The next day the actual team building event started under the topic “Communication”. Communication plays a key role in our day-to-day work. Human communication expert Paul Watzlawick once said “One cannot not communicate”. That's why it was important to us to show the employees what can happen if there is incorrect communication and how best to communicate in different situations.

The training day started in a good mood

The team building event and exercises were led by Stefan Weil. As the national coach of the German national goalball team (sport for the blind), he knows what communication means for a team when it comes to common goals, the definition of tasks and successful cooperation.

First, we were introduced by four questions on the subject of "Feedback vs. Criticism". The task was to find out in the joint team discussion what good or bad feedback means and what feedback givers and feedback recipients should take into account.

The second task was called “Building Bridges” and not only required good communication and coordination, but also aimed at skill and a certain amount of creativity. For this, the team was divided into four small groups, each of which formed two groups. The two groups in each case had to make a part of a bridge using certain materials, so that when the two halves were joined together, a common bridge was created. The bridge should also be able to withstand a pin. There was only one “communicator” who was allowed to exchange plans twice for 5 minutes with the communicator in the other group. In addition, there was one observer per group who was not allowed to speak and wrote down the way the team communicated.

The materials that were provided to us for crafting the bridges

Part of Team A's group, brainstorming for the first time to build the bridge

Two of the four communicators are describing to each other how the respective group plans to build the bridge

Each group had an observer who analyzed the behavior of the individuals in the team and the group dynamics

After the short exchange, the "construction plans" were changed a bit...

...and other ideas were implemented

The approach of the two groups was very different. At the end, the two bridges were proudly presented and a stability test with the pen followed.

After the time was up, the two final bridges were presented...

...and checked for stability by our trainer. Here you can see the "Siegerbrücke".

At lunchtime there was a delicious meal in the Dammühle restaurant

After a lunch break, during which we were well catered for by the Dammühle, we continued with the next practical exercise. This time the four observers from the previous round were asked: They should set up a shelf in 5 minutes. Everyone else was allowed to observe this time and then describe their impressions.

The difficulty here was that after the time had run out, they had to put all the shelves back on top of each other, sorted by size. In addition, there was the psychological pressure to carry out this task in front of around 20 observers. However, the four employees were able to withstand this pressure and, thanks to good cooperation, set up the shelf in 3.51 minutes.

This time it was the turn of the observers of the first round. They had to set up a shelf under the scrutiny of their colleagues and with the timer running

All in all, we had an eventful day with many interesting insights into the topic of communication. It was nice to have the whole team together again and to exchange ideas in personal conversations. We would like to thank the Dammühle for their hospitality and the delicious food, but above all to Stefan Weil and our managing director Dr. Detlef Behrens, who once again organized a great event from which everyone involved was able to take a lot with them.

Our managing director Dr. Detlef Behrens and trainer Stefan Weil - thank you for another great team building event!