A report on the teamgeist+ workshop by our author Christina Engel, offering insight into how we at teamgeist work together to combine experiences, reflection, and application in a way that allows teams to experience and further develop their collaboration more consciously.
Here at our venue on Potsdamer Platz, spring was in the air, and that spirit was immediately palpable in the atmosphere and motivation as we kicked off the teamgeist+ workshop. It was the perfect energy to create something special together over the next two days: teamgeist+. A further development of our team events for our clients, closely tied to the question:
This question wasn’t new; we’ve long sensed this need and have been increasingly focusing on achieving this desired transfer of learning. After all, in recent years, the demands and conditions in the workplace and for collaboration have changed. Moments when people come together, interact, laugh together, challenge one another, and grow closer as a team have continued to gain massive significance in recent years. And as immersive team events, they remain important in their form as event formats. Our team events are already making an impact. They connect people in ways that are often not possible in everyday work life.
However, many executives, HR managers, and teams who already have extensive experience with team events want to take the next step. They are looking for:
We’ve also observed this trend in our teamgeist survey on team-building trends. And that’s exactly what we want to build on.
“Team events are an integral part of corporate culture for many companies. They create experiences, strengthen relationships, and facilitate connections. That is precisely where their greatest strength lies. At the same time, we see that executives and HR managers increasingly want to link these experiences more consciously to goals related to collaboration. How can insights from the event be leveraged to foster communication, trust, or collective action? With teamgeist+, we address this need. Participants continue to enjoy a highly engaging team event – filled with fun, energy, cooperation, or competition. In addition, we provide targeted opportunities for reflection and create moments in which teamwork is perceived more consciously and becomes applicable to everyday work. teamgeist+ is not team coaching, but rather a further development of our team events with a clear focus on impact. If teams wish to delve deeper into specific topics afterward, our team coaching sessions provide the ideal framework for that,” Patrick Havenstein, Managing Director of Teamgeist International and Executive Coach
We’ve been working on the teamgeist+ project in various configurations for months, with a core team having been involved since late 2024. The workshop was designed to share knowledge and test ideas. On April 22, 2026, 19 event experts from the teamgeist crew – hailing from different regions and bringing diverse experiences, perspectives, and roles – came together to experience, experiment, and further develop the project in a hands-on way.
Already on the first morning, it became clear just how much energy this topic holds. We discussed, experimented, and questioned. How do methods differ from models? What is our basic understanding of teamgeist+? How do traditional team events differ from teamgeist+ team events, and how do these differ from team coaching sessions with teamgeist?
Next on the agenda was the first version of our teamgeist+ Team Check app.
We eagerly awaited the first version of our Team Check App, developed by Jan Möller, teamgeist Manager for Digital Transformation & AI. This app is intended to serve as a central tool for identifying areas of impact and to provide our clients and us with insights into which topics are currently particularly relevant to collaboration. Specifically, participants can use the app to share their assessments on various aspects of collaboration. This serves to determine the current state of affairs – a status check.
We tested the Team-Check app ourselves in various teams and discussed our findings together:
Throughout the day, we tried out various event formats and took an in-depth look at typical challenges we encounter in our daily work.
Our colleague Jessica Hammerbacher, an event manager and team trainer from the teamgeist Süd team, has been working in this context for some time with a specific model that summarizes the challenges in teamwork: lack of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and lack of focus on results.& nbsp;We first worked through Patrick Lencioni’s model of these 5 dysfunctions on our own and discussed the order in which they appear. Then, with a clear focus, we asked ourselves: How do we translate these topics into our events? Not as training. Not as coaching. But as a hands-on experience.
A large part of the workshop revolved around one central question: How can reflection prompts be designed so that they truly resonate with teams?
We conducted tests and shared our experiences:
It quickly became clear: It’s not about more content, but about the right prompts at the right time.
