The days when most companies were managed by filtering orders through from the top to the bottom of the hierarchy are long gone. The present trend is to empower groups of people that work together by allowing them more decision making power and the ability to communicate their needs and ideas to management. Groups therefore need to be extremely efficient. After a team building exercise Baltimore MD companies often see groups that are newly motivated.

Special outings for groups to become better acquainted, to learn more about each other and to learn skills that will help them to perform better as a group has become very popular. The idea is to send the group to a location away from the office, where they cannot be disturbed and to lead them through a variety of activities and lectures all aiming at creating or building upon group cohesion.

There is a bewildering array of facilitators that advertise their expertise in helping groups to perform better, to increase motivation levels and to improve interpersonal relationships between the members of the group. Some facilitators focus on specific fields, such as conflict management, communication techniques and leadership. In order to achieve this they offer a variety of activities. They have good relationships with other professionals and venues.

Hiring a specialist to conduct a group development session should be undertaken with great circumspect. There are many charlatans in this market. Contractors under consideration should be able to submit valid references and these should be followed up in great detail. Feedback from a reference to the effect that they had a great time is not valid. It is easy to arrange a great time when somebody else pays.

It would be counter productive to ask facilitators to submit quotations before they had the benefit of a detailed briefing. They need to know exactly what the objectives that the client hope to achieve are. They also need information regarding the participants, including information about special needs. The budget need to be made clear. Facilitators will need all this information to prepare a sensible quotation and proposed program.

If possible, it is best that prospective facilitators present their proposals and quotations in person. In this way queries van be handled immediately and delays can be avoided. The program should be discussed in detail and the participants should be able to provide input regarding the activities and other components of the program. The facilitator must also explain how the objectives of the excursion will be satisfied.

To gain full value from a development excursion detailed feedback should be asked from the participants. The group as a whole should compile a report focusing on the quality of service rendered, problems that were encountered and the value of the program in achieving the goals of the excursion. Individual group members should also provide feedback, possibly by means of a questionnaire which will make the compilation of statistics easier.

In the modern business environment productivity, creativity and work groups that accept responsibility for their roles in the company are all very high priorities. The company has a responsibility to help employees and groups of employees to develop personally and as groups. In the end it is the company that will benefit.