Our Corporate Team Building Course in Manchester is an 8 session course that is designed to build stronger teams and more confident people.
A single “away day” is rarely going to be enough. Any benefits fade pretty soon after the fact. A course means that your team meets each week to focus on their skills and each other. The extra time brings more knowledge, and the regularity turns it into habit. The shared experience of it all will build strong connections between the people themselves.
The course is based on the performing art of improvisation both because it’s all about collaboration and working efficiently as a team and because, of course, we’re experts in it. (Also, it’s fun. We work with comedy improvisation so your team will be giggling throughout.)
This course is designed and proven to bring teams together. Why not invest in your team?
How Much Does It Cost?
We charge a fixed fee of £6,000 for the entire course and everything around it.
We also provide a taster session at a fee of £550, which lasts 2-3 hours depending on the size of the team. If you go ahead with a course after doing a taster, the taster fee is deducted from the course fee.
What’s Included
Insight
While, yes, we have a tried and tested course plan, we only use that as a baseline. We’ll meet with you and your team to discuss your reasons for choosing this course and to get an idea of your desired outcome.
Curriculum
We’ll begin developing the final course plan once we understand your endgame and are satisfied that you understand the commitments we need from your end.
The Course
You’ll have one of our experienced facilitators to guide you through all 8 sessions of the course. All students will be sent notes after each session to summarise the class and its contents.
Support
You and your team will be free to email your teacher for guidance as often as you like during the course and for up to 30 days after the final session. It’s very important to us that you turn the skills you’ve learned into habits to get the most out of the course. If a scenario comes up in your workplace that you know could benefit from these skills but you’re not sure how: get in touch!
Course Layout
The course is made up of 8 three hour sessions, usually weekly.
The first couple of sessions are spent on fundamental improvisation skills: listening, support, “yes, and”, group mind and general openness.
The middle sessions focus on some performance skills — great for those who communicate with clients or the public — like utilising emotion and sharpening spontaneity.
The final sessions effectively play out as rehearsals for a show but without the promise of a show. This is so that you have a chance to put your new team cohesion and collaboration skills into practice. Teamwork is teamwork, no matter the job. And when your team realise they can perform a performance so well, they’ll realise just how much of a team they’ve become over the weeks. This energy and attitude then carries over into the workplace very nicely.
Optional Performance
One of the very best ways to really solidify the team coming together is to perform together. This is an example of the shared experience we mentioned before. It’s entirely optional but very much encouraged. We regularly put on shows and so the team is free to join other improvisers on stage in front of our very supportive audience.
Again, it’s optional, and no decision needs to be made until we’re part way through the course.
A Testimonial
“There has certainly been much learning for me on the course, both about myself and the techniques used. At work I am a counsellor in schools and recently had to give evidence in court on one of the cases that I’m working with. Courts are, intentionally, intimidating places and there were five barristers in line to question me – but I felt I answered them well, put them in their place where that was needed and was able to fairly represent the lad I’m working with and myself, and the improvisation training with its focus on ‘be prepared for anything at any time’ was actually a very effective training tool.”
~Mathew K, Counsellor
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it a course instead of an away day like others?
Because when have those team building away days actually ever been effective long term? One business day isn’t much time to really establish and build on the cohesion of a team. We even used to provide these days ourselves (we still do, actually, on occasion, but usually when it’s a top-up rather than a build-from-scratch scenario) be we found that a day left a mark at most, rarely a dent, in how your team operates a week later. A month later you’re back to where you started.
A team building course gives us a chance to form proper connections and really embed those good habits.
What kind of organisations would benefit from this course?
Organisations that place high value on company culture will see great gains from this course: charities (charity pricing is available), creative agencies and any business that is centred around a common cause, ideology or attitude.
What kind of people should do the course?
Well, really, anyone. We do encourage, though, that it is indeed a team doing the course. The biggest benefit comes when it’s a team (or a department) of people that work together closely and regularly, though this is far from essential.
Can more than one team (department) do a course?
Absolutely. As long as the total headcount per course doesn’t exceed 16 people.
Where/when does the course take place?
Usually in your offices, as long as there is a private room that can acommodate up to 16 people at a time. If your office isn’t an option, we can discuss finding an appropriate venue to host us. Where a 3rd party venue is used, the responsibility of covering the costs will be with you and your team.
We find that, if you can spare the hours, sessions are great in the morning before anything. It really sets up your team with great energy for the day. Otherwise, it’s usually in the evening, after a typical working day. Weekends are an option too.
