Photo Credit: Aaron Clamage
O2E Brands founder and CEO Brian Scudamore has called team building “the most important investment you can make for your people.” Meanwhile, professor Raymond Noe, one of the foremost academic authorities in the area of training and development and the author of Employee Training and Development writes that “Team developmental interventions are key mechanisms that may be used to facilitate team effectiveness.” But it’s too cold for all of that, right? Well, not quite!
Year Round Team Building is Possible
If you feel as if your team could benefit from improved communication, a better understanding of team dynamics, or some leadership training, but it happens to be winter, don’t let that stop you. The answer is Indoor Team Building. As much as we love our ropes course, sometimes indoor team building activities are best, especially during cold or inclement weather.
A Roof Over Your Head
Perhaps the most obvious advantage to indoor team building is that it is, well, indoors! You and your team won’t have to worry about the frigid temperatures or the possibility of rain or even snow. The last thing you want is for your well-planned team building event to have to be postponed because inclement weather.
Indoor team building shields you and your team from the elements, while allowing you to still take advantage of a wonderful day of activities in a comfortable environment.
Photo Credit: Aaron Clamage
Inclusion
While we always do our best to make sure everyone is included, some members of your group may not be physically able to participate in some of the events on our low ropes course. Our indoor team building programs tend to be a bit less physically strenuous. This is often a benefit to groups with older members or those with disabilities.
Engaging, Fun, & Meaningful
Indoors does not mean compromising on an excellent day. Our creative facilitators will ensure that your team is engage, moving and enjoying the day. We have many portable elements that we use to improve your team’s trust, communication, problem solving and collaboration skills. See attached link for sample team building exercises.
Photo Credit: Aaron Clamage
We Can Even Come To You
Terrapin Adventures can accommodate up to 200 people in a comfortable indoor setting, however, some people are hesitant to let their guard down and open up in a strange setting. Don’t worry! We can come to you. Sometimes a familiar location can work wonders, and even enhance a team building program.
Our experienced facilitators can travel off-site to your office, or any number of other indoor facilities, including hotels, conference centers, gymnasiums, etc. Our off-site team building programs typically run between 2-8 hours, though multi-day events are also possible. In fact, indoor team building events at hotels or conference centers are ideal for multi-day programs! And team building is not a one-and-done activity. It takes practice. Researcher R. Wayne Boss writes that “When team building is coupled with follow-up sessions in which team building commitments are reinforced and renewed, the positive effects of the team building are prolonged.” This is why Terrapin Adventures recommends a follow-up session every three to six months.
Build a Custom Team Building Program with Terrapin Adventures
Conveniently located between Baltimore and Washington DC, Terrapin Adventures is able to create a customized program (onsite or offsite, indoor or outdoor) to help improve several aspects of your team: leadership, communication, teamwork, trust, and so much more. After each exercise, your group will sit down with their facilitator to discuss the lessons behind each activity and how they translate to the business world. This discussion is designed to reinforce these lessons and help ensure that the progress made during your team building outing sticks.
Photo Credit: Aaron Clamage
Schedule Your Custom Team Building Program!
Team building can be done year round as Terrapin Adventures has team building suites where we use our portable equipment and creativity to engage with teams on fun and meaningful exercises.
If you have any questions, please call Terrapin Adventure at 301.725.1313, or email us at info@terrapinadventures.com to learn more.
Works Cited
- Klein, C., D. Diazgranados, E. Salas, H. Le, C. S. Burke, R. Lyons, and G. F. Goodwin. “Does Team Building Work?” Small Group Research 40.2 (2009): 181-222. Web.
- Omuya, Jacqueline M., David M. Kungu, Leonard S. Mulongo, and Dedan O. Ong’anya. “Effects of Team Building on the Performance of Employees in Organizations towards the Realization of Millennium Development Goals: A Survey of Selected Banks in Eldoret Town.”International Journal of Current Research. Web.
- Boss, R. W. “Team Building and the Problem of Regression: The Personal Management Interview as an Intervention.” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 19.1 (1983): 67-83. Web.
- Diazgranados, Deborah, Cameron Klein, Eduardo Salas, Huy Le, C. Burke, Rebecca Lyons, and Gerald Goodwin. “Does Team Building Work?” PsycEXTRA Dataset. Print.
- Macy, B. A., & Izumi, H. (1993). Organizational change, design and work innovation: A meta-analysis of 131 North American field experiments, 1961-1991. In W. Pasmore & R. Woodman (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development (pp. 235-313). Greenwich, CT: JAI
- Noe, R. A. (2002). Employee training and development (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.