Chick-Fil-A Build-A-Bike in Atlanta, Georgia
Chick-Fil-A hosted a Build-A-Bike ® workshop for its Training and Development team to encourage team building and philanthropy as part of its recent retreat outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
Build-A-Bike ® uses a series of challenges and activities to encourage team building. Meant to be something of a caricature of behavior we can see in the workplace, the participants have a good time poking fun at themselves and each other as they move through the exercises together. The participants in this event are training facilitators themselves, and they truly enjoyed getting to “play” themselves! They had a great time hamming it up and joking around, while truly getting something of value from the exercises.
The organization that received their donation is called “For My Sisters” – a newly-formed non-profit organization that helps single mothers through many different programs and support systems. None of the kids had their own bikes, and for both kids and moms alike, the donation of the eight bikes from Chick-Fil-A was overwhelming and a dream come true! The Chick-Fil-A team members were equally humbled and moved by the experience.
“Our group LOVED not only the build-a-bike activity but the team building activities that took place prior. Sometimes team building can feel as though it drags on and on, but because we were split into teams and participated in fun activities where we could laugh with and at one another it was a success for ALL involved. I had several people approach me about possibly using the Leader’s Institute for future events as well. The group also really enjoyed Ellen’s facilitation. She kept it moving and was very engaging!” — Noel Maynard, Chick-Fil-A
Sometimes groups need to approach team building through just having some fun together, and in this instance, that’s what Build-A-Bike was able to provide. And everyone loves to see the looks on the kids’ faces when they get a brand new bike! If you want to encourage team building while giving back to your local community, consider including Build-A-Bike in your next conference.
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Ellen Patnaude is Vice President of Instruction for the Northeast region. She is based in Detroit, Michigan, but she also teaches in Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Toronto, Baltimore and other Northeast cities.
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