So, you have a team day coming up and you want the inside scoop on how to be part of the winning team – well we have some tips for you!

Over the years we’ve hosted thousands of events and have come across a vast array of different teams. Typically, the teams that are the most successful in our activities have the following qualities:

COMMUNICATION & LISTENING

Good communication starts with LISTENING and something we’ve noticed about the teams who are the most successful in our activities is that from the very beginning of a challenge, they listen intently to our facilitator’s activity brief & instructions on what they need to do. This gives teams a clear picture on the rules & objectives of the challenge which enables them to act more efficiently & get the task completed in a much quicker time-frame than if they just went at it like a bull at a gate.

As we talked about in a previous blog post, Team Activities That Boost Communication, for a team to be successful, strong and effective communication is paramount. When problem solving, your team should encourage questions & curiosity. Your team members need to feel safe and comfortable that they can ask questions & communicate without feeling any kind of embarrassment or criticism.

Often, there’ll be one person in the team that has an ‘aha!’ moment or sees something the others don’t – if your team is great at communication & listening this breakthrough won’t get overlooked.

TRUST

Great communication & listening leads us into trust, and it’s not hard to see why ultimately the better your team trust each other the more effective they will be.

Another common trait in the most successful teams is that they are able to voice their opinions fearlessly & without ridicule or judgement. If you follow us on Facebook, you might have seen that we recently shared a TED talk by Derek Sivers on ‘How to Start a Movement’. Derek says, “first a leader needs the guts to stand out and be ridiculed” and that’s why trust in a team is so important. But the real lesson Derek is trying to convey is that the person with the most crucial role is the first follower who shows the rest of the team how to follow. It is this first follower who turns the lone person with a seemingly simply idea into the person who leads the team to victory!

DESIRE TO WIN & A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

It may sound simple, however one of the single most common traits of a winning team is that they are hungry to succeed! The winning team is usually one of the most competitive; they’re keen & enthusiastic about the challenges and more than anything they are having a great time! Can your team win on a positive attitude alone? Probably not! But when people have a positive attitude, they are much more productive. Positivity is an energy source that can motivate and invigorate both yourself & your team – which is why people are so attracted to it! A positive attitude can be the tipping point, between mediocrity and excellence or losing & winning!

GET THE BOSS ON YOUR TEAM

Want to significantly increase your chances of being part of the winning team at your next team day? Then get the boss on your team, as seven times out of ten we find that the boss is a member of the winning team! For the majority of the events that we host we deal directly with the event organiser from the company – usually an event manager, executive assistant, office manager or someone from the HR team. At the end of an activity once we’ve announced the winning team, we are never shocked to learn that the boss is actually a member of the winning team! This is not because they’ve received any favourable treatment from our facilitators or the other teams. Generally, it’s that the boss has experience in creating a team that embodies all of the traits mentioned above – all the traits that go into a creating a winning team!

Each month for our Conference Venue Spotlight we will be giving venues the opportunity to detail an event held at their hotel or resort. This will help showcase the variety of ways their conference venue can be utilised for corporate events including spacing for conferencing, indoor & outdoor dinner options and of course, team building! This month we hear from the events team at The William Inglis Hotel. 

Come join the celebrations at The William Inglis Hotel on Tuesday 5^th November 2019.  We will be hosting a buffet lunch in The Sales Arena whilst screening live coverage of the race that stops the nation.

The Event will be hosted by the one and only Will Mason from Pinnacle Events.

The William Inglis Hotel is the perfect venue to celebrate the Spring Racing Carnival as the venue accredits beautiful equine history throughout its facilities and function spaces.

Guests will be welcomed into the venue with a glass of bubbles served on arrival. Lunch will then take place in the renowned Sales Arena, the largest event space onsite at the property – where all the action happens during the Inglis Horse Sales.

The Sales Arena has three large inbuilt LED Screens that will show live coverage of the races. There will also be TAB facilities onsite to make sure you can place that winning bet!!

Along with the races the Melbourne Cup Lunch will also have a range of activities and entertainment for guests to get involved with.

With the cup fast approaching it is essential you have a winner outfit ready as Pinnacle events will be running a fashion on the field’s competition with plenty of great prizes to be won.

In addition to best dressed there will also be lucky door prizes and a sweep to get in on all of the racing action. Team these festivities with delicious food and you already have a winning afternoon.

Our customised menu has been designed by our executive chef. The menu features a hot and cold buffet, tasty grazing tables and live food stations where guests can interact with our chefs and learn about the unique cuisines.

