Art of Team
Through the use of mixed media your team will create an abstract work of art while strengthening team performance.
Management issues this workshop addresses:
- High performance teams
- Creative and innovative thinking
- Communication
- Collaboration
Logistical details:
- Offered October - April each year
- Allow two hours
- Dress comfortably and casually
- Held on the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute, 4415 Warwick Blvd., between the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, or at your site for an additional fee.
Bring:
- An understanding that everyone is an artist
- Optional: snacks/beverages (no alcohol please), or we can cater something for you
- Cameras to document the authenticity of your "work"
- A sense of humor and a willingness to have fun
Your investment:
- $49 per person
- Catering options vary according to your wishes
Contact:
What participants have told us:
"Great facilitators who quickly adapted to our business team and made the activities a success." - Proctor & Gamble employee
"I feel we made good progress towards potential solutions."
Waddell & Reed employee
Waddell & Reed employee
"There were some great tips on promoting creativity in conjunction with team building that we will be able to take back to our office. I was amazed at the creativity of my co-workers. Who knew there was so much talent? This was a great experience to work together as a team to create a singular piece of work."
Haley & Aldrich, Inc. employee
Haley & Aldrich, Inc. employee
"Very enjoyable afternoon and a nice stress reliever. This was a good reminder of how we need to be less rigid in our thinking. I enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. I liked the challenge to experience what I do not know. The leaders were very knowledgeable and passionate about the topic."
Sprint Nextel employee
Sprint Nextel employee
Teamwork important, in good times or bad
(Reprinted from "The View from KCAI," Vol. 2, Issue 2)
In corporate America, as in the sports world, teams do not achieve peak performance overnight. Even with good players and seasoned coaches, teams need time together to practice, identify strengths, overcome weaknesses and forge the kind of bonds that build the will to win.
Challenging economic times make it harder for companies to afford workshops and retreats, but organization-development experts say tough times make it even more vital for corporations to seek out experiences that help groups of workers perform effectively as a team.
"People still need to work in teams in order to create the best possible products and services," said Carol Cobb, director of instruction of the School of Professional and Graduate Studies at Baker University. "In the highly interconnected world, it is nearly impossible to succeed without learning to work cooperatively and collaboratively in a group."
Cobb said technological advances such as e-mail allow teams to communicate more efficiently but reduce opportunities for face-to-face interaction. Such interaction is important in developing productive relationships, she said.
"Team building is frequently the focus when those groups do come together in person," Cobb said. "Team members get better acquainted, problem solve and establish parameters for how and when they are going to do work electronically."
Conflict management is another topic for team-building workshops or retreats, Cobb said. She noted that conflict management is more difficult electronically because tone of voice and body language are lost.
Regardless of the topic selected for a team-building activity, Marchita Stanton, senior vice president of organization development for the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, believes it is important for groups to analyze what would make their time together a success.
"They should always have an objective," Stanton said." At the team-building experience, they need to communicate openly and learn to take both positive and negative feedback."
Stanton added that while the economy has forced most companies to cut back on non-essential training, many companies still recognize that building relationships among members of a team is frankly essential.
"Often what you'll find now is a manager organizing an opportunity for a group outing in a non-business environment," said Stanton.
Stanton said valuable teamwork experiences away from the workplace can unleash creativity and allow participants to see each other in new and sometimes surprising ways. Examples include culinary evenings, where groups plan, cook and enjoy a meal together, or murder-mystery events, where groups must solve a mystery together.
"Team-building should be experiential," Stanton said." Having the opportunity to look through a different lens can make a huge difference in an employee's performance."
Creating art together: an overview of one workshop
Workshops vary depending upon the availability of the artist-facilitator.
Everyone gets to play artist during "Art of Team" workshops held for corporate and nonprofit groups at the Kansas City Art Institute. Facilitators guide teams in the use of a variety of media to create abstract works of art while addressing key business issues such as decision making, collaboration, communication, and creative, innovative thinking.
According to Shirley O'Leary, associate vice president for special programs at KCAI, creating art together is a strategy for strengthening team performance.
Recently, graphic designers from HDR Inc., an architectural, engineering and consulting firm based in Omaha, Neb., gathered on a Saturday afternoon to create art together.
Inspired by artist David Hockney's "Paper Pools," a collection of 29 pressed color paper pulp pictures, the group's task was to use torn and cut paper and other dry media to recreate different parts of a photograph that would eventually be put together to form a replica of the original.
For Phase I of the workshop, the group was split into four smaller teams. Each team took a piece of the photograph and replicated its segment in original art. Instructed not to collaborate, the teams had about 30 minutes to complete the task. At the end of Phase I, the four teams put their sections together to see how well they had recreated the original image. Predictably, colors and scale did not match up very well.
In Phase II, the process was repeated. This time, teams were allowed to view each other’s work and communicate openly along the way. About 30 minutes later, the four teams again compiled their sections. They discussed how having the freedom to communicate made it possible for them to produce an image more like the original photograph.
For more information
Additional resources
Other resources for training and developing personnel: