Design Team Building Activities With Purpose

Doing sports outdoors has taught me that I can take on any challenge, climb any mountain and overcome any obstacle that lies in front of me. I love the fact that there are no set rules and no paved ways; instead, I’ve realized I can actually create my own path. Obviously, this becomes a lot more challenging when you’re out there with a group, since pace, stamina and experience often differ. Not only that, but there is often more than one idea of what direction to take.

Going through such a challenging experience can be beneficial for any team. We would have loved to tackle the crevasses of the Aletsch Glacier, climb El Capitan in Yosemite or trek through the Brazilian rainforest. But we found an option that was much closer to home and a lot easier on our pocket and went for a two-day off-site to the equally impressive but safer environment of a children’s playground, where we faced the challenge of rebuilding two tree houses to cater for future young explorers.

I figured it’d be the kind of challenge that’d push us through the four stages of team development (as defined by Tuckman): From forming – bypassing storming – to go right into norming to finally become the best performing team possible.

In the afternoon, we realized that we had fallen way behind our initial schedule. We knew that we needed to change our plan if we wanted to build the second floor before the kids were all grown up! Arguments started and we got caught in endless discussions about why things might or might not work.

Before things got out of hand, one of our quieter team members called for a time-out. He briefly reflected on everything he’d heard and pointed out that we were here to help build a safe playground, not to create an architectural marvel. This pep talk gave us the direction we needed: We agreed to cut down on complexity and focus entirely on feasibility.

I was happy to see the storm calm down as we followed our revised approach. Even new ideas from the team could now be appreciated, as our leader was quickly re-assigning tasks and keeping us focused on our initial goal: To put smiles on faces. As we made progress, we learned about the different strengths of our team members and used them where they were best placed.

On the second day, we managed to keep up the momentum and even increase the pace; however, there was still plenty of work to be done. Our streamlined process and openness to collaborate allowed us to invite helpers from the other team and seamlessly integrate their skills and experience into our work flow. It was good to see that we were making progress at full speed.

Finally, when the last board was cut and the last nail was hammered, an intense feeling of relief and pride rushed through my body. Looking around, I knew that we were united by the same feeling, as we stood gazing at the modest tree house as if it was a marvelous mansion.

The reaction of the kids to the reopening of the tree house was priceless. Immediately, they climbed the tree, got onto the balcony and shouted into the wilderness with the chant of urban explorers.

We were happy and proud. Our greatest reward, however, was that we had grown into one team that was now ready to tackle any challenge. A powerful purpose, clear vision and the willingness to change people’s lives has helped us to get from forming to performing in only two days. Surely, this experience was more impactful than any workshop you could attend for team development.

This was our North Pole expedition, our Sahara crossing, our Kilimanjaro ascent.