Farmers National Bike Building and Give-Away in Omaha

Doug Staneart  |  December 26, 2010
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Farmers National Build-A-Bike Team Building Activity Farmers National Company held a team building event in Omaha which culminated with the group donating 48 bikes to the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midland. Over 270 people participated in the event. The large group was divided into 40 smaller groups that each had to come up with a team name and a team flag for their group and solve problems and riddles to get the bike parts.

Once they got all the parts they could assemble the bikes and at the end of the program children from the boys and girls clubs were introduced to receive the bikes. It was a great event, with opportunities for fun and learning, and a great “feel good” ending.The group from Farmers National came from across the country to participate in company meetings.

Farmers National Insurance Builds Bikes for Kids in Omaha.

The Build-A-Bike ® team building event was just one ingredient of several days of successful meetings. The group participated well and worked with each other showing that Farmers National is a great company with great people.

During the Build-A-Bike® there were many opportunities to learn great team building and leadership skills and put them into practice. It is stressed from the start of the program that it is not a competition. The idea is to support and work with one another. It is a hard concept, especially when you’re divided into groups. By dividing into groups competition is almost automatic, even if it is discouraged. The problems that needed to be solved to get the bike parts were most easily solved when working with other teams.

The most effective and efficient way to solve many problems is to ask others for help, but it is a hard thing to do, especially if you view it as a competition. But divisions, different locations, any thing that segments one company into many parts, can create unhealthy competition that keeps them from sharing vital information with other groups. Ultimately, the 270+ from Farmers National realized that they were one team, not 40 teams, but one team- made up of 40 groups, with one goal- to build bikes for kids. They did a fantastic job and not only did the 48 children that received the bikes benefit but so did the communities they live in. Thanks Farmers National.

author Doug Staneart
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Doug Staneart is president of The Leader's Institute ®. He is based in the Dallas, Texas Region. He is a specialist in corporate team building activities and custom presentation skills seminars.
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