Team Building Program for Backflipt - Win By Design

We did a team building program for Backflipt on January 3, 2023. 31 participants participated in an experiential outdoor team building program through cricket at Sportsville, Madhapur. We played games, debriefed, shared our learning through the day. It was intense, energetic and full of fun. Our twin objective of 1) having the team meet, bond and have fun along with 2) experientially learning about teamwork and the winning mindset has been achieved.

The Backflipt team

Since there were 34 members (normally we play with 16 in this format), we changed the rules a bit. We formed two teams of A and B and made two sub teams of A1 and A2 and B1 and B2. A1 comprised of Sailaja, Pavan, Poojitha, Bharath M, Indravathi, Krishna, Sudhir, Rafi and A2 comprised of Vaishnavi,Bhargav, Yashwant, Neeraja, Pradyumn, Sindhuja, Ashwak and Aditya. B1 comprised of Sai, Sravani, Vijay, Pooja, Manideepak, Jairam, Anoop and B2 was Somsekhar, Ankita, Vamsi, Nikhila, Hitesh, Likhita, Bharath and Hemant.

The B team - winners

A Team - gallant fight

At work

The day's event consisted of three short games followed by a discussion and a short debriefing session after each game. The first game was about attitudes we carry to a team, the second game was about getting the team together and the third game was about employing and empowering all resources to win.

By the third game the intensity and energy was highest. It is a good experience for them to relate to. When challenged and when competing fully, that is how high our intensity gets.
Game 1 was an 8 hour, affair with both B1 and B2 batting first and scoring 34 and 61 (Pooja 24, Manideepak 10) respectively. A2 and A1 batted second and scored 33 (Ashfaq 12) and 28 respectively. B team won handsomely.

After the game the participants were given handouts to share their individual thoughts. After the first game, the question of ‘why were you playing’ asked, to understand our attitudes when we enter a team.

Reactions from participants to ‘why were you playing’ –

To enjoy and have fun
To understand team members
To understand myself
To bond with others
To compete
To interact with others from other teams and know everyone
To support my team
To get together
To refresh and get relief from work
To score for the team
To have a new experience
To do well for my team
To collaborate and break barriers.

Debrief – We discussed that this is how we approach any team - with different purposes. But if we have a common purpose, it becomes a binding factor. It could be ‘to win’, or ‘to give our best’ or whatever. Find a common purpose and your team effort increases by 20-30%. They all agreed that their common purpose as a member of their team was ‘to win’

Playing
Their learning after game 1 was as below

It is important that we –

Coordinate better as a team
Understand team members
Adapt to conditions
Communicate
Know our roles clearly
Know our strengths and weaknesses
Understand the opponent
Get everyone on the same page
Strategise
Know that we have hidden talents
Have good leadership
Be bold
Understand team potential
Encourage one another
Give 100%
Focus on a clear target
Enjoy the match no matter what the score is
Stay calm
Keep up the spirit
Train those who are not good
Provide opportunities for everyone to excel

In action

Game 2 began after the teams got more organised with a common purpose, leadership, role clarity, strategy, tactics etc. B1 batted first and scored 51 (Hemnath 14) followed by B2 which scored 44 (Vijay 12, Jairam 8, Nikhila 12) thereby totalling 95 for B. In reply A2 batted first and scored a decent 37 (Bhargav 8, Ashfaq 9) followed by A1 which scored 47 (Indravathi 11, Poojitha 8, Bharath 12) - thereby totaling 84. B team won again.


Their learning after the 2nd game

It is important to –

Have a common goal
Work as a team
Start well
Communicate
Encourage one another
Give inputs
Believe in team
Believe in leadership
Have team and individual targets
Set small goals
Create good team atmosphere
Have goal clarity
Convert weakness to strength
Have regular interaction
Give 100%
Execute plans
Look out for others
Don’t criticize and blame
Don’t give up
Have role clarity
Hunt in partnerships
Take ownership
Motivate others

Backflipt

In the final game where A and B were given more leeway to decide strategy - A cored 83 in their first innings to which B replied with 84. It was an incredible turnaround because B was in the doldrums at 27 at the end of 6 overs - credit to be given to Sravani and Ankita who added 16 runs under pressure. Then Hemant and Bharath combined to score 57 in 2 overs with Hemant scoring 31 and Bharath scoring 26. Though the second inning started on an even keel, A seemed to have lost some confidence after B's gallant turnaround and still mnaged a good score of 71 mainly helped by Ashfaq (19) and Rafi (16). A2 came to chase 71 and got 10 in the first 2 overs, 28 in the next two overs. At 38 in 4 overs it could have gone either way if the next pair performed poorly. But Nikhila (19) shored up the inning single handedly and took the team within striking distance of 57 runs, leaving only 14 to be scored. Vijay and Pooja comfortably knocked off those runs and B won a closely contested game.

Overall learning shared by participants at end of day was about

The importance of –
Team work
Right thinking
Hard work
Confidence
Encouraging one another
Giving inputs/training
Having a winning attitude
Communication
Coordination
Keeping spirits up in every situation
Understanding one another
Setting targets
Goal and role clarity
Pushing oneself to achieve target
Not blaming/ criticizing
Take ownership
You can win from any situation
Refreshing our minds when on backfoot
Defend each other
Enjoy the work
Give 100%
Good leadership
Planning
Listening to all opinions
Know what’s happening with the others in the team
Plan before entering work
Share ideas
Guide team in tough situations
Don’t fear big targets – break them down
Don’t be complacent
Stay strong
Have mutual discussions
Find ways to maximize resource utilization
It’s not over till it’s over
Speak up in the interests of the team
Give up individual goals for team goals
We work better as a team

….

After three hard fought games the B team won by a close margin. It was intensely contested and the participants shared their learning through the experiential workshop - team spirit, communication, helping one another, encouraging one another, giving 100% for the team, having a common purpose, importance of a good leader etc.