5 Team Building Mistakes to Avoid

Planning Team Building Activities is a positive step toward housing a happy team! Make sure that they are effective. You don’t want them to have a redundant or negative outcome! Here are 5 Team Building Mistakes to Avoid.

Different Abilities

Avoid making the mistake of not acknowledging your teams differing abilities. Your team is made up of people with different skills. They also have different interests. Most importantly, they have different abilities. When planning your next team building activity consider this. While one team member might enjoy a Hair and Make Up class, another might enjoy dirt buggying a bit more! Also, older members of your team might be more comfortable taking a trip to a pottery or going on a boat ride. Try and cater to what your team will benefit from the most. 

Cliques

Cliques promote segregation. Try and break up office cliques at your next team building activity! Working together is the key! Cliques form naturally in any social situation. The crowd from the admin office might be close friends. The interns might have a lot in common with one another. Give everyone the opportunity to work with someone new! This enhances communication between team members. 

No Clear Goals

Make clear goals at the start of the activity! Maybe send an e-mail explaining why you have chosen this particular trip. If goals are not made clear, your team might be confused. Communicate your aim early on to ensure they are achieved. If you are planning an excursion to an Adventure Centre, do let your team know why. Although they will enjoy the fun physical exercise, make sure they know that there is a wider point. 

Overly Ambitious

Baby Steps! The idea is to have a few excursions per year. A few in office Ice Breakers, a Summer BBQ and a trip Dolphin watching. There are activities to enhance everything! Don’t spend two weeks taking trips to stay cooped up for the rest of the year. Don’t expect to achieve everything all at once! Over working a team to achieve a goal will wear them out. Be consistent! Don’t make your team bonding activities too ambitious.

Neglecting to act on People’s Suggestions

Act on the suggestions of your team. If your team expresses an interest in a particular area, act! This will encourage your employees to make suggestions to you in future. If a team member suggests something wacky like Zorbing, do some research. Find out what the benefits are. Ask around to see if there is interest. Take on board what people have to say! 

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The Benefits of Extreme Sport as a Team Building Activity

Team Building Activities Extreme sports are increasingly in popularity for a number of reasons. More and more people become interested every year! Adrenaline is increased. They’re great for your physical health, when properly trained. The positive mental effects are noticeable. The benefits of Extreme Sport as a Team Building Activity are endless.

1. Staying Centred

Extreme sports can be dangerous. Fear and panic can inhibit your performance. This could potentially lead to making a dangerous error in judgement. People who practice extreme sports safely change the way their mind works. They learn to stay calm during stressful scenarios.

Extreme sports can make decision making a less stressful activity. Staying centred and calm is the key to a healthy work life too. This aspect of Extreme Sport makes it really beneficial as a team building activity!

2. Stretching

It is important to stretch before a physical activity. It warms the muscles and makes it easy to move. Stretching before an activity like Paint Ball is recommended! Lunging to escape Paint Ball pellets can put strain on any part of your body. Stretching is necessary to prepare properly for extreme sports. The idea of warming up can be applied to the work place. Preparing for a difficult task by practising an easier, but similar, task is a good way to build confidence. It is a way to identify issues with performing the task early on. Mental and physical preparation makes the world of difference!

3. Developing Fear Management skills

Those who participate in Extreme Sports have the ability to convert their fear into a positive experience. Everyone feels a bit afraid the first time they base jump. Or some feel fear hopping behind the wheel of a Dirt Buggy. Seeing themselves making it out in one piece is hugely beneficial! Doing these activities in a safe way will help reduce a persons fear response.

But doing these things and seeing that you safely make it to the other side will help you reduce your fear response. This is a fantastic bonus to these team building activities. Your team will learn to be brave and to trust themselves! Brave enough to take on a more advanced role in the office. (Or brave enough to chance the socks and sandals combo to the company BBQ!)

