OnTeamBuilding

Chris Ortiz joins the OnTeamBuilding podcast to discuss some of the things he does during the early portion of his programs to get a sense of his groups – observing behaviors that can help him gauge the group mindset. These observations, Chris tells us, helps him steer programming decisions to better meet the immediate needs of his participants. We also find out Chris's take on the concept of...

Jolee Jones is a Director of Organizational Development and Experiential Learning for a school district in Colorado. In this episode Jolee and Chris talk about resiliency-building and the value it poses for educators and team builders. Jolee’s ‘Why’ (our Why being an important foundational principal of resilience), is to “revolutionize systems of work so that we have systems where humans can thriv...

Anna Grace started team building four years ago. She's now the Assistant Director of Outdoor Programs at a university in Georgia. She talks with Chris about her fast track, being in charge, imposter syndrome and the work she does with college age groups. She emphasizes that choices help us grow, everyone exhibits leadership behaviors, it's important to recognize the leadership behaviors...

Join Ken and Chris for an energetic conversation about The Power of Play – which just happens to be the title of Ken's first book. It's a wonderful read on the importance of rediscovering the playful and the impact it has on our lives.  Ken shares some of his experiences with groups on the beach – he does teambuilding programs in the sand through his Beach Play Company. It's an idea...

Chris and Karen share their experiences with todays youth and why team building is still important. Karen tells us about some of her favorite activities and why disasters are a key factor for learning and growing. She sees elementary through high school students at the Base Camp Challenge Center, helping them acquire the 'essential skills' critical to career success. Working with high sc...

Tim joins Chris to talk about why he uses teambuilding experiences in his physical education classes. Teambuilding activities, Tim shares, help develop a positive culture within his classes and beyond. His Kindergarten through 8th grade students have the opportunity to build character skills like integrity, resilience, kindness, and compassion. Chris finds out about Tim's, 5 Kets to Classroom...

Swati and Agyat talk with Chris about their meaningful work with Play for Peace over the 25 years. Through play young people "get access to being themselves" and the power they have in their own lives to make a difference.  Play for Peace "supports individuals and organizations who are passionate about children to transform conflict into meaningful and impactful learning experiences...

Has anyone ever asked you, "How do you lead a team building activity?" Chris has fielded this question more than you might imagine. "Not exactly a soup question," as Forester would say.  In this episode, Sam and Chris discuss some of the foundational aspects of what to think about and do before leading an activity, for the first time or, really, any time. Chris also shares his...

In the final episode of Season 1 of the OnTeamBuilding podcast, Michelle Cummings (the BIG Wheel at Training Wheels ), shares one of her favorite activities, some programming wisdom and her go-to processing tool. She leaves us with advice to keep us learning and growing, "Find others that do what you do, and make those valuable connections."  We hope you join us! Find all Show Notes and...

Tom Heck is a master of the team building craft. He has worked with groups of all ages, committed to the deep dives he can take groups into. Tom shares some of his most memorable stories lined with possibilities for all of us! He holds to guiding principles like, "Remain curious and be willing to explore," and "Keep that wonder and surprise" with every group you work with. We h...

Rohan is the Training Manager for ChallengeWorks out of California. He is simply an amazing source of knowledge in the area of challenge course training and operations. Rohan shares several of his favorite activities - some for team building programs and some for training programs. He also gets into some of his go-to props. We hope you join us! Find all Show Notes and Episodes HERE This podcast is...

Floyd, as a team builder, has a deep background in working with youth diagnosed with severe emotional challenges. In this episode, he shares some of the books, processing tools and activities that have helped him navigate programs with these youth groups. (You don't want to miss his variation of the activity, Jump In-Jump Out.) We hope you join us!  Find all Show Notes and Episodes HERE This...

Kema started her (now 30+ year) career helping youth as a recreational therapist working with them on physical, emotional and social growth. Her 'job' was to find therapeutic value in anything recreational - from cooking to canoeing. When she discovered Adventure Education she added more team building methodologies to her program list and then moved into running and facilitating challeng...

Chris Schuhmann has been a teacher and adventure educator for over 13 years. Early on, Chris saw the amazing potential of adventure ed and has been using its methodologies to help bring about powerful life lessons. He categorizes what he does as Adventure Psychology - the practice of helping others learn and grow through adventure. In this episode, Chris shares one of his favorite activities (Grou...

Andrew, with a background in social work, uses adventure-base counseling methodologies with groups of all ages. His primary focus is helping youth populations practice pro-social behaviors through team building experiences. Andrew shares some of his favorite processing tools and practices, how "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" (Lencioni) can guide adult programming and advises "appr...

Kristina is the Instructor for Experiential Based Learning for the Center for Character and Leadership Development at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Colorado. It is the first position of its kind at the Air Force Academy. At 34 years old, Kristina already has 17 years of team building experience under her belt. She tells us about her career journey, the challenges, the suc...

During this episode of the OnTeamBuilding podcast, Jaime shares with Chris four different frameworks that help him program, observe and process team building experiences - all of them are organized in groups of three steps (easy to remember). Jaime also shares a favorite celebration, a few of his favorite activities, how he keeps processing sessions from slowing down and the importance of Requesti...

Dr. Jim Cain, from Teamwork & Teamplay, and Dr. Cavert dive into some of Jim's favorite books, activities and team building props and hear stories from the field about how 'simple' activities can have powerful outcomes that change lives, communities and companies. Jim has authored over 12 activity books and recently published his first novel, Rise Again: The Story of the Mary El...

Scott Goldsmith, author of Experiential Activities for Enhancing Emotional Intelligence shares his three keys to success focus and other emotional intelligence (EI) connections we can make with our team building groups. We have traditionally been promoting and enhancing EI in our team building programs without making the important connections to understanding EI. Now, more than ever, let's he...

In this episode, Dave shares some of his recent experiences team building face-to-face with groups while safely distancing. He shares some of his thinking on preparing for his programs, what activities worked for him and some of his biggest take-aways. This is the third episode in our data collection series on safely distancing programming.  We hope you join us!  Find all Show Notes and Episodes H...

Jennifer and Chris get into a fruitful conversation about favorites. We find out about Jennifer's favorite props (some of which are Chris' favorites as well), her favorite activity (and a bonus share from Chris), her favorite processing tools and processing question when she's faced with limited time to close out a program. The conversation wraps up with one of Jennifer's bigge...

Ed and Chris get into a steady up hill climb conversation about a team builders journey working with groups over the years. We all seem to start out looking for activities we can use with groups - having enough of them to fill the time we are assigned. Then, if you team build long enough you get the bug. You want to know more about the why behind the what. You want to be more purposeful in what yo...

We are learning from Mo Kappes in this focused episode about team building while safely distancing. Mo is the Advisor, and facilitator trainer, for the Adventure Learning Programs at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Mo shares her recent experience facilitating a team building program while safely distancing. She tells us about how she and her facilitators planned the program and what they need...

In this episode, we're learning from Jeremy Yarbrough, the Program Development Manger for Group Dynamix out of Carrollton Texas. Group Dynamix is starting to bring groups into their 35,000+ sq. ft. indoor facility. Jeremy tells us about their early considerations, before groups were 'allowed' to return, some of the activities that have been popular and have worked while safely dista...

We get to learn from Jon Grizzle in this episode of the OnTeamBuilding podcast. Jon has been team building for over 13 years. He got hooked on team building through his scouting program and has never looked back. Today he spends most of his contact hours with adult groups, but still takes the opportunity to work with the younger minds as well. Jon shares his thinking about programming and some act...