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Chicago is one of the largest and richest cities in the world. The job market is so diverse that the city has earned a reputation for a very balanced economy. In addition to being varied, those companies are also plentiful. In fact, Chicago is home to the second largest central business district in the United States.

With businesses playing such an important role in the city’s economy, it shouldn’t be surprising that many employers are willing to invest in Chicago team building activities for their employees. After all, teams make a company much stronger than it could be when individuals work independently because teams are capable of greater productivity and creativity. This is true for several reasons.

First of all, it is easier to complete large tasks when several people are working on the same project because it can be divided into smaller pieces. This prevents putting too much strain on any one person. Second, teams also have the capacity to capitalize on individual strengths and compensate for weaknesses within the group. And third, teams provide an atmosphere where relationships and trust can form. And all of these things increase employee satisfaction and productivity.

Even though teams can yield these kinds of results, the ground rules for team work need to be established before the work begins. Sometimes those ground rules and channels of communication are difficult to create in an office setting though. That’s why team builders in companies, athletic facilities and schools are starting to incorporate games in their team building efforts.

Professionals have learned that games naturally stimulate competition, conversation and a friendly environment. And, in this kind of setting, friendship and trust begin to form as well. Coincidentally, these are all key ingredients for team work as well. Games don’t need to be complicated or expensive to be effective team building tools, but they should involve everyone in the group and cater to people with different interests and abilities.

Team building activities that are available in or around Chicago include everything from sailing excursions on Lake Michigan to scavenger hunts around local neighborhoods, museums and attractions. Sailing will definitely get the group out of the office environment and teach your employees about the value of team work, but it might take longer than you would like. Scavenger hunts, on the other hand, can usually be completed in an hour or less and they draw on the strengths of the team as a whole. Since many of them take you through the city, the experience will be fresh in their minds every time they come to work.

If you are looking for some exceptional Chicago team building scavenger hunts, visit Watson Adventure’s website (http://www.watsonadventures.com/chicago.html). They showcase all of Chicago’s most popular attractions with creative and challenging clues. The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.

New York is the largest city in the United States, and as such it naturally has assumed the status of corporate capital of America, if not the world. Additionally, New York is one of the most often visited cities in the country due to its huge variety of sites and attractions. Even though there are countless landmarks and famous sites in New York, most tourists are still intent on using guidebooks to help themselves along. The problem is that most of these guide books only explain how to get from attraction to attraction and don’t go into much detail about what to do once you get there.

A corporate scavenger hunt can be a great way to immerse oneself in a more interactive experience of the city – both for tourists, and for residents and corporations. New York Team Building activities, such as scavenger hunts, allow groups of people to form small teams and explore places across the city, such as Times Square, local Museums, Grand Central Station, area Zoos, and Central Park, by following clues and trivia that help you get from one place to the next. All the while, someone is prearranged to guide you through each attraction so you can learn more about each attraction than any guide book could possibly provide.

As a corporate solution for team building in New York, these scavenger hunts can help a company to get to know each other, build relationships, forge a competitive spirit, and simply have some fun together. Just as any other New York team building exercises, corporate scavenger hunts offer unparalleled opportunities for departmental camaraderie and teamwork and can provide a unique way for companies to take a break from the everyday monotony of the corporate world. But, perhaps best of all, scavenger hunts are just plain fun!

These team building scavenger hunts utilize every member of the team, so they help build teams on from the individual level as well as the team level. They truly are a great way to build relationships, learn trust, create confidence, increase communication skills, and strengthen a company one team at a time. If you want people to work hard together, sometimes they have to play hard together, too.

So, whether you are trying to build a better team, strengthen a company, or just enjoy a vacation in New York, a scavenger hunt is a fun and exciting way to invest your time and money.

Art Gib is a freelance writer, and Watson Adventures (http://www.watsonadventures.com/new_york.htm) is a scavenger hunt organizer for team building in New York and other cities. They specialize in corporate scavenger hunts.

Teams are valuable because of their ability divide and conquer large tasks in an efficient and creative way. Everyone wants their teams to be strong and unified, but they need to be diverse too. In the best teams, team members are able to understand each other and work together without losing their sense of individual worth. After all, unity doesn’t mean that differences need to be homogenized out of existence. Rather, it means the team has learned how to capitalize on group dynamics and individual strengths that contribute to the team’s effectiveness as a whole.

Creating this kind of team unity can definitely be a challenge. To attain this kind of unity, team members must learn about each other through good communication in addition to having common goals. Knowing each other well is important because it helps team members form realistic expectations and avoid unnecessary frustration. For example, it is harder to be patient with weaknesses when they pop up as surprises and nigh impossible to capitalize on another individual’s strength if team members don’t even know that it exists.

One of the best ways to get people to work together without sacrificing individual strengths is through team building games like rope courses, trust falls, relay races and scavenger hunts because team building games do more than force people to work together. They bolster enthusiasm, build relationships and establish channels of communication that can also be used in an office environment once they have been formed. Teachers, coaches and managers have all been so impressed with the results of team building games that many of them are willing to invest time and money into getting employees, students and athletes out of the office, school or field and into the games.

