Your business must operate nearly 24 hours a day for 365 days of the year in order to get the most out of every opportunity that arises. Providing team building programs throughout the year will help drive the overall success of your company… but we’re sure that you already know that.
The question we came to answer is; what are the ideal team building programs based on the season and how can they be implemented effectively?
Winter: Annual Planning & Educational Meetings
When the weather starts to get a little colder, kicking up the focus on team development becomes that much more important. Winter is the perfect season to hold annual planning and management meetings, as it is usually the time when the year wraps up and a new year of opportunity is on the horizon. It is also a good idea to refresh employee training and prepare them to meet the new goals laid out in your annual planning meeting.
Here are a few examples of customizable programs that we believe will help you meet your winter season needs:
Creating Growth With Gusto: This program will focus on defining the company’s strategic plan and developing principles for success in the coming years. Through a series of activity-based discussions, the group will identify strategies that will be used to guide top-level decisions on a daily basis.
Interactive Public Speaking: This program will give participants the tools to improve the delivery and structure of their presentations. The group will identify the attributes that make up the best presentations.
Core Values and Culture: This groundbreaking workshop unifies your team by guiding you through a series of activities resulting in your organization’s UNIQUE list of impactful core values. Whether your business is in its infancy or well-established, this workshop creates clarity and a unified vision for every member of your organization. Establish your values, define your brand, and bring your team together under a unified banner.
The 4 Types of Inspirational Leadership: An introduction to four leadership styles and their relationships with each other. Participants will find where each person fits in the quadrant and how to utilize their style to work best with others.
Five Points: Focusing on the many different strengths of a group, this activity generates an appreciation for those who naturally see/feel the solution. At one point, sight is removed from the group and the team must utilize their five-point mantra to work toward goal completion.
Spring: Team Building Outside
Spring is the best season to get outside! Usually people are extremely excited to shake off their boots and slip into some flip flops so what better way to incorporate team building than to do it outside? These activities will get your employees’ blood flowing and help them refresh while being in nature.
Here are some of our most popular springtime options:
Ropes Course: The ropes course adds an element of perceived risk and danger by doing things off the ground. In fact, participants are secure on a ropes course while using equipment like harnesses, helmets, ropes, and other hardware. The actual risk is very low. The course will challenge your team’s ability to work together, communicate effectively, and face fears.
Scavenger Hunt: Groups will be divided into teams and will have to use their decision-making skills to race against the clock collecting items, taking pictures, and completing trivia and physical and mental challenges. Teams will be given maps of the area and clues. Some of the challenges may require the whole team, or just one person. These additional challenges may help determine the overall winner at the end of the hunt. (Hunts are customizable and can take place at the location of your meeting, around a city of your choice, or close to the office!)
Beehive Build: Keep in touch with nature in a profound way. During this service program your group will learn about the bee’s vital role in our food supply from local bee enthusiasts. Next, teams will help with deeply needed conservation efforts with the option to participate in or watch the Bee Hive Build experience.
Amazing Race: Come together for an exciting adventure in the style of The Amazing Race television show. Your group will work together to decipher clues, navigate the course, overcome roadblocks and detours, and complete challenges in a race against the clock! This event will boost team spirit and keep teams moving! Teams will have to stick together and rely on each other to make it to the end. Your amazing race will be customized to include company specific trivia and themes and will conclude with an awards ceremony for the entire group.
Summer: Employee Appreciation
It is now halfway through the year and your team is in need of some thank you’s for their hard work so far. Summer is the best time of year to show your employees how much you value all of their hard work and keep them motivated to finish out the year strong.
Some ideas on how to show your gratitude to your employees include:
Yoga: Relax your mind and strengthen your body during a yoga class. A Positive Adventures Yoga Instructor will lead a relaxing outdoor class combining stretching, strengthening, and stress management tips for the office! Book a monthly class or bring your team on a Yoga & Rock Climbing Retreat.
Sailing Tour: Enjoy sailing alongside sea lions, dolphins, whales and an array of birdlife. This excursion promises to be an unforgettable experience that you will cherish forever.
Kayaking: Kayaking is a great way to get your team on the water and working together! Enjoy a day out on the lake or opt for ocean kayaking and discover the Southern California coastline. Sea caves and coves varying in size make kayaks the perfect vessel for exploration.
Happy Hour Mix-Off Challenge: In this fun happy hour showdown your group will be tasked to come up with an original, tasty cocktail. Guests will unleash their inner bartender to conjure up a scrumptious beverage. Teams will work together to create a cocktail brand to be designed on the cocktail shaker and poster board. Teams will also compete to earn special ingredients. Each team will be asked to come up with an original name for their cocktail and prepare a presentation to convince the judges and their fellow participants that their groups cocktail reigns supreme!
Fall: Company Retreats
Keeping employees engaged so that they are able to meet their goals before gearing up for the holidays is extremely important during the fall season. Treating your employees to a company retreat geared towards team development with a side of competition will yield incredible results.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Hiking & Rock Climbing: Getting outside to exercise when the summer heat dies down is a refreshing way to get your fall season started. Doing it with coworkers can help you learn more about one another while encouraging each other throughout the hike or climb. With vast outdoor knowledge, our experienced guides will make these outdoor adventures unlike anything you’ve ever experienced!
Salsa Guac-A-Rita: This happy hour showdown combines a dash of healthy competition, a pinch of originality, and a whole lot of taste! Teams work together to create an elaborate happy hour display for the entire group to share, while competing head to head with other teams for the championship – based on taste, presentation, and creativity. When the creations are complete, each team will present a plated selection of their recipe to the judges. While the group samples the appetizer buffet, the judges will make their final choice and the prestigious award will be presented!
S’more Challenge: Hope you’re not full yet! May the best s’more win! In this light- hearted competition, guests will each have a chance to make their own concoction of their favorite childhood fireside memory by selecting from a table of special ingredients but keeping with the traditional base of chocolate, mallow, and graham cracker. You be the judge. See which team member makes the gooiest, sweet, and delicious version of a s’more!
Food Packing: This is an extraordinary event of giving and caring that draws neighbors, youth organizations, corporate groups and communities together. Your team will take part in team building and spirit enriching process in which anyone of any age or background can participate and extend love to those in need. The end result is your team providing thousands of non-perishable meals that are distributed to families and individuals in need, both locally and globally.
How is your team planning to stay connected and thriving over the next year? Call us today to assist you in planning events throughout the year to give your team the best opportunity to succeed!
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