PARIS – This year’s results just came in and all your executives are gathered together in one of those soulless convention centers.
Everyone is listening to the top honchos giving a speech about how next year will be full of opportunities – but only if each employee rolls up their sleeves.
After two weeks of seminars, listening to every single person from top management, the company’s executives are torn between pessimism and weariness. The idea of coming back to their teams bearing what will be perceived as bad news is a source of anxiety for them.
So to lift up spirits before the end of the seminar, here are five novel team-building ideas that are guaranteed to motivate the troops:
-Wine Gaming
The concept: The activity is a mix between a murder party and a wine-tasting class, where people team up to investigate the mysterious death of a winemaker in his cellar. The only clues they will get are a tablet computer with videos of witness interviews — and their knowledge of the wines that are kept in the winemaker’s cellar.
The participants’ sense of smell and taste will be put to the test. The investigation and the wine-tasting are conducive to constructive interactions that will help participants find the solution to the mystery – in this case, who commited the murder. This can enhance the quality of everyday tasks at the office.
Each participant has his or her own glass to taste wine, but the tablet is shared, so that everyone works as a team.
-Post-it note wars
The concept: Your bosses might not have thought Post-it note wars were such a good thing when they caught their employees spending their days creating colorful Post-it frescoes on the office windows last August. But maybe they will start to appreciate this art form when they learn that it is an excellent team-building activity.
With the help of creative coaches, your co-workers will just have to let their imagination run wild to create a fun project to redecorate – temporarily –the office.
[rebelmouse-image 27086572 alt=”” original_size=”499×333″ expand=1]
Good job, guys – Photo: Elen Nivrae
Offices only have so much window space, so employees will have to share. They will also have to work together to find a mural that is pleasing to the eye. And to make sure that someone’s Mario doesn’t step on someone else’s Tinkerbell.
In regard to management, the idea is to learn to respect each other’s working perimeter so that a common project can succeed.
-Reach new heights on spring stilts
The concept: Playing sports increases the productivity of a company. But it is difficult to motivate a team of executives for a soccer game or a fitness session after a long meeting. Spring stilts – also known as power stilts or powerbocks – are a great way to help your employees rediscover the sports they used to play in high school. When you’re two meters up from the ground, on springs, playing soccer, tennis, basketball or Frisbee is very different from what your gym teacher taught you. Now it’s all about balance.
Your co-workers’ new relationship vis-à-vis gravity will teach them to reorganize themselves when faced with new conditions. Those who are most comfortable on spring stilts can help the others – just as those who have a greater capacity to adapt can help the others in a period of crisis.
-Stress management in the kitchen of a fast-food restaurant
The concept: What better way to help employees learn how to deal with stressful situations than to make them spend lunchtime in the kitchen of a crowded fast-food restaurant? Your company’s impatient clients cannot be more exacting than the hungry clients of a fast-food restaurant. Finishing a team project in time does not require more organization and automated tasks than to cook and serve a fast-food menu with burger, fries, drink and sauce in less than a minute.
Team spirit, stress management and organization skills are essential for this exercise, which tests your collaborators’ efficiency and reactivity when faced with unpredictable situations. In this simulation, sticking to your assigned task will prove an advantage. A tip that might come in handy in the open space.
-The healing power of music
The concept: No need to wait until Friday to go to the bar with the colleagues and listen to the songs of your youth. At the end of a seminar, your collaborators will be delighted to listen to oldies and goldies and play music quiz.
In a relaxed atmosphere, everyone is playing on an even field, and hierarchy is forgotten. If the playlist covers every musical period, team members will have to work together to win — with juniors and seniors ending up sharing their passion for rock and roll or grunge or the theme songs from their favorite TV shows…
