Team buildings either can make or break an organization that is just starting off. That awkward, first encounter with any new group of people can almost be too painful to swallow in the moment, but if handled correctly, looking back will encourage laughter and a good deal of classic reminiscing. So was the case when the 2014 Scribendi staff met for the first extended period of time, outside of the confines of 3:30-4:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays which are class time.
On Saturday, August 23rd, the staff met for over three hours of intensive team bonding and mingling that included throwing beanie babies at each other, licking Oreos off one’s face and working to untangle ourselves out of a human knot. There was a lot of awkward times and even more awkward encounters but through it all (and a lot of games that reinforced what each of our names were) we learned the bare gist of what each of us are about, our names of course and what it would be like to work with each other.
Our first game we played involved tossing beanie babies at each other while calling out the person’s name we were throwing to in order to get more acquainted with each other. Then we started adding more and more beanie babies into the mix creating a mass of flying beanie babies and cries of everyone’s names as we continuously yelled out who we were throwing to.
Then we worked at untangling ourselves from a human knot. Basically we made a circle and walked to the center with our hands outstretched and then we all grabbed random people’s hands once we were all in a mass in the middle, making us all confined in exactly what it sounds like, a “human knot.” We then had to work ourselves out of the situation without letting go of the hands we were holding, by stepping over and under each other’s arms with a whole lot of patience and determination. It took awhile but eventually we got ourselves into two different circles.
Especially with the human knot, getting a job done quickly while also compromising and making sure to not make anyone overtly mad or upset can be a daunting task but we fought through it and realized how challenging the year may be, but also how rewarding. When we successfully got out of the knot there was a certain sense of pride to have achieved something so early on in our year of work together.
It all ended with what may have been the most entertaining game of the day, which was a relay race of people trying to knock an Oreo off of their foreheads and into their mouths without using their hands. It included a lot of yelling, cheering and dropped Oreo’s, not to mention the amount of hilarious faces that ensued. It was a great way to end the day and preview the upcoming semester.
