(5 of 5)
When Johnson and her fellow employees return to the office after a day of climbing, falling and even drumming--in an exercise lead by Village Music Circles of Santa Cruz, Calif.--the excitement still resonates. Even 10 days later, "People are walking through the halls high-fiving each other," says Johnson. "The atmosphere here is just joyous." To keep it that way, Adlink managers are planning another offsite next year. And they've invited the Orion Learning trainers to follow up with quarterly visits to Adlink headquarters, where they will use slogans and short exercises to refresh the staff.
The hope is that this team of workers will retain its cooperative spirit as it continues to face challenges. The biggest hurdle for the company is a transition from analog to digital technology. "So much of the quality of work depends on how people get along together," says Adlink CEO Charles Thurston. "We realized the more we can find good people, train them and get them to stay, the better our company will do." Thurston's view reflects a modern economic reality: teamwork is an infinitely renewable resource that will never go out of date--so long as you work creatively at it.
--Reported by Charlotte Faltermayer and Valerie Marchant/New York, Laird Harrison/Malibu, Anne Moffett/Gettysburg and David Nordan/Atlanta