There are over 3 million companies registered in California, and it is well known that team building events are extremely helpful for any company, regardless of size and state of the economy, to keep the company intact and reach the goals of its mission and vision. If successful, a team building event can increase individual understanding of company dynamics and improves team work within employees. Most of all, it will help each member realize that generating results are team accountability and not just individual responsibilities. But what activities are considered team building and what are the best
team building activities and events that can be done in California?
As simple as hanging out, having a meal and a few drinks together after office hours at a nearby pub can be a team building event, but it will only offer socialization and familiarization between staff. Setting objectives while having fun, like an Iron Chef BBQ challenge on a weekend, will give the same effect, but will also help each member to participate, collaborate and work as a group in order to achieve that goal. Here are some great ideas for an effective team building:
The Amazing Chase
This event is adapted from the famous reality TV series with the mechanics fairly the same. It is a great
team building activity in San Diego where a lot of landmarks and monuments are present and can be used as Route Markers, Road Blocks and Detours. Technically, you can choose or create the course for the participating teams and can start or finish wherever you want. It can be done in any type of weather and in case it snows or rains, it will add to the challenge. Many clients say that the elements end up making the bonding experience much more valuable. At the end of the race, during the refreshment or over dinner, a video can be played showing the activities done while medals and trophies can be awarded to the teams. The best twist to this is that, you can make the challenges hilarious or funny. It doesn’t have to be very serious because at the end of the day, win or lose, everybody is a winner!
CI: The Crime Investigator
Everybody loves suspense and everybody loves to do some crime solving, whether CSI style or Sherlock Holmes style. A great
team building event in Los Angeles would be CI:
The Crime Investigator. Imagine working on an intriguing case (no matter how fictional it is) related to a Hollywood star or perhaps a famous celebrity visiting sunset boulevard. Like the famous franchise of CSI, investigative works cannot be done alone. A team with individual expertise must work hand in hand, gathering evidence, processing it and working to find out who did what, when and why. The great thing about it is that the event can be staged in multiple locations and each location can provide evidences or statements and teams can search for clues, preserve the documents and solve the case. A crime investigating team is not complete without a lab, so an on-site lab can be made for anyone to use and process evidence. Solving a crime can be frustrating, especially if different individuals have different interpretation of the clues and statement. This will test the teams with their trust with one another, cooperation and how to make collective decisions as a group.
Wild Goose Chase
Every little boys and girls love to play scavenger hunt. The feeling of excitement in finding the items on the list and the sense of adventure as they go along trail are what thrills them. They even imagine going through the jungle, over the mountains and into volcanoes. They end up trusting their friends more, work better with their comrades and enforce unity as a group (whether they are group of pirates or team of Anthropologists). How can we use this activity for adults and how can we arrive with the same effect? Through a digital, state of the art, scavenger hunt called –
Wild Goose Chase, or simply, Urban Goose Chase. Each team is equipped with a smartphone to take pictures of the items listed on the scavenger hunt list and must work together to accomplish multiple tasks and challenges. The pictures may include the whole team in it, a few with strangers, or just several members. The best thing about this is that each task or picture corresponds to a certain point, and the team with the most points (most number of tasks accomplished) by the end of the game wins. The intensity increases as different teams arrive or meet at the same time on a certain challenge. Each would try their best to finish the challenge fast and proceed with the next one. By the end of the game, you will be surprised when all the pictures taken are flashed in front of everybody because sometimes some teams would hilariously do anything just to complete the task. This
great team building activity is best done in the sunny, dessert – resort city of Palm Springs, where the sun is shining and the light is great. Every shot is perfect and taking pictures is very easy, even without a flash.
Boat Building Regatta
The most wonderful thing about the state of California is that it has a long coastline. This would mean miles and miles of beaches, swimming and most of all – boating. Take advantage of this by
having your teams build boats – out of cardboard. This is just half of the challenge because each team needs to have a member ride the boat and compete on the water in a navigational challenge. This will not just bring out the creativity in each member but also cooperation, critical thinking and flexibility to arrive with a common solution that will keep the boat afloat and bring your member across and back from the waters. Since there are different phases in the boat creation and the race, each member gets a chance to be a leader and brings out the true essence of team building.
Philanthropic Team Building
Wouldn’t it be nice to hold an event that promotes staff unity and productivity, and at the same time charitable? That would be heart warming and awesome! Now you can do that, by doing a
cake making team building event or
toy building activity, The Apprentice style. Form your teams, include or increase the challenge by judging who bakes the best cake or who makes bikes fastest, and then by the end of the day give these creations to those less unfortunate like the kids suffering cancer or people without health care. There are about 439 hospitals in California and more than 12,000 orphans all over the state. Just choose what you want to make, add the challenge and give joy to another human being on this planet.
There are tons of team building ideas you could choose from and it doesn’t really matter whether you want a preset event or something new. All of these events are fully customizable and organizers like us would love to hear your ideas. What is important is that your teams will enjoy and learn what it truly means to be a team.
Call our Event Solutions Representative today at 1-800-713-7238 or e-mail at
info@americanoutback.net and let us help you create the best team building event for your company.