For any sweet tooths out there a delightful dessert bar will also be ready for you to devour with freshly bakes cakes, fruits, petite fours and treats that are all decorated to impress.

The event will also feature pop up bars for guests to purchase refreshing beverages.

Whether you’re in it to back the winning horse, ready to show off the perfect outfit, interested in the Equine history or if you are just keen on having a fun afternoon with friends, The William Inglis Hotel is the place to be for Melbourne Cup Lunch 2019.

To purchase tickets please contact:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 02 9058 0312.

Further information can also be found online at: https://www.williaminglis.com.au/whats-happening/melbourne-cup-lunch/

We hope to see you there!!

If you’ve ever wondered what makes a Pinnacle Team Events employee tick then you have come to the right place! Each month we will be taking 5 minutes to chat with each member of our staff about their lives both inside and outside of work.

What I love about being a Pinnacle Facilitator:
Meeting new people

How long I have been working for Pinnacle:
A little over a year I think.

My favourite Pinnacle team event to facilitate:
I haven’t had a chance to help run all of the events pinnacle offers, but at the moment I’ve been enjoying Survivor.

Most embarrassing moment as a Pinnacle facilitator:
Nothing embarrassing yet. Give it some time though. 

My favourite hobbies are:
Cooking, hiking, napping.

Band I’m listening to at the moment/podcast recommendation:
Music: Clipping.  /  Podcast: Critical Role

What was the last book you read?:
The god of small things – Arundhati Roy

Favourite holiday?:
What are holidays??

Have you ever had a nickname?:
Nope. Sorry. Not a very exciting answer. 

I am frightened by _____ :
Roku’s basilisk and unregulated capitalism. 

Favourite movie of all time:
Grease 2

First concert I went to:
Peter Combe

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?:
Kepler-452b

What makes you angry:
Roku’s basilisk and unregulated capitalism.

What makes you laugh the most:
A well timed Simpsons quote will always get me.

What song would you sing at karaoke night?:
Wuthering Heights – Kate Bush

October is almost over and the air-conditioning wars have well & truly commenced throughout offices around Australia! Christmas holidays aren’t too far away which means the end of year deadlines are even closer – including the office Christmas party!

It is at this time of year when we become inundated with enquiries from corporate groups organising either an end of year event OR an activity to kick start the New Year. With some dates in November & December already sold out for events, if you’re interested in booking a team activity this Summer then now is the time to get busy organising!

Summer is a great time for team building, with the longer, warm, generally rain-free days great for outdoor activities & the buzz in the air for night activities. And of course, if being out in the sun isn’t your thing you can always opt for staying inside in the comfort of the A/C!

See below for our top team building ideas for Summer:

Beach Olympics

Is there anywhere you’d rather be in Summer than on one of our beautiful stretches of coastline along the East coast? And did we mention you’re benefiting your team culture at the same time? We are absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to Australian beaches & they are the perfect location for a team activity. Our Beach Olympics is fun & competitive without being too overly physical. Great for groups wanting to escape the indoors & enjoy the spoils of Summer weather.

Water Taxi Treasure Hunt

Want to REALLY spoil your team this Summer? Picture this… spending your next team outing cruising the beautiful Sydney Harbour on your very own water taxi! The best part, this activity can be easily justified to the boss as your team will be competing in a series of fun, mildly physical, lateral thinking/problem solving team challenges all whilst enjoying the sights of Australia’s most famous Harbour.

Amazing Race

One of the great things about the Amazing Race is that it is an activity that can be hosted almost anywhere! Whether you’re at a conference venue or you’d like to explore somewhere totally new – the Amazing Race can be tailored to suit your requirements. Some of our most popular Amazing Race locations include the Royal Botanic Gardens & the Rocks, Bondi Beach, Coogee & Manly.

Survivor

One of our less physically active outdoor activities, the Survivor is great for groups who aren’t wanting to overly exert themselves in the Summer heat. Survivor is great for groups wanting to get down on the beach or who would prefer to stay on solid ground in a shady park with plenty of grassed areas.

Escape

Too hot to leave the cooling breeze of the A/C? Our Escape is perfect for groups wanting to stay indoors yet still partake in a fun, challenging & friendly-competition style activity. We’ve specially designed a mobile version of the famous Escape the Room challenge to suit almost any office or conference venue. All we require is one room per team of 8-12 people.

