How Do You Make Team Building Fun?

Let’s face it. Team building feels like a waste of time. It’s often forced and even if there’s a healthy working relationship created, it’s shallow and will surely fade away by next Monday.

The purpose of a team building is to have fun and form connections. However, some employees feel that they could be doing more fun instead such as playing online games at home, watching a sports game or just getting closer to the green and the ocean. And yes, team building activities often get boring now. It’s still fun for some people but to make the most of team building, perhaps it’s time to step it up or try something new.

How do you make team building fun

Let’s keep in mind the word “fun” here. After all, one sure way of engaging the team is to make the activity fun (i.e. there’s something in it for them). If they can get that fun somewhere else or they prefer to be someplace else instead of “wasting time” in a boring team building activity, surely their minds will drift off and will even see the activity as a burden. They are forced to participate because the manager tells them so.

One neat trick to get rid of the burden and make the entire activity fun and exciting is to try something new. After all, the workforce (despite being stressed and exhausted) actually craves for variety and new experience. They want to try something they’ll carry for the rest of their lives. And yes, they want to gain new experiences and face new challenges. Even if their work responsibilities are varied and still evolving, new experiences and new challenges can stimulate their minds and perhaps help them look at their current responsibilities with a fresh set of eyes.

For example, many corporate teams have already tried the Daytime Team Building Tours we regularly conduct here at Ghost Tours. Early European colonialism is the theme and teams compete for the BIG SCORE. To outsmart the other teams, your team would be forced to steal, cheat and bribe. Aside from the exciting competition, this is also an amazing way to do problem solving (you and your team will solve cryptic questions) and learn the dark history of The Rocks. It’s just a two-hour adventure but it’s packed with action, excitement and learning. This is also refreshing and unique because of the theme of early European colonialism.

Well, The Rocks has a dark history and a lot of the early European settlers back then were convicts so it’s pretty normal that time to do anything necessary to win and get what they want. This is also how the Daytime Team Building Tours work (you can learn more here). It’s about getting a new experience and learning more about the place’s hidden and dark past. And yes, you and your team will better appreciate history because of the colonial-based stories and themes included in the tour.

Aside from the daytime tour, some managers and corporate teams try the Team Building Ghost Tours. Well, this is a totally different ball game because of ghosts and haunted houses. It could be a fresh and exclusive experience for you and your team because you’ll hear stories that were only passed from generation to generation (you can’t read those stories online). If there’s anything that unite people (and make the bond in your team stronger), it’s fear and terror.

There’s no place here for tedious and childish games that most professionals hate. Our Team Building Ghost Tours will provide an authentic experience that will be talked about for weeks and months. The journey requires passing through dark and narrow alleyways and the challenges require courage (or just going ahead and ignoring that cold breath you just felt). At the conclusion of the tour and with hearts still pounding, the winning team will be rewarded (hmmm, will it be worth it?).

The essence of team building

The activities above only last for two hours but the memories could last forever. The tragic and spooky stories even changed how our guests think about The Rocks and the entire Sydney in general. Because of the authenticity of the experience, many of the guests somehow emerged as different after the tour. After all, a good experience should alter how you think and act in many ways.

However, an amazing team building experience is no replacement for regular communication and supportive workplace. A tight and cohesive team isn’t built after a 2-hour amazing experience and activity. It’s built through the months and years where people have collaborated on several various tasks and projects. In other words, team building requires time and commitment. It’s a deliberate effort that happens both inside and outside of the workplace.

We should also remind ourselves that team building is just complementary (accessory even). Whether there’s a team building activity or not, the team will become or remain to be united and collaborative. Well, a scare here and there in the ghost tours might stimulate them but the real stimulation should come from the daily grind in the workplace. The team building activity should just be for having fun and allowing teams to do something together outside their work responsibilities.

But when you indeed decide to organise a team building activity, your team will appreciate something unique and refreshing. Everyone’s exhausted and bored and looking for something new. Let’s face it, almost no one thinks of team building by the time they wake up and before falling asleep. What almost everyone thinks is how they could have fun and gain an authentic experience.