Extra Space Storage Puts In Extra Effort with WheelCharity for UT Veterans

The top sales leaders at Extra Space Storage turned out for a WheelCharity™ team building workshop and demonstrated why they’re the best.

extra spaceExtra Space Storage Helps Veterans

We met with around 200 sales reps from Extra Space Storage in a hotel near their Salt Lake City headquarters. They were in town for a day-long education and training program. For the last 90 minutes of their day, we joined the group to carry out a WheelCharity™ workshop to benefit the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs. Even though it had already been a long day, everyone was highly motivated to do something positive for others.

Not everyone in the group worked together regularly, and so we opened with a few casual ice breakers. After everyone warmed up a bit, we divided folks into teams and ran through several games where winning earned wheelchair parts. People enjoyed Say What I Say, and Air Counting, which got a lot of laughs. Teams really excelled here, and were great about cheering each other on. Even though everyone was pretty tired, they rallied!

WheelCharity™ in Salt Lake City, UT

Once teams had acquired everything they needed to put together a wheelchair, we made it more challenging by throwing a few obstacles into the assembly process. These puzzles and challenges led teams through various problem-solving activities designed to introduce new ways of thinking and interacting. Everyone took it in stride. The assembly process ran smoothly, and teams worked through every activity with creativity and determination. WheelCharity™ is more than just fun and games; the workshop is highly facilitated so that lessons learned are easily transferable to workplace settings.

Accomplishing Great Things With Teamwork

The group accomplished 33 wheelchairs, an impressive number. With a few minutes to spare, folks wrote notes of thanks and good wishes for the recipient of each wheelchair. When Belinda Karabatsos arrived from the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs, she was amazed at the group’s productivity. Even though it was a pretty big group, everyone settled quickly as Ms. Karabatsos told us several stories of how wheelchairs changed lives for veterans with mobility issues. She even said that 15 of the 33 wheelchairs were already spoken for, before she even left the event that day.

We wrapped up with a quick debriefing session to reinforce some of the key concepts related to teamwork, and ended with a lot of photos! Extra Storage Space sales team members were extremely proud of their hard work. They were utterly exhausted but rallied their enthusiasm to send off Ms. Karabatsos and 33 wheelchairs with rousing applause.