After the lunch break, something special happened – off the agenda. Michael Haufe, founder of teamgeist, took the floor and put current social developments and our growing importance as a professional partner in teamwork into perspective. With his passion and expertise in future-oriented topics, Micha took us to a meta-level and summed it up very aptly:
“In an age when information is available everywhere and, at the same time, fake news makes it necessary to verify information, genuine connection and mutual trust become the decisive factors in collaboration. Face-to-face encounters and relationships will become even more important in the future. After all, trust isn’t built through knowledge – but through shared experiences. With our team events and team-building activities, we create the ideal setting for people to meet personally in a professional context, nurture their relationships, and connect. With nearly 35 years of experience and the development of teamgeist+, this is where our strength lies and where we will play a central role in the future.”,
Michael Haufe, founder of teamgeist
With every syllable, a clear and inspiring picture gradually took shape in our minds of just how important our role as team facilitators will become in the future: connecting people, facilitating encounters and fostering relationships, and creating a framework in which people can build their trust to work toward shared goals.
This moment once again clearly realigned our compass and summed up the significance of our event formats and our future direction. All of us here love what we do and why we do it.
Our goal for this workshop was not just to talk about impact, but to let participants experience it firsthand. For us, teamgeist+ is the next logical step in linking our team events even more consciously to the challenges our clients face. In Berlin, we laid the foundation together to structure and further develop this combination of experience, reflection, and application.
- Patrick Havenstein, Managing Director of Teamgeist International and Executive Coach -As the workshop progressed, we were motivated to directly expand our event formats to include the “Plus” in various configurations. We addressed typical challenges in our clients’ day-to-day work and got creative with specific tasks. In doing so, we repeatedly took on new roles to facilitate a change of perspective at all levels.
We were able to experience teamgeist+ firsthand and draw initial key insights from our collaborative practice. At the end of these two days, we didn’t have a finished product, but we did have a shared understanding, a clear direction, and the first concrete building blocks.
These include:
And above all: the realization that there isn’t just one method – but rather the right combination of experience, reflection, and application to everyday work.
Visit our teamgeist+ page to learn how experience, reflection, and transfer work together and how team events can have a lasting impact on everyday work.
For us, teamgeist+ is not a reorientation, but rather a further development – a further development of what we’ve been doing for nearly 35 years:
Bringing people together. Strengthening relationships. Making that sense of “we” tangible.
With teamgeist+, this impact becomes even more deliberate and even more useful for everyday work. It’s an approach that builds on what has always defined our events and consciously expands that potential. Of course, only if you want this added value for your team experience.
Here are some initial insights into what this means for teamgeist+ events:
teamgeist+ complements engaging team events with goal clarification, reflection prompts, and the application of these insights to everyday work. This reveals how teams can work together, communicate, and make concrete use of shared experiences.
For me, it was particularly valuable to see how many perspectives and experiences from our team were incorporated into this workshop. teamgeist+ wasn’t conceived on the drawing board, but grew out of our daily work with teams. In Berlin, we pooled these experiences, structured them, and developed them further together. That was an important step toward creating a clear approach that our clients can relate to.
- Nicole Steiner, Teamgeist Group Manager -The work on teamgeist+ is far from over. A new project group is currently working on further refining the concepts and developing the first concrete formats. In the coming weeks, we’ll show you, step by step:
And: Start your first teamgeist Quick Check soon!
If you want to not only experience team events but also use them more consciously to enhance your collaboration, and you’re asking yourself:
“How can we leverage a team experience even more effectively for our day-to-day collaboration?” Then teamgeist+ is the right solution for you. We’d be happy to guide you.
We will take care of your request as soon as possible.
If you have any questions or need further help, please give us a call or write us an email.
For teams that want to address specific issues in greater depth, teamgeist also offers team coaching and process facilitation. teamgeist+ complements team events with goal clarification, opportunities for reflection, and the application of these insights to everyday work. Our team coaching goes one step deeper: with customized concepts, experienced coaches, and individualized support for specific team challenges. Learn more about team caching
By the way, we held our workshop at our teamgeist own location right on Potsdamer Platz.
Author: Christina Engel
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