Team Building Retreats – Activities That Make A Real Difference!

By Author: Mark Cohen
Total Articles: 43
Comment this article

Activities to improve corporate team performance should include proactive and practical methods for building trust, resolving conflicts, problem solving, and negotiation. Before participating in the activities, there must be a preparation session so that members can be in their comfort zone. This is the reason team building retreats must embrace some simple and effective exercises to set and create a stress-free ambiance. To learn more, keep reading this article.




Play with a Beach Ball




First purchase a beach ball that is large and can be inflatable. Blow up, and with the help of a marker, write up several instructions and commands on the ball. The commands should be lighthearted and motivate participants to provide information about them. This is an effective activity and can be implemented if you are planning for management retreats. Now, what should be the commands like? Well, it can be anything such as describing an office training room, telling a favorite joke, a favorite movie dialogue, or a favorite hobby. Once all instructions are written, ...
... the facilitator must instruct the participants to stand forming a circle. Each person tosses the ball to the other. The other member who catches it must choose the instruction that is near to his or her left thumb. After the person describes that has been instructed, the ball is tossed to the next member until all have got an opportunity to participate.




The purpose of this exercise is to ascertain whether team members within an organization are able to follow simple instructions, execute them, and most important giving opportunity to all.




Questions in a Box




Each member is given a small piece of paper and pen. One has to write down a question about another teammate to know him or her better. Questions should be so framed so that the answer is a little descriptive, and not merely a yes or no. Each piece of paper should have only one question. When all the questions have been written, the papers should be folded and put inside a box. The group should sit in a circle. Participants should be asked to pick one paper at a time to answer the question. The box should be passed on so that all get an opportunity to speak. This activity is useful for employees who are introvert. By speaking in an open platform like this will help such individuals gain confidence, improve communication skills, and team members can get to know each other well.




Standing in a Group




Standing in a group is an activity which can be implemented by the facilitator of team building retreats. The purpose is to understand the significance of building trust and working in collaboration to achieve a common objective. Participants need to stand in a circle facing their backs to each other. All of them need to sit on the floor in the same manner. Once the group is seated, the facilitator instructs the group to stand up all together so that no one remains seated on the floor. This is a useful exercise to learn how to work in unity.




What are your experiences on such exercises? Please feel free to comment.




About the author:




Mark Cohen has been an organizational head for the past twenty years and he well understands the essence of team building retreats and management retreats to make companies grow and develop with maximum potential.