AFFCU held a great Build-A-Bike Team Building Event in Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday, February 21^st. The 38 teams built bikes that were given to children from an area school that had participated in special events to earn the special reward. The group met for 2 hours to complete tasks, participate in group activities, learn some valuable lessons, and build the bikes. It was a fun event and everyone roared with laughter at some of the situations each was put into. After the event many great comments were made concerning the fun and enjoyment of the event, and how great it was to see the children receive their bikes. All the laughter and fun of the activity was replaced by a very touching moment when the children came in. The participants didn’t know the children would be there, and the children didn’t know (until the last minute) that they had won new bicycles.  You can see their excitement in the following video.

It was great to see the teams come together. Often times in team building situations we’re taught lessons, and given scenarios to try and learn. But in the Build-A-Bike event people are put into situations where they have to lean on their own team and then find out that the different teams have to work together to achieve the goal. In work situations we often have our own team that works to accomplish its tasks and projects, but often times we forget or overlook the fact that one team’s efforts can help another. And likewise we often don’t search for help from other teams that have completed similar tasks, but we “re-invent the wheel,” so to speak, rather than get help and/or advice from others. Team work goes beyond there being one team, to include all the other teams that make up an organization. It isn’t one team functioning well that makes a company successful, but rather all teams functioning well, and functioning together that makes a positive difference.

Thanks to AFFCU for a great event and congratulations to the children that received the bikes. Team work and children benefiting is what the Build-A-Bike Team Building Event is all about.