Building Our Communicative & Collaborative Skills At Our Team Building Outing
For 12 years, Petschauer Insurance has committed to annual team building outings so that all employees have a chance to develop professionally. JP, our founder, always invested in being honest and having integrity when he related to his staff and clients. We are honoring and promoting his legacy and brand by honing our collaboration and communication skills during this outing.
Our day began with an active discussion led by Dr. Josie Palleja, our management consultant. She engaged us by asking each person to reflect on what their personal brand was. She helped us think about our values and how we act out those values. We were each able to define our personal brand.
She then led us in an active conversation about our coping skills. Everyone spoke about how they coped with stress, confusion, and frustrating situations. We then wrote down what strategies we would use to manage these challenges in a positive way. Afterwards, we were then anchored with our emotional intelligence and strategies to handle what we were going to face in the day ahead.
We made our way to “Artrageous,” a studio for ceramics and painting activities. We picked out the items we wanted to work with, then coordinated the design, colors, and décor of our projects before starting. Immediately, we were presented with the challenge of having to make decisions quickly.
At “Artrageous,” Dr. Josie had 2 staff members work with us. She previously arranged with them to provide us with conflicting instructions. The first staff member gave us one set of instructions and then immediately after that, the second staff member gave us conflicting instructions. All the while, we were held to very specific and tightly timed deadlines so we could complete each individual task. We were challenged to engage our emotional intelligence and collaboration skills so we could remain positive and focused through some frustrating and confusing experiences.
You could feel the Petschauer team really collaborating amid confusion and conflicting direction. Some in our group acted quickly and were more hands on, while others took a step back to reflect and assess the situation before responding. 
Our communication was open, positive, and supportive while we shared creative ideas, suggestions, and offered assistance to any teammates. The clock was ticking. As we approached our time limit, we were all helping each other. Sounds of laughter and singing were in the air while everyone finished their projects. Our mosaic pieces were unique, interesting, bright and just simply fabulous!
When we debriefed about our experiences, it was clear that the outing gave each of us at JPI an opportunity to use our emotional intelligence. Did our strategies work? When we experienced challenging situations, did we respond the way we thought we would have? Amazingly enough, each of us found we stayed true to our personal brands. We all had the opportunity to share what we learned about ourselves, how we dealt with challenges, and what kind of decision-making process we exercised.
Overall, the emotional and intellectual muscles we flexed throughout the day helped us learn that we can meet the needs of our clients by communicating in a clear, positive, and effective way.
At Petschauer Insurance, we always aim to provide our clients with the best information to help them make good decisions for themselves, their families, and/or businesses. Our goal is to build trusting relationships that will last a very long time.
