Activity Analysis in Teambuilding and Group Initiative Programs

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Activity Analysis in Teambuilding and Group Initiative Programs






By:

Patrick T. Mercer





A Project

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Master of Science in Recreation


Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
COLLEGE AT CORTLAND



May 2003

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Approved:















Date





Project Advisor














Date





Committee Member














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Department Chair

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Table of Contents

Abstract








1

Chapter 1








2

Statement of problem





4

Objectives of the project





5

Assumptions






5

Delimitations






6

Limitations







7

Definitions of terms





8

Chapter 2








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Activity analysis






11

Why analyze activities





11

The activity checklist





13


Attributes of activities identified and grouped into their domains
13

Standardization of activity analysis



15

Teambuilding






16

History of Teambuilding





17

Present day teambuilding methods and goals


19

Teambuilding defined as experiential education


20

Effective teambuilding leadership




21

Facilitator’s role in leading




22

Activity Selection






22

The need for teambuilding activity analysis proposal

25

Creation of a database





25

Summary and conclusion





26

Chapter 3








28

Methods and procedures





28

Project description






28

Background of participating agencies



31

Target population






32

Procedures / procedural steps for project completion

33

The role of the project agency




35

Site assessment / determination




36

Instruments







36

Funding sources






36

Evaluation plan






37

Chapter 4








38

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Chapter 5








39

Discussion / summary and conclusion



39

Summary of procedures





39

Project outcome






41

Conclusion







42

Discussion and implications




43

Recommendations






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Appendix A – Wilkins (2001) Activity Analysis Checklist

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Appendix B – Human Subjects Proposal Application and consent form
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Appendix C – Database Format





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References








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Abstract

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate the need for activity analysis in
teambuilding programs through prevailing literature and to create an activity analysis
database for teambuilding and group initiative programs. This was accomplished by
comparing and contrasting teambuilding programs, such as those sponsored by Project
Adventure, with information regarding the benefits of activity analysis.
Proper facilitation of a teambuilding program is necessary to ensure that the outcomes are
beneficial and not harmful to the group or individuals within a group. Activity analysis
will not only help a facilitator to achieve the selected goals, but it can be used as a tool to
aid in the proper selection of an activity for a group or individual. Such a tool can be
created by the standardization of activity analysis by using a uniform, all encompassing
checklist as the principle source for finding the appropriate activity.

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Teambuilding programs involve specifically designed and facilitated activities in
which everyone’s participation is required to accomplish the task at hand (Moore, 1992).
The group works for a common goal of improved communication, trust, efficiency, goal
setting, problem solving, and other common objectives.

Proper facilitation of a teambuilding program is necessary to ensure that the
outcomes are beneficial and not harmful to the group or individuals within a group.
When done correctly, teambuilding programs can increase a group’s ability to work
together and help build a sense of trust, communication, cooperation and fun (Rohnke &
Butler, 1995). However, improper facilitation or selection of a teambuilding activity can
potentially lead to harm in the group or the individuals in the group. Beginning and
seasoned facilitators alike must present to a group activities that are designed to bring
them together, working as a team, to accomplish a common goal. Since no two groups of
individuals are identical, the needs of one group may be different than the needs of
another.
The activities a facilitator presents to a group are also different. Each activity has
its own inherent characteristics, which are unique to the activity itself. It is the goal and
task of a facilitator to research several activities, identify and understand the goals and
characteristics of each activity and find any other hidden attributes of the activities that

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might change the desired outcomes for the group. The facilitator must then select the
specific activities that will best benefit a group of individuals in a teambuilding program.
Since the goals and objectives of every group are different, a facilitator must
repeat this process for every group and activity. Improper selection of an activity or the
failure of a facilitator to identify the hidden attributes of an activity can potentially lead to
harm within the group or the individuals in the group. It is only when leaders conduct a
thorough analysis on each activity before they present it to the group, can they select the
most appropriate activity that will achieve the greatest good. This thorough analysis will
also eliminate activities that could potentially cause individual or group harm (Wilkins,
2001).
Proper activity analysis requires a facilitator to research the activity, present the
activity to a control group, and document all the characteristics of the specific activity.
For each additional activity, the facilitator must repeat this process. This process is
lengthy and requires much time on the part of the facilitator before he or she even come
into contact with the group, time most facilitators do not have. Several books have been
written to aid facilitators in this process (e.g., Moore, 1992; Rohnke,1989; Rohnke &
Butler, 1995), however none of these books have a detailed breakdown of all the
attributes that may or may not be inherent within the activity itself.
A facilitator who is experienced in presenting teambuilding activities has already
conducted the research necessary to successfully analyze activities. However, the way
one facilitator may analyze an activity might be different from that of another facilitator.
It is then necessary for each facilitator to perform their individual activity analysis for
each specific activity.

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To simplify, standardize, and improve the activity analysis process, Wilkins
(2001) has created an all-encompassing analysis checklist that outlines all physical,
mental, emotional, cognitive and social attributes (See Appendix A). To eliminate even
more variance, Wilkins suggests that each activity analysis attribute or characteristic on a
flow chart should be standardized by a common definition. This standardization can
bridge the gap between one analyzer and another, allowing the opportunity for everyone
to record the same analyzed results on the same activity.
Once the checklist is standardized for use by every facilitator, and an activity has
been analyzed, the analysis can be permanently recorded and filed for later use by the
facilitator or other facilitators. Such a checklist is not readily available for teambuilding
facilitators.
This project will focus on creating an activity analysis checklist for facilitators of
teambuilding activities. The project also will analyze several teambuilding activities and
store the information to a database designed around the checklist. This database will be
used as a valuable resource for facilitators.

Statement of Problem

The purpose of this project is to standardize an activity analysis checklist for
teambuilding and group initiative activities based on the Wilkins (2001) checklist. The
information from this teambuilding checklist will be used to create a teambuilding
computer database. Several popular teambuilding activities will then be analyzed using
the modified checklist and then entered into the teambuilding database. This database

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