Beware the Rising Diva!
My fears about band practice are numerous. I fear that we won’t pick the right song. Or that everyone will want their own solo. I am afraid that my band mates will hate my outfit suggestions or won’t recognize the … Continued
Battle of the Bands 2013
Who doesn’t want to rock? At ShoreTel, we rock for a reason. Our Battle of the Bands program is designed to make the point that learning a new skill requires time, patience, teamwork and practice. We want people to apply these same learning methods to the skills they need to get better at their jobs and add value to ShoreTel. So, every year we call on our employees to get out of their comfort zones and try something radically different. Participants learn to play an instrument that they’ve never played before and bands are formed. The bands work together to select and perfect the songs that will lead them to glory at the final Battle of the Bands.
This year’s event, which will culminate with the final battle in January, will be even bigger and louder than ever before. We have 15 bands of ShoreTel employees across 5 locations, including our first international entry (Go Australia!). We’d like to thank our customers and partners who have sponsored the event in past years. We are learning while having a great time and can’t wait to put on a show! Read more about ShoreTel’s Battle of the Bands…
The Bands
No Regrets!
When I became a mom, I thought I would suddenly be able to some of the things my mom used to do for me when I was a kid, such as sewing clothes/costumes, fun art and other creative projects. I … Continued
Forming and Norming
The time is quickly approaching to begin practicing as a band. This is very exciting as well as a bit intimidating. Why? I am new to the musical game, have extremely high expectations of my own performance in any realm … Continued
Drum Banging
This is a great thing we’re doing for our company; not just for learning and collaboration but for fun at the same time. There are obstacles that every band member faces. Either it’s finding the time and place to practice, … Continued
Winners and Learners
The Battle of the Bands reminds me of my 13 year old son’s chess club leader. He described all participants as “being either winners… or learners. There are no losers.” That’s the exact feeling I get with the Battle of … Continued
Getting the Band Together
Ah, the first band practice of Battle of the Bands. Kinda like the first day of school, in a way. We’ve been rehearsing individually for over a month, developing our basics and beginning work on our first song. Doing things … Continued
Live to Learn, Learn to Live
Why does ShoreTel invest in a program like Battle of the Bands? Why would we spend money on teaching people to play instruments? Why wouldn’t we just use the funds for other employee benefit programs? The investment we are making in Battle … Continued
Battle of the Bands 2013!
Welcome to Season 3 of ShoreTel’s Battle of the Bands! We are very excited about this year’s program as it’s the largest competition we’ve ever had. We have 15 bands in total representing New York City, Rochester, Chicago, Austin, Sunnyvale, and Australia. They will be battling in local competitions in December, vying for a spot in the ShoreTel Battle of the Bands grand finale in Austin, TX in January, 2014. (Shoretella?….Shorestock?, Lolla-shore-looza? Shorefest?…Marketing is still working on that one…..)
So here’s how it works. Staffers pick an instrument in which they have no experience and form 5 or 6 piece bands. They get private lessons and band practices staffed by a mentor. At the end of the season, the Bands put it all on the line, rock out, and show us what they’ve learned.
So why do we do this? As someone who helps run the program AND participates in one of the bands (turns out I am a guitar prodigy) I can tell you the benefits are almost too many to count. We started out trying to teach people how to learn, so they could apply those lessons to their jobs, and help us compete in our rapidly changing market. What we found is that the program fostered cross-departmental communication, provided some much needed stress relief to our staff, attracted top people to our organization and got us some really good PR!
And here we are! At this point in the program, lessons have started, bands have been formed, named and photographed, and even some songs are being chosen. The trash talk has started and Vegas is posting the early odds. Bookmark this page and follow us as it all unfolds. As for my band Teach You a Lesson, we are pretty sure we are going to be the halftime show for Superbowl XLVIII. We’ll save you a ticket.