Team building activities are an excellent way of reinvigorating your employees and bringing co-workers together. Team building turns colleagues into friends, which in turn fosters a happier and more productive office in which people get along and are keen to help each other.
Recently I looked at five team building activities that are perfect for businesses with budgetary and time constraints. This time I’m looking at six unusual team building days for those businesses looking for something more immersive and involving. These activities are designed to foster better relationships between colleagues, improve team-working skills, enhance creativity and provide some serious downtime from desks, phones and computers.
An adventure at Fort Boyard
Based on the popular 90s TV show, Spitbank Fort on the Solent hosts a one-of-a-kind ‘Fort Boyard’ experience, organised by Seriously Cool Events. Designed as a team building corporate day out, the experience involves puzzles and action-packed challenges set in glorious surroundings. The Solent Fort Boyard Challenge is available between February and December.
Turn into an ape
There are 28 ‘Go Ape’ locations across England, Wales and Scotland, all featuring tree climbing, zip wires, segways, high and low ropes and other exciting forest-based adventures. It’s a popular way of helping individuals overcome personal challenges – with help, support and encouragement from their teammates. It’s available between February and November.
Dragon Boat Racing
A fantastic event for developing teamwork skills, dragon boat racing events are held at Dorney Lake in Windsor, which played host to the kayaking and rowing events of the London 2012 Olympics. Fast, fun, inclusive and requiring cooperation and understanding, dragon boat racing is suitable for groups of between 18 and 500, which makes it perfect for small and large companies alike. A day of dragon boat racing can involve heats and knockout competitions.
Inflatable Games
These enormously fun games are provided by Eventurous and are ideal for corporate team building and giving your staff the opportunity to have a laugh and enjoy themselves. The inflatable games on offer include Human Table Football, Inflatable Basketball or Volleyball, a Bungee Run and Last Man Standing, and can be hosted anywhere. They do require a large amount of space, however, so if your office doesn’t have a large outdoor area, the ideal place for inflatable games is a public park.
Wine tasting
Vinopolis in Borough Market, London, has more than 100 wines, champagnes and spirits and has developed an excellent corporate wine tasting experience. The experience involves a variety of taste challenges with blindfolds, sampling fine wines and sumptuous cocktails. Perfect for a team building activity that you want to extend into a night-time social, it’s best to do Vinopolis on a Friday night – when no one on the team needs to be in the office the next day!
Time travel
Carberry Tower in Edinburgh plays host to a wonderful corporate team building experience, whereby you can effectively travel back in time to the 16th century and hold a Tudor banquet. Carberry Tower is the perfect setting, with inglenook fireplaces, thick oak dining tables, traditional furnishings and hand painted stained glass windows. It’ll make you forget you’re in the 21st century.
Dress up in traditional Tudor dress, nominate your king and queen, and work with the chefs to create an epic banquet that would have delighted Henry VIII. Afterwards, enjoy a drink or two at the Whiskey Bar, flex your snooker skills in the Snooker Hall and exercise your dancing shoes in the Ceilidh Hall.
Have you arranged or taken part in any unusual team building day that you can recommend? Post your suggestions below!
