In Pursuit of Team Spirit BACK

If the daily grind and turn-on-a-dime deadlines have a palpable office malaise settling in, it’s time to break out a team-building antidote. Get your people moving and thinking in new ways with activities that boost energy levels, forge new relationship bonds, feed leadership knowledge and stoke the creative juices.

Springboard your teambuilding goals around these novel options:

Nature Lessons
Exchange the boardroom for a Mongolian-style Yurt, the office setting for the great outdoors and let nature take the lead in reenergizing and bonding your team players. Launched last year, The Luna Project, an offshoot of Lunatic Adventures, a wilderness guiding company, is an alternative learning centre near Hamilton, ON, that customizes activities that encourage groups to reflect on their values and natural connections with the environment.

The four km property is a model in 100% sustainable living with solar- and wind-powered energy, surrounded by rural countryside and trails. A 720 sq. ft. Yurt serves as a multi-use classroom and adventure gear is supplied. Gather the group around the council fire ring after a day of eco-challenges and trust building games that can include orienteering, canoeing, mountain biking, scavenger hunts and archery. Make it a day-long or multi-day experience.
www.lunaticadventures.com

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Inspired Leaders
Who doesn’t love a good story, especially tales about people overcoming challenges, doing extraordinary things? The Mark of a Leader program engages audiences through the power of storytelling, bringing to life the remarkable feats of the world’s great leaders, personalities and brands through words and dynamic multimedia presentations.

A library of inspiration-packed stories offers a subject for every theme and audience, with message customization by the live onstage storyteller. The focus is on leadership by example, from JFK and Lance Armstrong to Cirque du Soleil and Starbucks. Intersperse a mélange of stories throughout a conference or use as the keynote or in workshops. Post-event communications via workbooks and monthly e-zine ensure the impact and messaging live on.
www.themarkofaleader.com

 

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Fun And Games
Pump up your group’s prowess with some stress-busting, team-building mini Olympic games at eZone, a new 34,000 sq. ft. indoor entertainment centre in Etobicoke. Organize a WhirlyBall tournament as the main event — a form of lacrosse played from bumper cars — or have players get their team mojo on as they move from activity to activity.

Geared to all skill levels and groups of up to 500, a day of games can include putting contests in the indoor golf academy, laser tag, sport court play, billiards and slot car racing. Private rooms and a lounge area are available along with a fully equipped conference space, ideal for championing real business deals or analyzing teambuilding strategies before and after hitting the games floor. A 5,000 sq. ft. restaurant also offers an outdoor dining option. www.theezone.ca

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Horse Whisperers
What sounds like an intriguing book title, The Horse & the Gray Flannel Suit, is actually a unique, new leadership program from the University of Guelph that puts your people (the leaders) into an “office” setting (a horse ring) with “model” employees (horses) for a day of equine-assisted learning. Working with horses, who instinctively look to the herd and humans for direction, helps illustrate different leadership styles and ways to improve management and communication skills.

Set on a picturesque farm (indoor and outdoor facilities available) an hour from Toronto, participants work through team and individual tasks such as leading an unharnessed horse around obstacles. Each exercise, facilitated to spotlight problem solving, communication, motivation and teambuilding, is followed by a session on how to apply the learning in a work environment. There is no riding involved and pre-course completion of a management profile is required. Corporate bookings accepted year round. www.open.uoguelph.ca/grayflannel

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Charitable Engagement
With the success of its Bonding for a Cause program where groups channel workplace skills and good corporate citizenship into building bikes, go-karts and teddy bears for charity, the Imagination Creation and Innovation Corporation ups the team-bonding ante with a new program, Eco-Bonding, in partnership with HGTV’s Green Force show.

Part reality television, part community giveback, Eco-Bonding enables the employees of each episode’s corporate sponsor to be the “stars” of the Green Force set. The “set” is typically an area of the city in dire need of greening such as a playground in an underprivileged area. The episode is filmed, for airing at a later date, as the group works to beautify the site under the direction of the show’s host and landscape designers. Camaraderie, green lessons and “challenges” ensue. The show films until October with some episode sponsorships still available. www.teambonders.com

 

 

 

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Rhythmic Ties
Boost your group’s dynamics by exploring its primal energies and synchronicities through the art of Brazilian drumming. Born out of the popular Samba Squad entertainment troupe, Drum Artz Canada, a registered charitable business, gets everyone moving and grooving at the drop of a beat anytime, anywhere, including in its 3,000 sq. ft. recording studio and event venue at Lansdowne and Dupont Streets.

According to Drum Artz’s teambuilding facilitator, the Brazilian tradition’s use of sticks rather than hands makes it easier for novices to pick up drumming staccatos. In sessions, groups of up to 500 plus (100 is ideal, though) divide into sections to perfect a rhythm with assigned drums and other percussion instruments, then reunite in harmony with one fabulously original sound. Host the teambuilding workshops at the two-storey Drum Artz Studio’s with large sound stage, onsite kitchen and patio. Sessions recorded for takeaway keepsakes. www.drumartz.com

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Spirited Play
Working out of the city’s waterfront playground that’s Polson Pier, the Xpeerience Group devises teambuilding activities that combine sports, physical activities and creative arts. Customized packages and trained facilitators provide interactive experiences and challenges that empower teams to contribute to common goals and ignite communication and problem solving.

Scale a 40-ft. rock wall or bring a game of foosball to life with human players who must move in unison to score. Hit the beach for sand-between-your-toes volleyball or soccer. Incorporate gladiator jousting and an inflatable obstacle course into an Amazing Race or Survivor-style program. Yoga, meditation and painting help teams plumb their creative side. Domed facilities accommodate year-round activity. Cap the day with a victory celebration in one of the facility’s dining areas overlooking the city’s spectacular skyline. www.xpeeriencegroup.com