I was recently approached by a journalist Sandra Buckingham, who gathered information on the “Incentives Industry”. She identified TBI as a role player in this industry and forwarded some questions she wanted me to answer.

1. What is the incentives industry like in SA?
In what way has it been successful in reaching its goals?
If I understand this question correctly; you would like to know what it feels like to be a role player in this industry. -  As you may have noticed, we have been actively involved in the Team Building Industry for the past 10 years and have found it exiting and challenging.

2. What are the shortfalls of the industry in SA?
With all respect…the industry like you, equate team building with corporate events and related incentive programs. There is a huge difference between team building and recreation.

3. How does team building fit into the industry?
Team building does not fit into the Incentive industry. Team building should never be framed as some kind of reward for good performance. This is the reason why clients are disillusioned when they invest in some “team building” intervention to address team-related issues and they have been exposed to meaningless activities with no relevance to their needs. There is a difference between corporate/ team recreation and team building

4. Where would you like to see the industry in the future?
Team building can be institutionalized, this means applying the Team Growth Strategy™ to grow teams over a length of time to a level of maturity. This is why we offer frequent interventions to our clients.

5. What are the most popular type of incentives on offer?
Please give us an example. The TBI Team Recreation program, mobilizes 30-150 people at the same time for 2 -3 hours. Activities should not discriminate against participants with eg. Fear of heights; low fitness levels. The program should never put participants’ dignity at risk. Participants should never compete against one another – competition is another form of conflict and this will create sub-cultures within the team.   

A True Story…

Since Susan have been appointed as Full Time Hockey Coach at a very prestigious high school in Pretoria, interest and participation has grown tremendously. Although Hockey has drawn the attention of everybody involved at the school, Rugby is still regarded as a priority when sponsorships and facilities are considered. Susan has never really been bothered by this discrepancy, in a way it has motivated her to do more. The 2006 Hockey season ended on an all time high when several players were selected to represent the provincial team. If anybody would rate Susan’s performance she would easily score 90%.

The School Governing Body decided during their last meeting of 2006 to “incentivise” all the sporting codes. The reasoning was that this would motivate the coaching staff to work harder and even improve on their results. The coaching staff was exited about this gesture and Susan reasoned that after all her hard work and the ground breaking work she did she would at least be able to buy a new television.

A very complex scoring system was introduced, which resulted in a noticeable difference between the amounts the Rugby Coach received compared to what the Hockey Coach received. Susan was shocked when she opened the envelope and was greeted by three R100 bills. She immediately approached the Rugby Coach only to find him gloatingly counting his money. He received R5000.

With the official start of the Hockey season in March 2007, the parents became aware of a complete change in Susan’s attitude towards her coaching responsibilities. She lost the spark and passion with which she coached. During the previous year she arranged for extra practice sessions and social events to actively keep the parents involved. The school holiday clinics and special training sessions disappeared. She arrived late at practice and sometimes never pitched at all. The parents were up in arms, demanding her resignation.

If anybody would rate Susan’s performance she would easily score 20%.

How can it be that someone like Susan achieved 90% output before the incentive scheme only achieved 20% in a matter of months? Isn’t it ironic that the parents (paying customers) and their children are paying the price for the naivety of the School Governing Body? The incentive scheme forced Susan to take a stand in trying to keep her self respect intact. Her 90% was down graded by a cruel system. She was hurt and humiliated.

Wouldn’t you have done the same?

 

 New TBI Franchise

TBI would like to welcome Dana Ellis and Riette Prinsloo into the franchise family. The company Team Building Institute DELTRA was registered today.

DELTRA originates from the Greek language, which means door. TBI DELTRA has the vision to open doors for people in understanding relationships and behaviour through the AEL (Adventure-related Experiential Learning) methodology. The spiritual connotation of DELTRA is “Seeker of Truth (Rev. 3:20)” which relates to TBI’s philosophy of creating and facilitating shared moments of truth.

Dana and Riette have successfully completed the first phase of the training strategy in Oudtshoorn. The remaining phases will be in June and July this year.

TBI recognises their entrepreneurship and passion for the industry and are proud to be associated with them.

SEP Team - 14 November ' 06

Ongelooflik!!

Moenie bang wees nie – gaan net vir die “support”.
Niks is onmoontlik nie!...Ons het “footloose” reggekry!
Kom en “perform” soos die SEP ouens (onthou net die “suntan lotion”).




TOE THE LINE
Integrity and Teamwork. (Written by Tom Heck)

I just Googled the phrase "integrity teamwork" and there were 1,100,00 pages found!

I find that amazing.

But maybe I shouldn't. 

After all, individual and team integrity is crucial to experiencing long-term success. 

Integrity work is deep (not superficial).  You can't get to integrity by using a "technique".

Integrity can't be faked.

On the personal level, you get to integrity when there is alignment between who you are (at the core) and the behavior you engage in. 

A team gets to integrity when there is alignment between it's purpose/mission and the behavior (actions) of the team. 

There is a direct correlation between the success experienced by the team and the degree to which the team is "in integrity".

When "Out Of Integrity"

• Disturbances occur regularly
• Others are blamed and criticized
• We react rather than respond to others
• Decisions and choices are difficult and lack clarity

 When "In Integrity"

• Fewer problems are experienced
• Consistent feelings of peace and well being are present
• One reacts to others very little
• Decisions and choices are clear and easy

How does one get to integrity? 

How does a team get there?

Recently I experienced more individuals that are willing to experience discomfort for the sake of the truth. Is it because we are so forced to live and be who we are lately? The reality that it can be taken away any time makes me realize what the importance of immediate integrity is. Team Building Institute uses the term TOE THE LINE, which means INTEGRITY. Creating a save environment where team members can speak the truth without being crucified, and actually learning from their mistakes makes this TOE THE LINE a powerful tool in everyday working and living environment.