4. Using Different Muscles

Simple every day tasks use the same muscles. Exercise, especially the Extreme Sport variety, uses muscles we normally wouldn’t use. You might be surprised at how your arms feel after giving Archery Tag a go! Sore at first, but gradually stronger! Using muscles that you don’t normally need to use is great for your physical health. So, if your work is office based Extreme Sports are an excellent way to get the energy back into your bones! Team Building Activities that promote physical health can be the most enjoyable. Get your team moving in places they forgot existed!

5. Networking!

People love to socialise. Getting to know one another outside of the workplace can be really rewarding. When brought into a new environment, people love to chat to each other. They want to share their experiences. Chatting to others in between taking turns Zorbing will be nearly as fun as the actual activity! Socialising and trying new things increase brain function and happiness! You are more likely to get into a giant plastic ball and roll down a hill with a pal, right? That is bonding! Extreme Sports are such an effective Team Building Activity in this regard. Networks can be made between people that aren’t in each others immediate team.

Get out there! Get your team into some Extreme Sports!

Looking for something a little bit more relaxed? Check out our Spa and Pamper Activities!

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More than likely you’ve endured an horrendous team building exercise at some point. Or even a morning energizer to get everyone buzzed before a super productive day at work. While you go through the motions, you really just want that morning coffee. So, if you’re really trying to improve team morale, energy and productivity. Then do something different and try some of these Wacky Team Building Ideas!

Egg Smashing

Egg Smashing is a brilliantly simple team building idea that is sure to have every team members full attention. There’s a little bit of prep involved but essentially it’s egg roulette. Out of 6 eggs, 5 are hard boiled and one that’s not. The person in the hot seat chooses an egg, without touching it of course. It’s smashed on the top of their heads. If they’re lucky it’s one of the hard boiled egg and there’s no mess to clean up.

If they choose wrong, well they’re literally left with egg on their face. It may be a bit messy but it’s such a fun team building idea in an office, sports club or whatever team you are involved in.  (If you’re feeling nice, all the eggs can be hard boiled. Just don’t tell anyone).

Cheesy Ice Breakers

It’s possible your team knows each other at this stage. But you can still have some fun with a few cheesy ice breakers. Everyone has to share their cheesiest ice breaker with the group. The team then votes for the funniest, best or strangest for the title of the Cheesiest Ice Breaker.

“2 Fat Penguins….well that broke the ice”….I’ll get my coat.

Board Games

A great team building idea is to bring in some childhood board games. Everyone finishes for lunch early and take part in some connect four, mouse trap or Jenga for example. No monopoly, you still want a team after lunch.

Dance Off

We all suffer in varying degrees with a midday slump in an office. Or even in a sports team where training might just be getting a little tedious. Well then turn strictly come dancing into a team building exercise and have a dance off. You’ll have a judging panel who will decide the winner. In our opinion the cringy moves, questionable shapes and flair should get extra points.

Improv and Stand Up

Everyone enjoys a good laugh. A good laugh releases endorphins and reduces stress hormones too. So, round up the team and get everyone to tell a few jokes. The more the better in our opinion.

You can take it a little further and get everyone to prepare a little stand up routine or if they feel up to it an improv session with topics coming from other team members. So, what’s your best joke?

Speed Meetings

Another great team building idea is to have speed meetings. It’s essentially speed dating but instead of trying to get someone’s number, you’re trying to get the concise stats on the last report. It does sound a little strange but in a large group meeting, having a bit of fun with it will heighten the energy in the room.

You can also use it for some speed brain storming where everyone has 30 seconds to come up with an idea for your next team project.

Hop On One Foot

As Wacky Team Building Ideas go this may just take the top spot. It’s such a simple team building exercise to help build team morale and commradiery. It’s also certain to break the mould. The game is simple. Everyone on the team hops on one foot for as long as possible. The last one standing or hopping on one foot wins. Oh and it has to be the same foot.

You’ll be laughing from start to finish and especially as it comes down to the final competitors. This is where the team morale and encouragement comes in.

So, there you have it guys! Just a few Wacky Team Building Ideas to energize, enjoy a laugh, boost team morale and ultimately build & improve working relationships.

Want to plan a Wacky Team Building day for your team? Contact us today!

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