Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Importance of Outdoor Team Building Activities

Businesses of all sizes across the globe are beginning to understand the importance of taking part in team building exercises and activity days in order to develop stronger relationships within their teams. It has been found that paying your employees to participate in a team building activity or day away from the office environment can dramatically increase the whole team's productivity and ability to work well together. The most popular form of team building activity is the outdoor team building days.Whilst your employees are busy enjoying themselves doing a whole host of activities such as treasure hunts, abseiling, canoeing, raft building and high rope challenges, they will also be bonding and learning to work as a team to achieve something. Although it may look like just fun and games, there are some important lessons being learnt which can then be transferred back to the office. It provides your employees with a topic of conversation and therefore something they have in common, which is a great basis for the further development of their relationships.The most difficult thing to do within a team of colleagues is to 'break the ice' between them or introduce a new member to an established team. In an office environment it can be even more complicated to do thus providing the perfect opportunity to partake in an outdoor building day.The activities undertaken on days like these force people to communicate and work together in order to achieve the task in hand. It also helps that the activities undertaken are really exciting and usually something most people have never done before which brings out peoples personality and helps conker fear. Once the task has been achieved, there is a great sense of teamwork and it helps to build upon the participant's confidence.By the end of a team building day you will have a team who are far more confident and able to work together. The activities also improve the relationship between the employees and employer as they feel rewarded for their efforts, and are therefore more likely to work harder for the company.Using a specialist company is the recommended route for organizing such outdoor activity days due to the fact they will be able to provide all the necessary materials, equipment and safety procedures to follow. There are many companies which run events like this so it is important to look around for one that is reputable. Some of the companies can also recommend the most suitable experience and activities for the outcome you wish to achieve. This is a great idea as they will be able to guide you into a bespoke team building day suitable for your individual company.