Team Building Ideas Found at 30,000 Feet

Posted on February 25, 2012 by

By Meade Peers McCoy

“Keep your eyes open for new ideas and information about what is going on in the field of training and development”. This is a sentiment that I have heard many times and expressed myself on more than one occasion, but sometimes it still catches me by surprise where useful information can be found. Such as when I ran across an article on team building in an Alaska Airlines in-flight magazine (page 92).

Dream Teams, creative group activities help foster a collaborative spirit by Rob Lovitt covers the basic ideas behind team building and supplies profiles of a few companies that run team building retreats or events that are available.

We are all familiar with the common team building activities (everyone has a joke about trust falls) and we’ve all experienced a variation of the hand holding human knot exercise, where the knot must be untangled without letting go of anyone’s hand. We all know team building is important but all the hype has made it feel old and not very innovative. Surprisingly, I enjoyed reading this article and was reminded that there are team building strategies that take us beyond the human knot. One of the examples provided in the article was an Iron Chef style culinary competition where employees were split into teams and given a basket of ingredients, and told they must work together to plan and prepare a three-course meal using the ingredients provided. The culinary competition team building activity was staged by American Outback Adventures and Events and is designed to foster innovation, collaboration, creativity, strategy, and communication. Another example in the article was the concept of blending volunteering and team building or “VolunTeaming” as it is called by the Ritz Carlton. The Ritz Carlton’s VolunTeaming programs are designed around the idea that corporate social responsibility is something that employees believe in supporting, and that people will form more productive teams if they feel that the activity has a purpose that benefits people or the community. Volunteer based team building changes the focus from internal to the external group.

Team building is something that I have discussed in almost all my classes at Roosevelt, but I honestly have to say that I’ve never put much thought into how team building activities could be done differently. It took a random article in an airline magazine to get me truly thinking about how innovative you can really be when it comes to the concept of fostering team spirit and teaching cooperation techniques.

Finding new creative and engaging team building activities is very important in today’s world of team based work environments and remembering to be on the lookout for new ideas in unconventional places is a must.

What unexpected place have you run across information about training related topics?

What’s the most interesting team building activity you’ve ever participated in?

Cooking competitions, volunteering, if team building can be this creative what do you think would make a good team building activity?

Posted in Human Performance Improvement, Learning at Roosevelt, Organizational Development, Training | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Mind Mapping: A Great Tool for Teaching and Learning

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

By Mauricio Palli

When working on an assignment for TRDV 499, I stumbled on a few articles online that explored the idea of mind mapping and how it can increase student success rates while promoting engagement. I found this topic interesting, so I decided to research it a bit more. I found a pretty neat article via the Robert Morris Teaching Institute Lounge page (Click here) . This particular article explained how mind mapping is a learning technique that allows the student to explore different concepts while connecting them to create a bigger idea. Moreover, this behavior promotes higher-level critical thinking skills, and allows the student to think outside of the box. I also found the idea of using pictures in a mind map intriguing.

Let’s backtrack a minute to find out more about the individual who is responsible for this interesting and creative idea: author and educational consultant Tony Buzan. Tony came about this idea by studying how the mind works when looking at an idea or problem. He says “a mind map is a thinking tool that reflects externally what goes on inside your head”.

Mind mapping can be fun and exciting. One starts in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. In the middle of the sheet, you write down the main component or idea. This idea can be a new plan, a problem, a challenge, and so forth. Then you connect main branches to the main idea. These main branches can then be broken down into sub branches. According to Tony, these branches are curvy rather then straight because he believes that the brain focuses on one idea, which then explodes into multiple solutions or procedures (Click here).

Here is another example of a mind-mapping worksheet: 

Tony has been able to use his idea to develop a multi-million dollar industry, featured on his two websites. He is also the inventor of iMindMap5, which is a software package for developing unique mind maps. This software can be used on a PC, laptop, tablet, and even smartphones. Tony has also worked with multiple industries to show how mind mapping can work in the education, training, business, and corporate fields.

Now that you have a bit of background information regarding mind mapping, let’s revisit my findings on how this tool can be used for learning. Apparently, this important component allows students to recall information they were thinking about when creating the mind map. Many students at almost all levels are using this particular idea to assist them when working on a project or paper. Plus, creating a mind can lead to the engagement part of learning between students and groups. In a training session, one can use mind maps to create department unity. This can also lead to individuals working together to solve a problem or innovate a new concept.

There are a ton of free resources out there for instructors to use. There are also a few pay sites where you can design and purchase your very own mind map tool and tailor it for your class or lessons – if you have room in your budget. I also found a pretty cool video on YouTube (Click here) that explained visually how to create a mind map, featuring actual examples.

