bringing people together, to move business forward
team building

Our Approach

Since our inception, the Team Performance Center has helped hundreds of organizations ...

  • Transform working groups into HIGHLY-FUNCTIONING TEAMS
  • Improve PERFORMANCE, PRODUCTIVITY, and EFFICIENCY within existing teams
  • Expand management styles to encompass TRUE LEADERSHIP
  • Build HEALTHY COMMUNITIES within civic-based, student, sports, fraternal, and/or faith-based groups... or ANY group, for that matter!

OUR METHODOLOGY:

Research proves that people learn best by direct and purposeful contact with their learning experiences. In other words, problem solving is more effectively learned in a realistic "hands-on" setting, than by reading about it in a book. This is accomplished through physically active, cognitively meaningful, and engaging practice. This process requires participants to take responsibility for their own actions, and to learn from guided reflection on their experiences (without reflection, learning loses much of its value).

At the heart of the Team Performance Center is the well-established philosophy of "Experiential Learning". The concept of Experiential learning is centered on the principle that learning by doing (with reflection) is the most effective and long-lasting means of transferring knowledge, developing skills, and clarifying values. Its focus is based more on learning styles, rather than the didactic presentation styles of the teacher or presenter. The pursuit is an active one, as opposed to the often-employed model of passive learning.

At the Team Performance Center, you will participate in fast-paced, hands-on simulations and team challenges that will highlight your group's strengths and clearly point out areas for opportunity. Then, your group will go to work to improve team performance in real time. Think of the Team Performance Center as a "testing ground" or "laboratory". Thanks to this approach, improvements can often be seen immediately.

The Cone of Experiential Learning

Most presenters and educators tend to focus on the top "verbal" region of this cone... is 80 to 90% of the information we are sharing really something that we want them to forget?

Percentages fall within a range of +/- 10%, based on the average adult learner. Individual learning styles will cause these numbers to be higher or lower.

At the Team Performance Center, we will guide all of our clients through the following Experiential Learning process:

  • Purposeful Experience: Activities, initiatives, challenges, and scenarios are selected or designed; and are then tailored to reflect the specific dynamics and situations of your group or organization.
  • Reflection: After a purposeful activity is completed, your group begins the process of combined and/or individual reflection (via guided and open discussion, 360-degree feedback, journaling, self-assessment, etc.), in order to create a shared understanding of what occurred during the activity.
  • Generalize: Using the information gathered during the reflection stage, groups and individuals assign meaning and relevance to the experience; and, thus, draw conclusions based on the events and their respective outcomes.
  • Transfer: This experience becomes valuable once the lessons learned and insights gained are transferred back and integrated into your regular environment and organizational culture.

Our action-based programs and curricula utilize a combination of proven and cutting-edge resources, which may include (but are not limited to):

  • State-of-the-art indoor Challenge Ropes Course (both high & low elements)
  • Extensive array of ground-based team development initiatives/activities
  • Highly trained and experienced facilitators
  • Flexible meeting/training space (boardroom, conference, or classroom style)
  • Portability and off-site compatible programs
  • Complete catering and banquet services available

A knowledgeable and professional CITY BEACH staff member will always work directly with you to design and deliver a customized program that reflects your specific goals, objectives, and needs.

How We Work:

  • Step 1: You Call and We Listen
    When you first contact the Team Performance Center, we start by discussing your group's particular situation and your objectives for it. Whatever the motivation for coming to the Team Performance Center, it is through this initial conversation that we can begin to understand your needs. Our facilitators are well versed in the nuances and complexities of organizational behavior, and are comfortable discussing the tough issues that many companies face.
  • Step 2: We Design Your Team Performance Curriculum
    Once we understand the vision for your group's Team Performance Center experience, we will design a customized program that fits your objectives. Since we offer several different team and leadership programs, our planning process is interactive. Our program staff and highly experienced facilitators will collaborate with you to create the perfect hands-on curriculum for your specific goals.
  • Step 3: Bond, Build Trust, and Gain Insights
    On the day(s) of your Team Performance Center program, your facilitator will lead your group through a series of hands-on activities, team challenges, and reflective discussion. As individuals and as a group, you'll gain new insights, skills, and perspectives; most of which will be transferable to the specific situations and relationships back in your office.
  • Step 4: Get Back to Work... and Watch the Results
    Once you're back in your organization's regular environment, the real benefits of attending the Team Performance Center become clear. Our proven methodology typically results in improved workplace morale; greater empathy, awareness, and mutual respect amongst coworkers; increased collaboration and enhanced performance levels. Some groups have even found that embracing a few simple organizational changes can result in a dramatic spike in productivity within weeks.

CHALLENGE ROPES COURSE

Still one of the most effective and impactful tools used in accelerated learning and team development is the challenge ropes course (both low and high elements) is one of the cornerstone features of the Team Performance Center. We feel very fortunate to operate one of the premier courses in the United States - and only completely indoor course of its kind in Northern California.

Challenge ropes courses are used primarily as tools to meet a number of educational, developmental, and recreational goals. The high elements are designed to create an atmosphere of "perceived" risk, encouraging participants to confront their personal fears, anxieties, and apprehensions. They are also designed to "even the playing field", so to speak; forcing those participants with varying levels of physical prowess and ability into a place of common ground and equity. It's at this point, that group members begin to see each other's strengths and vulnerabilities in a very new and refreshing light, thus breaking down barriers and roadblocks to team performance. High ropes challenges are often more emotional, mental, and social in nature, than they are physical. In certain cases, the mastery of basic technical skills is an integral part of the process, in order to manage the rope safety systems (belay systems) used to protect the climbers as they move through the course. This often results in a greater sense of group and individual trust, shared responsibility, delegation, empathy, and cooperation.

Our course combines over two dozen high and low elements in its unique indoor setting. It has successfully been utilized by hundreds of groups and organizations to develop valuable skills in cooperation, effective communication, decision-making, collaboration, building trust, goal setting, leadership, and teamwork. It is also an extremely effective catalyst in helping to build a healthy self-esteem and confidence. In addition to the above benefits, a day on the ropes course is also a heck of lot of fun for all!