Some may hear the words ‘office team building day’ and immediately cringe, it is some people’s worst nightmare and as soon as one is announced in the office people instantly try to think of how they can get out of it. For others though it can be a welcomed break and escape the confines of their office cubicle, even if it means doing trust exercises with Dave from IT.
The aim of team building activities is to bond a team, boost their confidence, and to allow employees to demonstrate their willingness to learn new skills. But if no one is particularly interested it isn’t likely that they’ll put much effort into the activities, if there is a lack of effort across the board then the away day ends up being a waste of time.
A hands-on workshop where participants will learn how to fight like a true Hollywood stuntman. The course is led by actual stuntmen who have featured in films like Batman and TV shows like Doctor Who, with their extensive knowledge and experience also comes their great awareness of safety procedures and protocols to make sure you’re completely safe but having amazing fun too.
If you’ve ever wondered just how they pull off those detailed fight scenes and stunts in major films you won’t have to wonder any longer, by the end of the day you’ll have learnt insider secrets and know how to smash a bottle over someone’s head.
This away day has benefits for both the individuals and the team. It allows employees to let go and get stuck in, it will help to improve their focus on tasks as they focus on new skills throughout the day, it will boost their confidence too once they put into practice something they’ve learnt and get it right. For teams, it will help to build trust between them, as they have to believe that their colleague won’t actually hurt them when they pretend to hit them or indeed smash a bottle over their head.
The ultimate team bonding activity, creating a flash team is the perfect way to unite everyone as all members have to work together to reach the same goal, suddenly assembling as a group in a public place, performing a routine and then quickly dispersing as if that act never took place. This activity is all about bringing everyone together through a shared experience to engage, learn how to take risks and put energy into completing a task.
All you need for your own flash team is a larger group of people, around 30 people or more, a few hours for everyone to learn the routine together and devise a plan to execute the flash mob event itself, and a location for the flash mob to then happen.
A critical test of trust, you all have to rely on the driver who is blindfolded and the driver has to rely on the other passengers in the car for directions. You start by checking out the course and planning your route, then you all pile into the car, the driver is blindfolded and then it is time to start. However, there is a twist, all obvious directional words such as “left”, “right”, “break”, “slower” etc. are all banned, and this means you have to get creative whether it be sounds or code word alternatives. If you’re thinking that this is completely crazy and unsafe, there is an experienced instructor present at all times to make sure that the activity and everyone else is completely safe.
Shake things up a bit and consider a more interesting, engaging and memorable activity like the activities mentioned above, an extreme sport like skydiving, or perhaps your team are more creative people and you could try a painting workshop for your next team building day.
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