San Francisco Sailing Company Team Building Event

About Team Work: The San Francisco Sailing Company understands teamwork and the benefits of a an experienced crew. There is no better way to develop a team than to set them to the task of operating a sailboat on the San Francisco Bay.

What we do:

Communication: Each person is assigned a position on the boat. They are individually instructed on the names of the instruments they must use and how their position affects the boat and therefore the team. Positions can be assigned arbitrarily by the captain or self assigned to begin the communication process. Once each crew member understands his/her position and the team has performed some simple tasks such as tacking the boat, the positions are rotated. Each person must now communicate to the person taking over their job what the names of the equipment are and how to use them while learning their new position from someone else. This can be continued until each person has had a turn at the helm and hence the leadership role.

Problem Solving: As the team develops some cohesiveness and understanding of the boat and each other we begin drills such as heaving to and Man Over Board. In the case of the MOB drill, the team must retrieve a float dropped into the water with the boat under sail. This is a difficult task and often requires several attempts. The team must work together with each position working in conjunction to achieve the goal. This is often the time when leaders emerge and bonds are forged.

Team Competition: Once the crew is set with each position covered by the most capable individual, it is time to test the team. For events of two boats or more, the final task is a race back to the marina. While competition can get heated, this is usually the time for friendship and fun to rule the day.

Benefits:

The most obvious benefit for any organization is the level of communication developed through this experience. Individuals are constantly required to communicate effectively to each other in a wide variety of ways and in many different situations. Another benefit is the development of group problem solving skills. When a team can work on separate tasks simultaneously in an unfamiliar environment to solve real physical problems then the common problems encountered in work and business will be resolved quicker and more effectively.

Some of the less obvious benefits include more effective personal assessment in terms of roles within a team. When a person can assess his/her own strengths effectively then he/she can contribute to the team in a more efficient manner. This includes finding and developing leadership within the individual. The team member at the helm is the leader of the group, the captain of the ship. Leadership is the backbone of any successful organization. Leadership is not a trait a person is born with, it is developed through time and successful experiences. The final benefit that the San Francisco Sailing Company Team Building Event offers organizations is a tight knit effective team of people who have just had a wonderful experience and are excited about their lives and their organization!