At their recent leadership conference, British multinational hospitality company, Intercontinental Group used Catalyst team building activity Bridging the Divide to highlight effective communication and customer service.
Assigning Roles and Responsibilities
Teams were assigned specific parts of the bridge. They were given instruction manuals, the materials and tools required to build their respective portions. Various roles were quickly assigned and resources assessed to ensure a building plan was clearly drawn out. This was crucial to the success of their bridge as each individual team would specify the plan for their portion but another team had to build it!
Planning & Construction
For an hour, teams communicated their plans and collaborated with each other on building adjoining portions to ensure all sides matched up – not an easy task when the bridge was purposely designed with angles and elevations! Teams made full use of communication tools available like “Email Inboxes” and “Call Centers” to exchange data and clarify and verify information.
Joining the Sections Together
As the deadline drew near, teams hurried to clarify final details and added finishing touches to the portion of the bridge. At delivery time, teams brought their finished portion to the “client” who verified that it had been built according to plans. Excitement mounted as the bridge was assembled and laughter erupted as some portions didn’t turn out as expected.
Testing the Bridge
After a short debriefing session to share experiences and key initiatives from the afternoon’s activities, teams came back into the room to test the bridge structure. The Managing Director of IHG Greater China was given the honour to drive remote controlled truck on the bridge. Cheered on by the delegates, the truck successfully made its round with sounds of excited cheers and laughter.
As a souvenir signifying what can be achieved by working together towards one unified goal, delegates posed for a group photo with the magnificent circular bridge.
