Offsite Experience Improves Internal Teamwork and External Reputation

Client

A Fortune 500 technology company with ~14,000 employees

What We Did

Designed and led custom offsite to unite, align, and establish value proposition of 25-member team

Outcome

Improved team effectiveness with shared identity, values, and vision for the future

Innovative Offsite Design and Facilitation Tools & Techniques Align Team on Vision and Purpose

THE SITUATION

The leader of a new 25-member team at a Fortune 500 technology company turned to Blue Beyond to design and facilitate a unique “team effectiveness experience”. Her team of product and program managers, who focus on supporting internal clients, rarely had the chance to work alongside one another outside of their team meetings twice a month. As a result they operated independently from one another with very little sense of team identity, camaraderie, shared values, or vision.

This leader wanted to change that by bringing the group together to realize the true value they could deliver when they work effectively as a team — to support each other, leverage each other’s expertise, and achieve success together. She was looking for an offsite experience that could help her team build relationships, understand and appreciate each other’s differences, increase collaboration, and ultimately help them earn a reputation as a valued contributor to the business.

WHAT WE DID

Blue Beyond quickly gained a clear understanding of the client’s desires and got to work designing a custom offsite experience that was engaging and productive for all involved. Tapping into our own facilitation expertise, visual notetaking skills, and proprietary tools, as well as Myers-Briggs assessment exercises, we led a two-day offsite that helped the team breakdown barriers, get aligned, and envision a new future for itself.

Promoted Team Building

Broke the ice and helped the team get to know each other better using the Blue Beyond Conversation Cards™
Deepened the team’s understanding of work styles, personalities, differences, and strengths by analyzing and sharing personalized MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) Reports
Helped the team identify complementary thought partners to leverage going forward and gain new insights to team dynamics

Established Common Ground

Facilitated discussion around the current state of the team and how they are showing up to stakeholders, identifying key factors and attributes to keep or build on, and those they would work to reduce
Built alignment on what they stand for by leading an exercise to identify and prioritize their most important team values using the Blue Beyond Values Cards™
Steered discussion, debate, and alignment on what it means to be a unified team
Worked with the team to craft their value proposition and align on the unique way they contribute to the business

Envisioned The Future

Began to define the desired future state by outlining how they want to show up for each other, clients, and the broader organization
Established conditions for success by guiding the team to identify what they need from each other, their leader, and their working environment to successfully reach the future state
Helped the team identify potential barriers as well as strategies to overcome them

Blue Beyond Conversation Cards

Blue Beyond Conversation Cards provided creative prompts for team members to engage, get to know each other, and strengthen relationships.

Live Journey Map Illustration

Blue Beyond’s in-house illustrator helped the team create an 8-foot wide visual roadmap of where they’ve been and where they want to go.

Blue Beyond Value Cards

The Blue Beyond Values Cards exercise encouraged rich discussion and debate; and aligned team members around the most important values, mindsets, and behaviors that drive the organization.

OUTCOME

“A huge round of applause to Blue Beyond for facilitating and creating our amazing experience which delivered our intended outcome with many surprising bonuses. Thank you for your professionalism and stellar orchestration of our high-spirited bunch along our aggressive, ever-aspiring agenda. You created and adapted perfectly to the dynamics of our team and kept the momentum of our discussions focused and inspired with elevated purpose.” — Team Leader & Director of Product Management

After the offsite, the team felt an immediate impact. With a better understanding of each other’s strengths and an alignment of their core values, the team developed a deeper trust in each other. The hands-on exercises provided an opportunity to interact and collaborate in a way they never had before, leading them to walk away with a stronger sense of team camaraderie, a more natural ability to communicate, and a shared vision for the future. They knew what factors of their team dynamics they wanted to keep and continue to build on, and how to spot red flags.

By arming themselves with new insights, they had increased confidence to make decisions and problem-solve together. Overall the experience provided an opportunity to establish a brand for themselves, agree on what they want to be known for, and show up stronger to stakeholders and the rest of the company moving forward.