It’s great when you can plan corporate social responsibility team building activities that are really fun. It’s impactful when people are enthused about the activities they’re participating in. It’s great to plan a CSR event with team building that supports both your organization and the greater community.

Corporate Social Responsibility Team Building Activities

If you’ve ever considered CSR team building, I’m sure you know about build-a-bike. The program’s been around for some time now. It’s real team building because groups have to work together to build bicycles, requiring communication and utilizing group skill sets to get a job done. It’s great as part of a community giving program because after you build your bikes you give them to deserving children. The giving part of the program is emotional, in a great way.

Team Building Through Song

Many public schools across the country are in need of arts funding and musical instruments. To help answer that need, Kidbilly Music, (full disclosure – my company), designed a program that allows you to participate fully in our musical team building activity while enriching the arts curriculum in schools across the country. We want to be able to facilitate this CSR team building program more often.

Here’s how it works:

• We’ll work with a school organization and your group to develop a wish list for needed musical instruments.
• At your event, the students will join your program after you’ve created your songs.
• We’ll invite students to be a part of your team song performances.
• After the performances, you will present the students with donations of musical instruments or funding toward arts education.

Team Building by Giving Back

With corporate social responsibility team building activities you can have your cake and eat it too. You can benefit from group fun and productive team building, while enriching the lives of others.

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

Coordinating an event for your team or business isn’t an easy task. In fact, taking the steps from informal brainstorming to planning and executing a company retreat or convention can be daunting. The first step is to decide you’re going to hold an event. Assuming you’ve done this, you need plans to ensure there will be ROI for your time and investment. To be successful you’ll need to find solid corporate event ideas you can bring to your event planning group.

Choosing A Theme Will Help

As a hit songwriter, I learned a long time ago that a hook (or theme) is very important. The hook is the the catchy thing, usually the song title, repeated in the chorus. While a theme is not required, if you come up with one it will provide a nice framework for planning the rest of your corporate event ideas. My friend, Anne Thornley-Brown wrote an article that might jump start your thinking process. Its all about finding themes for corporate events.

Cool Corporate Event Ideas

When I walk into a convention room and it has a theme, I’m immediately drawn in. I gave a speaking presentation in Montreux, Switzerland and the Alps dominated decor and activities. My company (Kidbilly Music)  provided music team building for a large corporate event in Tucson, AZ where cowboy boots, hats and shots of whiskey put everyone in the mood to play, as well as work. And when in Rome… You get the idea. Once you have a theme, lots of other great ideas will flow out of that.

This conference energizer was in Memphis. It’s not hard to find a theme.

Can You Measure the ROI?

If you want to impress the C-suite, show them this article about tools out there to measure the value of meetings. Even if you don’t use tools to measure your success, it’s vital to align your corporate event ideas with your organization’s goals. If you don’t have a clear idea of why you’re planning an event – don’t plan it!

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

Last year my good friend, David Hutchens, and I presented an innovative energizer at The ASTD International Conference and Exposition in Denver. It was a mash-up of David’s presentations around organizational storytelling and my music team building program. The underlying motivation for David and myself to do the program was our friendship. We thought it would be a good chance to hang out while doing some experimental speechifying! We were right on both counts. We had fun in Denver, made new friends and our speaking presentation was so cool that ASTD invited us back.

ASTD International Conference 2013

So this year, we’re headed to the ASTD International Conference in Dallas. Our program is part of the ASTD Innogizer series…innovative energizers…innogizer…get it…
Everyone who shows up will learn how to discover the power of narrative and identify the stories at the core of their organization. Every one will join in an interactive musical team building activity as they share ideas and create a song about ASTD, helping to gain a better understanding of the power of creativity and group process. Stories are at the core of everything we do and every relationship we have. Sharing a story not only helps us feel better about ourselves, it gives the people we’re telling our story to a sense of connectedness. This holds true for organizational storytelling. Corporations, associations, schools etc. all have a narrative that makes the organization unique. Understanding your organizational story will empower your group in many ways.

That’s My Story And I’m Sticking To It

What I’m trying to say is; this is the real stuff – it’s important. If you’re planning on attending the ASTD International Conference in Dallas this year, come to the David Hutchens/Billy Kirsch session on Monday, May 20th at 4:00 PM. It’s never too late to tell your story and sing your song.

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

I’ve participated in lots of conferences, both as an audience member and a speaker. So I have strong opinions about the character that keynote speakers should bring to your event. When you’re hiring keynote speakers, make sure she or he is a good speaker. Sounds obvious – but the delivery of the message is as important as the message itself.

Keynote Speakers Who Help You Nap

Let’s say you’ve researched the focus and topic of your event and you’ve narrowed down speakers to people who are related thematically with what your doing. You may think you’re almost there, but you’re not. Let’s say you’re organizing a conference on economics. Would you want this guy to speak?

