Peak Performance!™ conducted an eight-hour Adventures in Teamwork!™ training program for the Advanced Marketing Associate training course. The venue was Kellogg West Performance Development Center. SYSCO®’s Marketing Associates (MA’s) learned vital performance enhancement skills, and demonstrated team development under professional coaching from Peak Performance!

Participants received written tools to “anchor” the experience, help them implement the lessons learned, and share important concepts with their colleagues who didn’t attend. A professional videographer captured highlights and produced a video to remind participants of their commitments to positive change, growth, and higher achievement.

Tom Ross, Director of Sales Training for SYSCO® identified the following objectives for the training:

• Believing that dramatic improvement in sales is possible from each person
• Understanding and eliminating the negative influence of self-imposed limitations
• Embracing change to reach new plateaus of performance
• Building a climate of support that allows each individual to exceed expectations
• Focusing on district and organization goals, while improving personal success
• Sharing a common vision of the organization’s objectives
• Improving morale and appreciation for the organization

The SYSCO® and Peak Performance!™ evaluation, anecdotal feedback from participants, and analysis by Tom Ross indicate substantive accomplishment of these objectives.

Results: LESSONS LEARNED
Through unique and engaging activities, participants recognized the following lessons:

• The common characteristics of High Achieving Teams and how to replicate them
• Research validates that individuals and organizations consistently underestimate their potential leaving room for extraordinary achievement
• Stopping at the first recognized solution misses customer satisfaction opportunities and leaves money “on the table”
• Growth requires change, change is uncomfortable, so expect growth to be difficult but valuable
• You must push through the “Groan Zone” to reach the "Growth Zone"
• Breakthrough ideas can come from anyone on the team--be ready to profit from them
• How to recognize and minimize unhealthy competition
• Communication styles that irritate customers and how to prevent them
• Painting an engaging mental picture for customers while helping them paint the picture of their needs to you

Following the activities, participants engaged in debriefing discussions that demonstrated understanding of the key training concepts and focused on actual application to SYSCO® challenges. “Journals” provided with the training were used by some MA’s to capture key points for further retention.

MA’s brainstormed situations where these performance enhancement principles could produce significant benefits to the company and themselves, and committed to action plans to ensure that they followed through.