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Do Schools and Corporations Really Differ on Their Team Building Approaches?
Here is a candid interview with Larry Lipman about the similarities and differences in how schools and corporations approach team building.
What do you see more of: schools or corporations that need team building?
It’s about 50 / 50
How do you handle team building activities differently for schools and corporations?
People are people. Here’s the key — I follow the lead of my participants. When we debrief the activities, I pay close attention to their topics, issues, feelings, desires, needs and flow. I have a treasure chest of activities to help me facilitate and coach a variety of outcomes from trust and cooperation, to collaboration and accountability, to handling change to building relationships, and lots more!
Do you have to prepare differently for schools than corporations? If so, in what ways?
Preparation differs with the size of my groups. I have small group activities for up to 30 participants, medium group activities for 30 – 70, and large group activities for over 70. Each requires a different skill set and appropriate activities to keep all participants engaged.
Do schools and corporations naturally gravitate to different activities? If so, which are the most popular?
Yes. Schools gravitate toward activities that emphasize camaraderie and relationships. Corporate folks gravitate toward activities that require strategizing, problem solving and solutions.
Is it more challenging to conduct team building activities for schools or corporations? Why?
Both come as second nature to me because I have been doing this for many years.
Give me an example of your best corporate team building and your best school team building event and how they were the same and how they differed in approach and style.
A corporate seminar that sticks out for me was a group of nuclear power engineers. A school team that sticks out was an elementary school in Virginia.
With my corporate group, I facilitated more problem solving, strategizing and accountability exercises. With my teachers, I facilitated more trust, coaching and relationship building exercises. Both groups learned how to handle change, appreciate each other, and communicate more effectively. The common theme was having fun!
Fun Team Building with Larry Lipman
Fun Team Building is all about corporate team building and teacher staff development! Give Larry a call at 770-333-3303 or fill out our contact form to learn more about ways he can help your organization!