Overall, mind mapping is a great tool because it can connect multiple areas in the spectrum of learning. For more information on Tony Buzan’s ideas and software, visit his websites at:

http://www.tonybuzan.com/

http://www.thinkbuzan.com/us/

Posted in Learning Theory | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Learning Organization Revisited

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

Peter Senge’s best seller, “The Fifth Discipline” introduced the premise of the learning organization.  His approach was nothing short of ground breaking and gave a new focus to OD practice.  Although many saw the importance of creating a learning organization, they also found it challenging to implement.  Two professors at Harvard Business School are tacking this issue with renewed vigor.

Watch their video and take their Learning Organization Survey to test how well your organization is doing.  Their survey is also a fine example of an OD assessment tool.  If time allows, read their article which discusses their survey and its uses.

What are your thoughts about learning organizations?  How might organizations reinforce the building blocks of the learning organization (supportive learning environment, learning processes and practices, and leadership that supports learning)?

Posted in Learning Theory, Organizational Development | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Professional Portfolio: Begin with the End in Mind

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

Each student in the Graduate Program in Training and Development will leave us with a well-designed portfolio that documents the expertise  developed in our curriculum.   Many of our graduates have told us that their portfolio was essential to their landing a new job or promotion after graduation.  Here are just a few additional demonstrated benefits of portfolios:

  1. A portfolio will help you organize documents. Everything will be in one place, ready for future situations when you may be asked to show what you have accomplished and what you know.
  2. Portfolios promote the concept of lifelong learning and allow for both formative and summative self-evaluations (Treuer, & Jenson, 2003).
  3. Learners can participate actively in assessing their strengths, weaknesses, and growth and development over time.
  4. In academic settings, portfolios facilitate the assessment process. Multiple
  5. examples of expertise present a richer snapshot of learning.
  6. Students are no longer mere recipients of information; rather, they construct
  7. meaning from information and transform it to knowledge (Gathercoal, Love, Bryde, & McKean, 2002).
  8. A portfolio increases your visibility and will, quite likely, impress those who view it.

Whether you are just beginning your studies, or nearing completion, you should keep thoughts about your portfolio front and center at all times.  Newbies can prepare for their final class, TRDV 499:  Master’s Portfolio right from the beginning by formulating career goals and connecting those goals to their coursework.  Most of the classes you will complete with us have a major project that has the potential for becoming part of your professional portfolio—this makes every class and every assignment important!   In TRDV 499 you will revisit those assignments, tying them to the theories you have studied, to form the basis of your portfolio.

Here are  strategies you can use to make the portfolio design process simpler and more effective from your first class with us: Continue reading →

Posted in Learning at Roosevelt | Tagged | 2 Comments

Join the Discussion: T & D, HPI and Social Justice

Posted on January 16, 2012 by

Welcome back -

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the United States; the university is, of course, closed. To honor Dr. King, I’d like to begin a conversation about the role of Training & Development (T&D) and Human Performance Improvement (HPI) in helping to turn around the economy and in helping people to develop new practical skills or to improve their existing skills. The New York Times is running a series of articles on the theme of ‘Learn to Earn’ or vocational training. If you would like to participate in the conversation, please read the article available at the following link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/business/states-pay-to-train-workers-to-companies-benefit.html

After reading the article, and perhaps viewing any accompanying videos, add your thoughts about how our field could improve the work that is being done. What makes a job training program work? What could be done to improve what is going on?  If possible, give not just your personal opinion but also provide data to support your viewpoint.  I am looking forward to engaging with you on this very important topic.

The Ground Rules:  Though there are clearly political—and politically fiscal/tax—implications to job training programs and their funding, let’s refrain from addressing them and keep the focus on T&D and HPI as contributors to this endeavor.  Remember, social justice is 24-7.

Vince Cyboran, Ed.D.
Associate Professor,
Graduate Program in Training and Development

Posted in Human Performance Improvement, Learning Theory, Training | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

CCASTD is looking for volunteers

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

 

E-Learning Instructional Designers – Storyboard production

Looking for volunteers to create storyboards for e-learning. The need is for volunteers to develop 2 storyboards/lessons each. Lesson themes, learning goals, storyboard templates and an on-line volunteer support forum are all provided. New groups start each month. The approximate time commitment is 30-40 hours over a 3-month period. If interested, please visit www.e-learningforkids.org and download the volunteer registration form. E-mail the form to Jenna at jderies@e-learningforkids.org. Please copy ccastd.community@gmail.com on your email to Jenna.

About e-Learning for Kids: e-Learning for Kids a global non-profit foundation, depends on learning professionals like yourself to continue to grow the 175+ basic skills curriculum by providing new best-in-class, highly engaging and interactive FREE e-Learning courses for children ages 5-12 around the world. Courses help students build and strengthen skills in Math, Language Arts, Science, Computers, Health/Life Skills and the English language.

Posted in E-Learning, Instructional Design | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Are you ready to train online in 2012?

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

Start the New Year right- sign up for a complimentary Webinar! The following free Webinars are being offered in January:

Learning Technologies: Transforming your Workforce

3 Steps to Virtual Training

Click on the “News and Events” page to register.

Posted in E-Learning, Technology | Tagged , | 3 Comments