Cocktail Master Class

Do you like Pina Colada’s? Or simply enjoying a cocktail after a hard day’s conferencing? Then we have the activity for you! Cool down with a delicious cocktail & enjoy a master class in the art of mixing drinks. Your group will make four delicious cocktails throughout the duration of the class, with the first three cocktails being preselected from our list of 13 cocktails.

For the fourth and final cocktail the competition begins! Your delegates will get shaking and stirring to design their very own unique cocktail. All ingredients and equipment will be readily available to get the creative juices mixing & flowing! Teams will be judged by our Cocktail Master on taste, the enticing name of their cocktail and a sales pitch which they must present in front of the group.

Trivia Night

If you’re after some good, old-fashioned competitive fun after a day of hard work – our Trivia Night is for you! With a mix of general knowledge, music & movies trivia along with some fun challenges thrown in between there is something in our Trivia Night for everyone!

Casino Night

Add a touch of glitz & glamour to your team dinner with our Casino Night activity! Roulette, Blackjack, Craps, Poker, Horse Racing, Race of the Aces & more! This activity is not just for seasoned gamblers as even novices can walk away with a big win. Our Casino Night is great for end of year celebrations or kicking off the start of the year with a bang!

After a five-year hiatus the Amazing Race Australia will be back on Australian TV screens in October 2019! If you’re a fan of the TV show, you’ll know that the television version of the Amazing Race follows teams of two as they race around the world, following clues, navigating themselves in foreign areas, interacting with locals, performing physical and mental challenges, and travel by air, boat, car, taxi, and other modes of transport. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of most legs for being the last to arrive at designated Pit Stops. The first team to arrive at the Finish Line wins a grand prize of $250,000.

The Pinnacle Team Events Amazing Race

Although our version of the Amazing Race is quite different to the TV version, we are just a little excited to see the show back on the telly! Each year our Amazing Race activity continues to be our most popular outdoor team building event, and we are not surprised! The Amazing Race team building activity has so much to offer groups who are wanting to get together for a day of teamwork & fun.

More Inclusive

Our version of the Amazing Race differs in several ways to make the activity more inclusive & less physically demanding on your participants. Instead of racing around the world, teams navigate their way around the local area (whether that be in an urban area or your conference venue). And instead of racing & running themselves ragged, the winning team is determined by the number of points they accumulate at each of the roadblock challenge sites along the way – not the first team that reaches the finish line. This way, teams having sufficient time to make their way between each of the roadblock challenge sites without the fear of being eliminated from the competition altogether.

Larger Teams with Challenges to Suit Everyone!

Rather than teams of two people, we’ve found that teams of 6-8 people is the ideal team size. By keeping team sizes within this range, we find this provides the best environment for all members of the team to be successful as well as have their creativity, ideas, energy & experience flourish. The roadblock challenges within our Amazing Race are also varied to suit a range of strengths and abilities. From lateral thinking/problem solving style challenges such as Number Triangle (a giant mathematical Sudoku style challenge) to mild physical challenges such as Catapults (firing tennis balls via replicated catapults towards their team members in the targeted catching zone). There is something for everyone in the Amazing Race & we will often see different leaders emerge at each of the roadblock activity sites.

We have many versions of our Amazing Race on offer, see below for details:

The Amazing Race – classic version as described above!

Teams navigate their way around the local area undertaking team-based challenges on foot. The team with the most points at the end of the activity wins!

Water Taxi Treasure Hunt

Sydney Harbour is ranked the best harbour in the world and is the perfect backdrop for this unique team building event. The Water Taxi Treasure Hunt is a 3-hour adventure that explores the best sights of this world-famous location. Teams will be competing against each other to race to the final location and uncover their team’s treasure.

Explorer

An Amazing Race / Treasure Hunt style of program that sees teams driven around the local area undertaking experiential team challenges that range from Laser Clay Shooting & Archery to Cheese Tasting & Blind Wine Tasting. Our Explorer is available in the following areas: Hunter Valley, Southern Highlands, South Coast & Blue Mountains.

Scramble

A modified version of the Amazing Race suited to groups that are tight on time or budget. Similar to The Amazing Race, teams will race around the local area collecting scavenger items, completing photo missions and answering location-based questions. We will even throw in a road block activity challenge! The team with the most points at the end of the specified time will win.

To get your Amazing Race fix, the latest season will be shown on channel ten from Monday 28 October 2019 at 7:30pm OR better yet, book an Amazing Race activity for your team & experience the thrill & excitement firsthand.