Consider A Conference Energizer

When I’m hired as one of the keynote speakers at a conference, it’s not about me – it’s about you (the audience). My goal is to listen, at least as much as I speak, and hopefully more. Engagement is a hot topic these days. But talking about engagement can begin to sound awfully like a lecture – and that’s certainly not engaging. When I make a presentation to a group, I’m not really talking, as much as conversing with everyone to get them to share their own ideas and stories. A great speaker is by definition a conference energizer too. You want your audience to be engaged, active and inspired when they leave a presentation. You want them to be energized at a new level. One of the best speakers I’ve heard had climbed Mt. Everest. I felt like I was on the journey with him during his presentation. And I walked away believing I could conquer the world.

Keynote Speakers Should Be Conference Energizers

I hope you’ll take a moment to see what my company does for a keynote slot. I don’t care if you call it a keynote or conference energizer. Just make sure it’s great.

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

So many corporate team building activities to choose from, so much on your to-do list. Hopefully, I can help you sort through the process and narrow down your choices. Any short list is arbitrary, but below are some fun and productive events worth considering.

Adventure Getaways

Does your team thrive on adventure? It may not, and there are great options for teams that don’t want to go outside. But for groups that get excited at the mere thought of a field trip with challenges, take a look at this video on zip-lining in Scotland. There are ropes course programs worldwide. This video looks like fun for companies near the UK. Adventure getaways are trust building exercises. They require relying on your teammates to not only succeed, but to be safe. These exciting programs may not tackle specific company goals or training objectives. But they do improve camaraderie, trust and communication, all important building blocks for successful teams.

Team Building Games In Your Office

Here’s a great list of corporate team building games that can be led by you or one of your colleagues. These are great warm-ups for weekly meetings, or capstone exercises at the end of a busy week. Yes, I know what you’re thinking…“aargghh…these exercises make us uncomfortable…they’re dumb.” But I’m here to tell you they can be great. The number one rule of team building; don’t force people into uncomfortable situations. Allow small groups to do these activities at their own pace and in their own style. Each game has different emphasis and creates conversation and collaboration that’s worth having.

Corporate Team Building Activities With Music

Several years ago, I stumbled upon this concept of corporate team building through song®. Creative inspiration comes from observing and being a part of what others are doing. My concept grew out of educational programs I was invited to do – I made a connection to corporate team building and several years later we have a full fledged group of programs around music, story, leadership and teamwork. I am biased, but I’m passionate in my belief that music engages groups in powerful, yet disarming ways that invite learning and collaboration.

Competition

I’d never thought much about the role of competition in team building until I became a team building facilitator. I quickly noticed that even in a musical environment, people like competition. Competition draws us in, it engages our emotions and makes us care about an outcome. Within reason, you should consider incorporating competition into your work-life activities as a way of ongoing team building. Here’s one example. Let’s say you’re a real estate company. Every week, when new listings come on the market, make a game of sharing the new listings with your agents without letting them see the prices. Have each agent guess the price for every new listing. You can offer small prizes or incentives for the person with the most accurate guesses.

Outdoor adventure, indoor doit-yourself games, music and competition are all valid corporate team building activities that yield ROI. Choose one now and save the others for next time.

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities

In the meetings and events industry, where fresh ideas are vital to creating successful programs, creativity needs to be paramount. So when I was invited to speak at the Smart Meetings Event in Seattle last week, I jumped at the chance. I knew I’d find a receptive audience, one that would resonate with my topic of Harnessing Your Creative Power.

I don’t really offer traditional speaking presentations, as much as interactive experiences that help folks rediscover their innate creative ability by participating. Whether I’m speaking to a group of 100 or 1,000, the experience is much like my team building programs in that everyone contributes through creative exercise.

Seattle Team Building Goals

• This group needed an educational presentation; meaning a presentation with take-aways, with something learned and guidelines for applying the learning to work life
• This group needed a presentation that was engaging and fun; a draw, a crowd pleaser
• This group needed a 45 minute session that would be a catalyst for a day of networking and work

The Experience

It’s not about me, the speaker. It’s about you, the audience.

We all dive right in as audience members create thematic ideas encompassing the common experience of that particular day. In this case, groups of two came up with song titles that communicated one important aspect of the Smart Meetings event they were attending. After I ran around the room (I can cover a lot of ground), asking everyone to share ideas, we had laughed a lot, gotten to know each other better and filled our display screen with great ideas. By the end of my brief presentation, this group created a song chorus reflecting who they are, and why they were there.

Seattle Team Building Take-Aways

• I want audience members to live it, to see it, to dive into it – before I talk about it
• Once you’ve been part of a creative activity, you realize how creative you are
• You realize the step by step process is obtainable because you’ve just obtained it – you’ve created something!
• At that point I don’t mind drawing some conclusions and offering take-aways
• At that point, blah blah blah becomes yah yah yah!

Kidbilly Music - Corporate Team Building Events and Music Team Building Activities