International Team Building
By Alan Hunt
As a business, the organisation that employs me has many international partners and associates. The distinction between the two is that partners are able to run our activities themselves whereas associates need our assistance (and usually also equipment) to host a session. In those areas of the world in which we do not have either kind of representation, we run our activities directly when asked.
Both supporting partners and running events overseas bring a number of challenges and I thought that others may be interested in them – hence this article. Let's take each in turn, starting with supporting partners.
Our options are different to the norm and, therefore, require us to train even the most experienced of partners to run them successfully. The way we do that is to co-facilitate their first event for any activity of ours that they have not run before. We send one or more people, as befits the activity and the group size, a few days ahead of the event to train our partner's team in advance.
At the same time we provide them with the software they will need to run the event (all of our options use technology to deliver them effectively and efficiently) and ensure that it is installed correctly and successfully on their computers.
All of our options are multiple language capable and many have been translated therefore into various languages, including French, Swedish, Portuguese and even Bosnian. Whether we are co-facilitating a session in English or a local language of some kind, we try to stay in the background, supporting our partner's people rather than taking over from them.
Usually we are able to do that, but there has been the odd occasion int he past when it has been important that we, shall I say, increase our presence a little during the event. Either way, our partner's team gets to learn how to run the event both theoretically and practically so that by the time we leave they are completely self-sufficient for future events.
Running an event directly is a little more challenging from a logistical perspective. For those events that utilise specialist equipment, it's great when we work with a partner as, by the time the event happens, they will have all the equipment locally. When we work directly in another country, we have to get our equipment both there and back.
Some countries are easier to do that with than others. Countries such as Algeria, for example, have very precise and detailed documentation requirements that have to be spot on or you may never see your equipment again!
Assuming that your shipment makes it to the foreign venue, you will need to get there earlier than you would for an equivalent session on your own soil to check that everything has arrived safely and in working order. Also it is necessary to carefully pack everything up again after the event, ready for collection and shipping home – complete with the required documentation for the return trip, of course.
In both cases, our team gets to enjoy a visit to faraway lands, meet nice people and send them away as happy as those we meet when we run our team building activities at home. Can you tell we like having international connections?
The author's company, Sandstone Limited, are team building specialists with a range of unique activities. Their activities are so different that they have attracted partners around the world who deliver them to Sandstone's exacting standards. They even have one that is delivered completely over the web.
Their client list is impressive and their references impeccable. You can call Sandstone on 01158 715690 for an informal chat that will help you choose the best activity for your team building requirement.
|
Other articles you might like;
- What Are The essentials of Call Center Leadership Training | Everything About Sales Training
- What Are The essentials of Call Center Leadership Training « at blogdiction.com
- Call Center Leadership Training Unrelenting the Demanding Development « at blogdiction.com
- How Call Center Managers Look at Assets « Apollo Diamond
- How Management in Call Centers Controls Employee Actions and Demeanor | OUTSOURCING
