Teambuilding Workshop (UK) - November 2019

UK Beacon University Scholars met for the first UK-based Teambuilding Workshop in London. The theme for the Workshop was 'Creating a Team' and focused on identifying key roles within a team.

The session started with an ice-breaker and was quickly followed with an exposition of the 9 Belbin Team Roles. The group was split into two teams which then competed in an exercise called Toxic River. This required team members to recognise individual strengths, collaborate and work together in forming a strategy to complete a time trial.

A second exercise was called The Marshmallow Challenge. Each team had 18 mins to build the tallest stable free-standing tower with limited materials. Afterwards, a video was shown about how various types of teams from all walks of life had gone about the task, with important learnings for planning, prototyping and teamwork.

Following the lunch break the two teams were asked, in 90 mins, to develop a concept for a new product, service or community activity and then present it in a 5-10 min pitch to Beacon Staff in a Dragon's Den set-up.  Each person, playing to their strengths and talents, had to contribute to solving a problem as part of their team, and then participate in the pitch to the Dragons, who questioned them on their concept. Two very impressive product ideas were presented, and the process and lessons were discussed as a group afterwards.

Here are some pictures of the Beacons in action: