activities that, simply put, let adults act like kids!” Laughing has been proven to be a natural stress reliever. Being
able to let go of workplace pressures for awhile, to laugh or engage in activities that bring out your creativity and make you feel young again, can really recharge a person. Ideas for this type of event include:
hiring an improvisational comedy troupe and letting employees choose topics, characters and ideas for the comical settings and scenarios; learning how to make chocolates or how to decorate cakes together; or doing something artsy together such as learning to throw pots or blow glass.
Getting Competitive Nothing says “mix and mingle”, quite
like a good, old-fashioned game between co-workers. According to Murrel Karsh, Presi-
dent of Windy City Fieldhouse, Chicago, “This year, companies are choosing to incorporate competitive teambuilding opportunities into their traditional sum- mer outings. A number of companies we’re working with have chosen to add a Great “Amazing Race” Chicago or “Mission Impossible” scavenger hunt that leads teams to their summer picnic location. “Adding a competitive team chal-
lenge to the beginning of a summer pic- nic or corporate backyard BBQ is a great way for companies to add lasting value to their summer outing.” Robert Sheets, director of sales and marketing at the Abbey Resort Fontana, WI agrees. Their resort’s “Ready Set Go GPS Scavenger Hunt” is a hugely popu- lar teambuilding exercise. This modern day treasure hunt blends technology, camaraderie and adventure for a great competitive teambuilding experience. David Schramm, of Farmer’s Insur-
them describing locations and once the group found the location, they took a photo of it with their cell phone and text the photo to the facilitator’s phone. “My goal for the teambuilding initiative was to motivate in a fun and unique way,” says Sch- ramm. “The experience gave us heightened cooperation, and strengthened our team bonds during this fast-paced ac- tivity. Besides, it was nice to see people acting like kids again, some- thing corporate America greatly needs!” Other competitive ideas for team-
Laughing has been
proven to be a natural stress reliever. Being able to let go of workplace pressures for awhile, to laugh or engage in activities that bring out your creativity and make you feel young again, can really recharge a person.
ance, hosted a Cell-Guided Scavenger Hunt at the Abbey utilizing text-mes- saging instead of a GPS. He broke his sales team into six teams with six people in a group. Each group had a list of clues text to
WWW WWW.MIDWEST IDWESTMEETINGS COM
EETINGS.COM
building include bowling; a good old- fashioned softball game; a bocce ball tournament; an egg drop competition where groups construct a unique, protec- tive apparatus or parachute to safely drop a raw egg without breaking it; and board game or trivia tourna- ments.
Reality TV Although some people might not
want to admit it, almost everyone in America watches some sort of reality TV show and these shows have had a major impact on our society. According to David Goldstein,
founder of TeamBonding with of- fi ces in Chicago, “We’re seeing that some of the most popular new teambuilding programs are continuing to fi nd their way from reality television to cor- porate meeting space. These include teambuilding ver- sions of Minute to Win It, Dancing With the Stars and Iron Chef.” These types of
activities are also proving to be a lot
of fun and competitive, which is what it’s all about these days.
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