subject: 3 Alternative Types Of Team Building Event [print this page] Whilst team-building days/events are inarguably important to a great many businesses, they have become a little stagnant over the years and staff tend to know what to expect when they take part. Most often these involve pitching up at a team building centre where there are obstacle courses or puzzles to solve as a team. You might be lucky enough to get a team building day that is a little more 'out of the box', but still they tend to be rehashed ideas of tried and tested team building models. What experts have found to be the most effective type of team building days are those that take staff members out of their comfort zone and force them to use skills they don't usually exercise and communicate with people that they wouldn't normally. Here are 3 of the top team building days that are currently available around the country.
Abandoned. This form of team building day involves abandoning your team somewhere very remote and having them find their way home as a team. Of course all health and safety factors are taken into consideration, but all staff are stripped of all tools and gadgetry, such as watches, mobile phones, radio's etc. This means that they will have to use initiative and team work to discover where they are and the best way to find their way back without any money. It has been known for this exercise to take place in different countries, but it can be just as effective dumping a team in woodland or a national park.
Create Charity Event. There is no better way to bring a team together and improve organisational skills than planning and implementing a charity event. Staff should be given a small amount of money to get things off the ground, but after that they should source everything for free. The event should take the form of whatever the staff want, but the brief should be to make the most amount for charity as they can. Not only is this a tough but very enjoyable team building task, it is also very morally rewarding and will help boost the company profile at the same time.
Adventure Day. This is not the type of adventure day that was talked about earlier, but instead something with much more freedom and flexibility. The companies that offer to run this type of event recommend that it takes the following format. Staff turn up for a normal day of work and find that the office has been locked and there is an envelope on the door with instructions to the team. From here the day can take the form of an orienteering event or a treasure hunt. The key is to think big in terms of challenges and force staff to use initiative to get tasks done. An example challenge would be for staff to get two photos of everyone together, each photo with them at two separate locations, but with a town clock in the background showing the same time.
