Go Kart Racing: Team Building in Melbourne for Success

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by: M. Cusack
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Word Count: 593
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 Time: 1:52 AM
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When the topic of team building comes up, many managers give a typical answers and clichés that seldom work in the real world. Team building in Melbourne has no shortage of gurus, positive speakers, and recent graduates who, for a fee, will tell the secret of making a winning team. "Get everyone to dialogue," or "run a tight ship." All this promotional speak really doesn't get the job done. Does it?

We all know that a fully functional team is the path to success in modern business. Yet, as the saying goes, it is easier said than done. Building a successful team can be hard work with many obstacles to achieving that goal. Most managers spend far too much time on things unrelated to success and less time being productive. Why are modern offices more chaotic than they need to be rather than a place driven towards a successful path? There must be a way to build a scoring team.

As a way to build team morale and bonding, we tried a new approach, we went Kart racing. My group of individuals started to convert into winning team. Reflecting on the change in my team, here is what Kart racing taught me about team building and team building in Melbourne of all places.

The Importance of Goals

What I liked about the team building with Kart racing, unlike those constant conference icebreaker games, is that it has a concrete goal, to win the race. We, by teaming two of the more prickly personalities together, were able to focus them on winning. Their usual waves of bickering calmed through the process of getting to the finish line.

Goals focus the attention. Rather than those typical team building seminars, racing makes people unite. The immediate goal also made them drop their apprehensions once they saw success in winning. Winning created a path towards working together.

The Importance of Fun

Kart racing is a fun non-threatening activity. It brings us back to being children. Children returning back to a time when the roar and power of wonder made us smile. Children always make friends easier than adults. Adults in touch with their childhoods make friends easier as well. The memories made on the Kart courses stay with the team when the team is back in their Melbourne offices, perhaps looking forward to the next day of go karting.

Kart Diplomacy

Kart racing taught my team to communicate with each other not just as colleagues but more like friends. They had to talk before and after racing on the right and wrong way of racing and for general socialising but they were NOT talking about work. They listened to each other and got immediate feedback on how they were doing. Make sure that those pre-race and post-race conversations take place. The act of reflecting on what worked and what needs to improve makes for a developing team.

Final Thoughts

Kart racing made my team perform well for weeks after the event. I started to think that it might be good practice to undertake go kart racing on a regular basis and make a sport of it throughout the year. The fun, the memories, the teamwork helps build a consistent team both in and out of the office. There is something to the relationship between man and machine, especially when one is has to work as a team to make the machine work at its optimum. Successful team building Melbourne may seem elusive, but this was a fun and effective way to get my team working together.

About the Author

Ace Karts are Melbourne's premier go karting venue and have played host to a variety of corporate events and team building using go karting. With the best facilities for events of all sizes, a great track and fast karts, Ace karts is a unique idea for corporate team building Melbourne .