Games are such an effective tool because they usually take place in a less stressful environment than work which makes it easier for people to open up and be themselves. Games are also useful because they create shared experiences that everyone enjoys which will help them bond together and become a better team. By adding a little fun into the mix, the activities you choose can also function as a release valve that rejuvenates and recharges your employees.

If your team building games do prove successful and your teams become more effective in the office, make sure you reward them for meeting their goals and becoming more efficient. Reward can come in the form of simple thanks, praise and treats but the form of appreciation isn’t nearly as important as making sure it is expressed. Work may not be as fun as team building games, but meeting their goals and being recognized for their work can go a long way in keeping people motivated.

If you want to invest in tried and tested team building games that have been acclaimed by the New York Times, check out the scavenger hunts at Watson Adventures (http://www.watsonadventures.com/team_building.html). The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.

Life starts as we are born into teams, called families. At this point, the task of learning to “get along” begins. Then the task continues as we keep working in teams during school and careers. Why is “getting along” such a universal hardship. Perhaps it is because we are all so different and the way we think and express ourselves varies from person to person. Although some people do simply click when they come together, in most cases different personalities clash a little when they are brought together and told to work in a team.

This is somewhat ironic since teams are formed not only for their efficiency, but for their diversity as well. After all, with a potpourri of different personalities come a wider variety of strengths that can help compensate for individual weaknesses. Unfortunately, as sibling rivalry illustrates when we are very young, just being part of a team is no guarantee that everything will go smoothly. Ask any parent, teacher, coach or employer and they will all affirm that team building can be a difficult task.

So, what can help the important process of team building go smoother? Let me suggest an anecdote similar to Mary Poppin’s creed that a “spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” Whether you are dealing with families, athletes, students or employees, teach them to have fun together and the ability to work together will follow.

When people have fun together, communication and energy naturally start to flow. This in turn develops trust, relationships and understanding that can then be used in a home, school, sports or office environment. Friends, not enemies, make well-oiled teams.

One of the best team building activities for groups of all sizes is a scavenger hunt because scavenger hunts do a good job of involving every team member. Scavenger hunts utilize sharp eyes and minds rather than physical prowess and everyone can contribute to solving the clues along the way to find the answers.

Scavenger hunt team building in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., New York and other large cities is especially fun because of the many attractions and historical sites to build on. On these hunts you can learn about local haunts, find clues in museums that hold your interest and keep you moving through the art or learn the most random and entertaining facts about founding fathers like Benjamin Franklin. Some hunts have been adapted specifically for special occasions like Mother’s Day and Father’s day while other are versatile and fun for many kinds of groups any time of the year.

To learn more about scavenger hunts and fun activities for team building in Philadelphia, visit Watson Adventures (http://www.watsonadventures.com/philadelphia.html) and look through a wide variety of options. Your students, family or employees will love it. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

Finding ways to motivate employees to do their best and beyond is rewarding for both the employee and the business. A successful manager turns reasonable requests asked of their employees into incentives for a job well done.

Motivated employees are your greatest line in defense in attaining quality job performance and meeting future goals.

Motivation is a key ingredient to any success. A skillful manager provides a winning strategy by setting up targets for the employees to achieve company aims. Most people respond well to positive feedback.

Today’s workforce understands budgets and do not always expect to see rewards in their weekly paycheck. A personal comment of- ‘Good job, Mary’ or ‘Thank You, Bob’- can at times gain more profitable results than a fat bonus (don’t tell my boss- I said so).

A strong leader knows how to inspire employees because one person can not manage the workload alone. Every person wants to feel their hard work is appreciated.

Competition is a tool you may find useful in motivating your staff. Your driven helpers competing with their fellow co-workers can only mean more productivity for you.

Bosses are surprised to learn that money is not always enough as a motivator. Recognition and fairness are among the awards that employees treasure and can not be deposited into a bank account.

Creative contests are a good idea for seeking to pump up the game in your crew. Keeping up the group’s morale is beneficial for the future good health of your employees and the company.

Allowing your trusted employees freedom to enjoy themselves while working is a great self- motivator which takes some much needed pressure off management.

Use the competitive edge in people to insure assignments will be carried out in a professional manner. You do not want the integrity of your business to suffer just because someone covets a desk clock prize.

A self-starter in the workplace can rally the others who may have fallen behind in their work. Let your valuable employees see that you appreciate their extra effort.

Give them an unexpected twenty minutes on their lunch break. Tell the employee who always volunteers to work late that they have earned a half-day holiday. Do not consider above the call of duty dedication as part of the job description.

Loyalty is a great motivational speaker that will not go unheard.

Surprisingly, factors such as pay, benefits and working conditions were given a low rating by both groups. So after all, and contrary to common belief, money is not the prime motivator. Though this should not be regarded as a signal to reward employees poorly or unfairly.

You should not have to coax your employees to manage dead lines. Pride in themselves is more than a sufficient accomplishment for plenty of folks.

A personalized plague to hang on the wall or a signed card letting them know they are valued is a small token that makes a huge difference. Give yourself a pat on the back and get to work!

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