Peak Performance Online has been designed for teams working remotely or in remote locations to engage in a business simulation to climb Mount Everest, over 20 days (of two minutes each). Team members process information with fellow team members (connected remotely) about the weather conditions, routing, summitting and returning safely. All requiring agile thinking, attention to process improvement and a bit of innovation, managed through a professional digital platform.
American multinational pharmaceutical cooperation Pfizer trusted Team Building Asia to deliver this remote-working focused activity for their District Managers in APAC.
Objectives
- Unleashing the power of Pfizer people
- Encourage courageous conversations
- Dealing with change
- Situational leadership
Challenges
- Creating engagement across a team dispersed from Pakistan, India, Thailand, Vietnam through to China, Taiwan and The Philippines
- Programme limited to maximum 2 hours, yet usual time is 2.5 hours
Solution
- Connect teams through technology, whereby they can work from home or at the office and be virtually joined to all the other offices.
- Send pre-work materials in advance, significantly reducing the briefing time and technology assimilation time.
Results
- Improved communication as a lack of face-to-face interaction to gauge body language necessitated paying greater attention to verbal communication, while also requiring more attention in listening.
- Enhanced motivation and direction given to each other especially for those who are not as up to speed with technology as others.
- Proactive coaching and sharing considered ultimately important in this kind of unique remote situation.
- Greater understanding of situational leadership through teams being able to control outcomes through effectively influencing team members in all directions, upwards, across and down.
"Team Building Asia did an awesome job in engaging our team and participation was outstanding. We were thoroughly impressed by the performance of all the teams and the linkage to our objectives of situational leadership and courageous conversations. The effectiveness of the programme has scored highly and we thoroughly recommend this innovative remote activity."
Cluster Lead for Philippines and Pakistan, Global Commercial Operations, Pfizer Inc.
Recap of the day
Pfizer participants joined the Virtual Conference Room and opened two proprietary weblinks to the Peak Performance Online system, both the Game Interface and the Leaderboard completing in 10 teams of 4-5 participants each. After the initial briefing, our facilitators visited each team in the special breakout rooms during the Training Mode of the game to observe and give assistance where needed.
The Training Mode was completed successfully, with all teams getting scores on the leader board meaning they understood the basics of the game although it was apparent that some struggled with some of the game processes. Our facilitators observed that some teams were talking all at the same time but after some discussion found their way to communicate more effectively, whereby they could listen better and then make important decisions on how to move in that stage of the game. Initial strategy planning was low, with teams taking a more agile approach to understand the functionality of the game without necessarily paying attention to the best practices and skills required from each role to be successful. However, as they neared the end of the Training Mode sections most teams had found their way and made sure to clarify and verify what each team role needed to do for the team to work in harmony.
What stood out the most
The Questions & Answers session after the Training Mode where teams could confirm any points of the game that they were unsure about. The facilitators were impressed with the depth of questioning, for example how to maximise opportunities such as taking more clients to the summit each time, to avoid any opportunity costs. Also questions around where and when to place tents to take advantage of acclimatization benefits, showed great insight and understanding. It is these types of courageous conversations that ensued their overall success as an organisation, ready for the real game play section.
Results
Going into real game play, our facilitators were very impressed at the time teams took to clarify all the roles, for instance when they should act and how they should plan to move, summit and return to Base Camp in the most efficient way possible. Situational Leadership was ever-present as teams kept reminding each other of the overall objective and to reshape their strategy when needed. Teams finished with very impressive scores ranging from 599-6064 points. The debrief contained many valuable insights linking the experience to Remote Working, Situational Leadership and Communication. Participant ratings for Peak Performance Online, value to everyday leadership and impact scored 85% and above.
More information
Team Building Asia has developed various digital team activities for remote workers. Each activity addresses a diverse range of focusses on skill development and objectives. Remote team engagement issues like communication, motivation and productivity are tackled in a virtually innovative way. If you would like to learn more about our remote activities, check out this page or get in touch for customised experiences.
