Working together as a family [Archives:2007/1048/Last Page]

Fatima Al-Ajel
[email protected]
In a step to improve the way team members interact and solve problems in their work, the Yemen Times editorial department organized a team-building workshop last Thursday in cooperation with the newly formed Yemeni Network for Media Training.

In the belief that successful team building has far-reaching ramifications in organizations and companies and that better problem solving means better efficiency in general, the newspaper administration invited the network to arrange a workshop on how staff can improve their performance.

The goals were to improve how employees interact with each other and with the management and vice versa, as well as create a team-building atmosphere between the newspaper's employees and managers.

For approximately five hours, participants did several team-building activities, first specifying the problems they all face and then working together in two groups to brainstorm solutions and draw up a new strategy for the newspaper.

Hussein Al-Wada'i, chief of the Yemeni Network for Media Training, and Nabiha Al-Hadri were the facilitators who presented aims and ideas for participants on how they could determine the problems and then work together to learn techniques to solve their problems themselves.

The session highlighted four main problems, mostly regarding administrative, technical, financial and professional problems, which many companies face. One particular training exercise had participants classify their problems into four categories.

After four sessions and in a roundtable discussion, the two groups wrote logical and possible solutions to the newspaper's problems, classifying them according to the most important and urgent.

Outcomes of the team building

Everyone participated a performance enhancement session to discover a strategy for improving their performance and developing the communicative skills between newspaper employees and their managers.

Although the workshop was only for one day, its results were great and meaningful to improve the company. “The workshop was successful. I felt that the participants were serious to make a change and improvements. The ideas presented were professional and I observed that a democratic atmosphere will play a role in implementing the outcomes,” Al-Wada'i commented.

“If the Yemen Times administration applies the results, its performance will improve in a short time,” he predicted.

The day also provided a good chance for staffers to get to know each other better through several workshop activities. The entire newspaper staff participated in the workshop as a team, regardless of their positions or authority.

Earlier this year, a group of journalists and media trainers established the Yemeni Network for Media Training, which aims to create a civil atmosphere in both formal and informal organizations in general and Yemeni mass media specifically. This is the network's fourth event so far this year.
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