Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. Builds Bikes For Disadvantaged Kids While Sharpening Team Building

May 1, 2009 - PRLog -- CITY, ST -- On April 22, more than 500 Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. employees participated by working together as teams to assemble 40 bikes for needy children of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Toronto.

The event, hosted by the nation's most popular corporate team building firm, Team Building USA, not only spread goodwill in the Toronto community, but also taught Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. employees how to work effectively and productively as a team.

The event kicked off when the bicycle recipients, area children ranging in age from 7 to 13, were introduced to Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. employees. The employees were broken out into teams of approximately 12 to 13 members each. The children joined Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. employees as active members of the teams, allowing them to also benefit from hands on teamwork experience.

"While it is important to focus on how we do business, we believe it is equally important to focus on how we can give back to communities. Our support for this great bike initiative in Toronto was embraced by every employee and made us proud knowing we made a small difference to those kids,” said Derek O’Toole, Director of Market Access and Communications for Boehringer Ingelheim.

As part of the exercise, the Royal York Hotel's ballroom was sectioned off into 30 different pods, with each pod including pieces of disassembled children's bicycles. However, teams quickly realized the pod they were assigned to did not contain all of the necessary parts and tools to fully assemble their bicycle. Therefore, they concluded it was necessary to work together with other teams in order to complete their task.

To gain the parts needed to assemble the bicycles, teams had two options. First, they could call for a meeting, where teams were given 30 seconds to gather the parts they wanted to trade. Additionally, team members could also leave the pods and participate in three different team building challenges for an opportunity to win select tools or pieces needed to assemble their bikes.

"It is thrilling to watch teams realize that in order to accomplish their goal, they must be willing to help other teams accomplish their goals as well. More importantly, though, teams learn the impact they have goes beyond their team and their company when the smiles on the kid’s faces light up as they receive their brand new bikes. That is priceless,” says J.T. Taylor, President of Team Building USA, Inc. (http://www.TeamBuildingUSA.com).

At the end of the event, Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. employees not only had a stronger appreciation of how teams can accomplish complex goals, but 40 area children had new bikes, each complete with a helmet and bike lock.

"The bicycle-building event is really a microcosm of the corporate environment. In order for teams to move a project forward with limited resources, employees must rely on and trust others for support. Through this event, employees learn that although it is sometimes difficult for people to think across roles and responsibilities, let alone divisions, big picture thinking can be much more beneficial in the long term for everyone involved," explains Taylor.

As the number one team building company in the United States, Team Building USA has provided team building exercises for more companies than any other firm. It is the only corporate team building company to offer a 150% return on investment guarantee to its clients.

The 'bikes for kids' charity event is one of the many teambuilding exercises offered by Team Building USA. In addition to charity team building events, Team Building USA also offers a variety of dynamic and challenging team building programs. From exciting corporate scavenger hunts and murder mystery games to more straightforward business meeting icebreakers, Team Building USA excels at helping employees work effectively together in an open and comfortable environment.

"Our 'bikes for kids' charity event has become one of our most popular programs. It seems that more and more companies are looking for ways to give back to the community. That is especially refreshing in this difficult economic time and it says a lot about how caring corporate citizens are as they place into focus what really matters," says Taylor.

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About Team Building USA: Team Building USA, Inc. (http://www.TeamBuildingUSA.com) is the nation's leading corporate team building firm. Offering a wide variety of challenging and dynamic team building programs, including scavenger hunts, wilderness adventures, morale booster challenges and more, Team Building USA has helped many firms throughout the country, including Fortune 500 companies, achieve more effective employee working environments. Team Building USA is the only corporate teambuilding firm offering a 150% return on investment guarantee.