Finding Answers to Common
Teambuilding Questions

Many people visit this site simply to find answers to their team building questions. We have attempted to answer some of the most common questions in the Articles section and in the Team Problem Solver. In our Online Store, to support product information we sometimes include additional content and background material.

Articles - Before the Internet became a powerful information resource, we published a newsletter called EI Network for 12 years that discussed employee involvement, empowerment, team building, motivation, communication, and anything else related to human performance. Beginning in early 1998, we began transferring the most popular of these articles to our website as a free resource to our visitors. With time, we added more articles from a variety of authors who are linked to our company. As a result, this section of our website is the most frequently visited. (For a cute story, scroll to bottom of page)

Usage of Articles - If you find an article that would benefit you or your organization, you have our permission to use it. Our only condition is that you reference the author and "Teambuildinginc.com" as your source. A common error that people make is to omit the "inc" portion of the URL which, of course, would take your readers to a different website.

Team Problem Solver - The Team Problem Solver, or TPS as we call it, is a tool to help you quickly find answers to your most common team building questions. It focuses on the most common of team building subjects, and even contains a short "primer" on team building. We developed this tool several years ago to make it easy to find answers. We welcome your thoughts on how we can improve it.

Online Store - The Online Store is for the purchase of products and was not intended as an information resource. However, our need to explain things led us to give good descriptions, and in some cases additional pages, to help people understand the products. You may be able to find good background material on some of these product pages.

Cute Story - In the summer of 2004, I was asked by Windjammer Cruises to assess the feasibility of conducting team building programs for organizations wanting to use the ships as their meeting venue. To do this I participated in a 1-week cruise that sailed out of Grenada. Since WIndjammer's ships are classic sailing vessels, the one I sailed on held only 60 passengers. This cruise had 42 people aboard for the week. In this close environment everyone interacts frequently.

During dinner one evening, I sat with a couple from Kansas City. The lady was a consultant and did work in the human resources field. As we were talking she mentioned that she was aware of the Teambuildinginc.com website and commented on its usefulness to her. Then she said, "I have to confess that I have copied one of your articles for my work." I told her that was perfectly OK, and that the articles were there for that purpose.

The next evening as the ship sailed along the beautiful waters of the southern Caribbean, I was sitting on deck with the same couple, and we again began talking about our work. Suddenly her voice lowered and her face reflected the look of someone ready to confess a long-held sin. She looked at me and said, "Do you remember last night that I mentioned I copied one of your articles for my work? That was only partly true. Actually I copied them ALL!" She was truly embarrassed. At that point I simply told her that she had just paid me one of the best compliments I've ever received, and that I hoped the articles had been useful. It was one of those rare moments in life when you feel your work has meaning, and it made my week.

Peter B. Grazier