Teamwork

This weekend I tried dragon boat racing for the first time and it was so much fun, I thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

However, I especially recommend it to businesses who are struggling to think of what to do at their next team event as it was a great lesson in the importance of teamwork.

Team Bonding

I knew just three people on my team of 17 before we started. By the end of the the day we were all hugging each other like old friends and congratulating each other on a job well done. We didn’t win, we weren’t even in the finals, but we had all worked together and really improved throughout the day and that’s worth celebrating.

In total we had three races, in the first race we were just getting used to the technique and seeing how it went. We managed to win that one by a fraction.

In the second race we thought we had it down so we just went all out… and lost.

Time for a team talk! We knew from the race that we weren’t together, our timing was out so we kept crashing oars, not a great strategy.

In the third and final race, we shouted throughout; one, two, one, two, keeping time with the person in front. The whole team was in unison and we flew through the water. It was a great feeling.

If you’d like to see the video of our last race just click here.

It’s All About Timing

We all know how important a fantastic team is but it wasn’t the strongest team that won the Dragon Boat racing, it was the team that worked together, that communicated with each other all the way through and that were aware of what their team mates were doing so that they could match them.

We hear a lot about how as long as everyone is working towards the same goal then you will get there and that’s true, you will reach the finish line.

But if you aren’t all in synch and working together to get there then you may not win the race.

The best way to achieve this is to communicate with your team during the whole journey, you cant just have a talk at the beginning and expect everyone to keep in time, you need to shout throughout and have them shout too.

Team Meetings

The most effective teams are the ones who meet regularly to make sure everyone is still on course. Every member feels comfortable and able to share an opinion and the manager communicates clearly.

You might be the one beating the drum but you have to beat it in time with your team, or there’s no point in beating it at all.

I’d love to hear how often you have team meetings and how effective you feel they are.

If you fancy giving Dragon Boating a try then you could give these lovely people a call, as they did a fabulous job at the Chatham Maritime Food & Drink Festival.

Striped Leopard have lots of experience at improving communication within a team.
Why not give us a drop us a line to see how we can help you?