Every once in a while, an office is hit with an extra-long, extra-testing day, and when you are wading through a towering workload, sometimes the bonds you have with your stress-worn, coffee-hyped colleagues can make things a little more bearable.
Sometimes team relationships really come into their own when you least expect it. Imagine, you remember you’ve forgotten to even start that important task your boss told you to do. All looks lost when you realise the deadline is just too close to turn it around in time.
But then, out of the blue, the colleague you did a favour for last week passes you a lifeline that means you can make it in time. Team bonds can act as a critical helping hand in many scenarios like this.
But sometimes team relationships don’t fruit automatically. Companies often employ team-building activities as a fast-track tool to enable any team to gel, and some of these exercises can be pretty creative to say the least.
Christian Faes from LendInvest told Medianett: "LendInvest is quite big on our 'team-building' stuff. We do regular drinks - which I assume most companies do. However, we also do other things, which have included a team building pizza making (and red wine drinking) class, through to a full blown ping pong tournament. Next on our agenda is graffiti lessons!"
Here is a list of some of the weirdest and wackiest team building sessions Medianett has discovered:
1. The slippery slope: no, it's not a reference to your business decisions. It's an actual, inflatable slope about 60 feet long, placed against a hillside. Pour a few bottles of oil and washing-up stuff on it and dive. Just bring a spare change of clothes.
2. Graffiti classes: Got a pen? Got a spray can? These classes are for real graffiti, not those childish scrawls in the toilet down the hall.
3. Insect eating: the corner fusion cuisine deli just doesn't cut it some days, does it? Go try the latest catering craze. You might enjoy seeing your boss eating the bugs, if not, the taste of the critters themselves.
4. Stuntman training: if taking the stairs seems hard, best leave this out altogether. Companies have been known to want toughened-up employees – they're more resilient, more ambitious and more self-secure. However, you might find you want a job in the movies afterwards, not finance!
5. Mock kidnappings: disenchanted thrill-seekers with a passion towards handcuffs and blindfolds may well find this one amusing. There are companies out there who will stage a mock kidnapping on one of your colleagues, provided he or she signs a full disclaimer beforehand, of course. Have you seen The Game, starring Michael Douglas? A classic.
Leave a comment