Do you remember field trips? For school children and teachers, field trips represent a chance to get out of the classroom and learn something new. You might see how cows are miked, visit a museum, or be scared straight at a courthouse.
The idea was that you were expanding your horizons. I loved field trips and even the less exciting ones represented a change in the routine.
When was the last time you took a field trip?
Nowadays, there may be no school to take you on one but does the concept still make sense?
As an adult, you need to make your own field trips. Very often, these are centered around something fun, like a hobby.
But what about field trips in more of a professional sense? As a leader, are you interested in broadening your team’s horizons and giving them new ideas that can help make them more productive?
Start to think about what you think they need to know and how you might deliver that knowledge.
Consider the CBS TV show, Undercover Boss. The program is nothing more than a field trip for the CEO of a company, as he or she covertly meets with employees and gains a valuable insight into the company.
Could an inter-departmental get together produce some new ideas and understanding? Very often, department titles keep people from interacting with one another. The new hire you’re looking for could be the person in another department who doesn’t feel fulfilled at a current position.
Maybe you could be a little more bold. What if your executive team met with a different company every month. The firms could be in similar but not necessarily competing industries. You’d have a meeting of the minds with your counterparts. You could talk about things you do well, challenges you face, and possible solutions. Think of it like a micro-Chamber of Commerce.
Some choose to bring in total outsiders. They use speakers and trainers to teach their teams important lessons or inspire them to new heights.
While your firm may not be able to bring in a speaker, has anyone gone to a conference where they’ve heard someone speak on these topics? Maybe a prerequisite to going to such an event is the understanding that you’ll teach the group in your office, what you learned, upon your return.
If you’re not sure about pursuing any of these tactics, consider how much better your team will be in a few months if you do nothing?
Take a field trip.
