Oregon company links golf and business for strategic team building

Meeting planners and business leaders see "Golf Links for Meetings" a solution to the challenge of incorporating golf into an off-site meeting event that includes everyone and adds value.

Lake Oswego, OR (PRWEB) August 29, 2004 -- An Oregon company is putting the game of golf to work as a teaching tool and means of team building for companies and organizations where teamwork is essential to their success. The concept, which Gravity Resources calls, Golf Links For Great Meetings, incorporates a customized golf/learning experience in a golf course setting.

Golf is such a great teacher for individuals", says Golf Links for Great Meetings principal, Tom Newton, we decided to apply the same principles to group learning. Not only do those principles work, golf makes it fun and enhances learning at the same time."

According to Newton, Golf Links" works best when a group is planning a meeting away from the usual work setting and has specific objectives to achieve. Golf Links" facilitators meet early with their client to learn the meetings themes and objectives so they can be integrated into the Golf Links" game at the golf course. Using several golfing exercises over a series of holes, meeting objectives are reinforced for both golfers and non-golfers.

One of the first companies to use the new experiential learning system was The Sight Shop", optical arm of the Oregon Eye Clinic, an Oregon professional services company.

I had a group of non-golfers, and among them some people who really didnt want to golf," said Kip Nix, Director of Optical Services. They loosened up very quickly and it soon became a fun and enjoyable time. They learned more than if they had been die-hard golfers," he said.

Nixs optical services crew represented eight different company locations. They came together and have very effectively transferred what they learned to the workplace," said Nix. They related the golf to work. I have some people on my staff who are a tough sell," and they went through this and enjoyed the experience."

According to Golf Links" partner Zeke Zeliff, Many of the same strategic principles a golfer uses to manage shots from tee to green are applicable to achieving corporate objectives." The new golf learning system, according to Zeliff, can be used to enhance a variety of business purposes, including:

·    Sales team motivation

·    Adapting to change

·    Team and trust building

·    Reinforcing corporate themes and messages

·    Relationship building with customers, clients & vendors

Shawn DuBerg, Senior Vice-President at Bank of America agrees. DuBerg, another participant, recommends Golf Links" for others. Overall, he said, this is a fantastic team building event that can accomplish multiple goals. I would definitely recommend it for others."

Asked to be specific about the team building elements, DuBerg pointed to one of the learning units which requires participants to putt blindfolded, while getting direction from others. This is a matter of trust," he said. It teaches very dramatically that you cant do everything by yourself, youve got to rely on others to achieve your objectives."

Golf Links" offers a satisfying golf experience for the enthusiast while working effectively with non-golfers in an inclusive and entertaining way. Bob Baker, Director of Development and Communications for the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is a golfer, but found the system worked not only for him but others. This is a very effective teaching tool," he said. It gives everyone a non-threatening experience, a safe setting to learn and have fun. Its also very adaptable."

The new experiential meeting system depends heavily on the quality of its facilitators and their depth of knowledge, both in business and with this kind of learning. Tom Newton spent ten years as a sales and marketing vice president for a national insurance carrier where he conducted golf-related events for clients, vendors and employees. Today, in addition to his Golf Links" sessions, Newton works as a marketing consultant and executive coach for a number of corporate interests. He is also the author of a book called, Your Pocket Guide to Great Games for Golf.

Zeke Zeliffs expertise is in experiential learning where he has been involved with these kinds of training methods in his work as a team and organization effectiveness consultant and for twenty-four years with Outward Bound in a variety of roles. Zeliff received his MBA from Emory University and serves on a number of boards and learning organizations in addition to being adjunct faculty for the Oregon Executive MBA Program, Lewis and Clark College Graduate School of Education and Portland State Universitys School of business Administration.

Golf Links facilitators travel worldwide and work with groups from 12 to 120 in order to meet client demand for this new meeting concept.

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