Sydney Team Building Ideas To Motivate Staff

April 17, 2016

team building sydney

There are many reasons why companies turn to Beyond the Boardroom for assistance coordinating team building in Sydney. Many times teams are put in place without a clear agenda of how they will work together, how decisions will be made, or even what steps to take to be successful as a binding team.

Corporate training can improve communication, motivate employees, boost staff morale and teach any company, regardless of size, useful strategies to improve productivity and performance within a workflow cycle.

The ultimate objective of these team building events is to foster cooperation and teamwork within the workplace because successful teamwork is the key to a successful business.

Generally, team event specialists have 4 types of team building events that covers different activities in different skill sets and foster participation from employees:

• Communication
• Problem solving / decision making
• Adaptability / planning
• Trust building

Most of these ideas are facilitated by Beyond the Boardroom so your company employees can enjoy these team building activities around Sydney, however a few suggestions here can be done in-house and are free or low cost!

For inspiration about corporate training activities, read our guide below on 11 Sydney Team Building Ideas to Motivate Staff:

Communication

  1. Masterchef - Masterchef, based on the global television cooking show, is one of our most popular corporate training requests and is great for improving better working relationships by allowing participants to work together in creating a gourmet meal. The activity includes instruction by an executive or award winning chef, a cooking session with ingredients, judging by the chef and sharing the meal. Results: Masterchef encourages stronger communication by making employees decide collectively on which meal to create using a specific set of ingredients.
  2. Create a Commercial - Create a Commercial is exactly as the activity name suggests – participants must work together to create a commercial. This is a fantastic idea for getting the creative juices flowing amongst employees and no idea is too small or not grand enough! Think big! The activity includes concept drafting, story boarding, planning the filming and all the elements of film production. The actual advert itself may be for a training video for your company, a promotional video for a product or for a fictional product / activity that the group chooses. Afterwards, Beyond the Boardroom’s professional filmer/editor will film the commercial, and then go away and edit the footage to create a short commercial for your company. Results: Create a Commercial is excellent for communication between employees because they have to decide who takes on various roles as directors, camera crew, actors etc
  3. Telling Two truths and One Lie about Yourself - For this activity, every participant will need to secretly write two truths and one lie about themselves on a concealed piece of paper. Answers of each participant should not be revealed by the person who wrote them. After every member in the group has written down their answers, the group will need to have a 10-15 minutes free time for open conversation so that everyone will get the chance to chat and find out more about each other’s personalities. When the free time is up, each person will need to read the 3 statements aloud to the rest of the group and ask the group to vote for the statement which they possible think is the lie. Results: This team building activity encourages stronger internal communication by encouraging participants to reach a consensus, this activity can also be a way for the team to know a person better.

Problem Solving

  1. Amazing Race The Amazing Race is a hit television series and this concept is extremely popular for team building in Sydney. The idea for the programme is that teams must travel through staffed checkpoints where they complete challenges and activities. Encompassing various locations across Sydney such as Sydney Botanic Gardens and Darling Harbour, our version of The Amazing Race lasts around 2 and a half hours including warm up, score tallying and award presentation. Results: The Amazing Race teaches employees the importance in understanding that each person has strengths and weaknesses with challenges yet contributes to an overall group result.
  2. Picture Pieces Game - The concept of this team building idea is that the leader choose a famous picture, image or cartoon that is very detailed. The selection then needs to be divided up into as many equal squares as there are people participating in this group activity. Each person is then given a piece of the “puzzle” and must recreate their piece in an exact copy but 5 times larger than the original piece. Afterwards, the puzzle pieces are added together to make a copy of the original puzzle. Results: Participants in Picture Pieces learn how to problem solve without knowing the end result that contributes to an overall group result.
  3. The Great Egg Drop - Participants are divided into 2 groups. Each group will be tasked to construct a durable egg package that will be able to withstand an 8-foot drop. Both groups can use different materials, equipment and tools such as sellotape and cardboard which are provided to the teams. After building the packages, a representative from each team will need to explain or create an advertisement how their package is unique and the concept about how it works within 30 seconds. After the adverts, each group will then use their products (the egg package) to test if it successfully works as per their advert! Results: Participants will learn how to solve problems by achieving the common aim of being able to drop the egg successfully by using the egg packet they created. This is an excellent corporate training exercise for injecting fun into an activity, and brings staff together in a creative way.

Adaptability / Planning

  1. Bike Brigade - Beyond the Boardroom has a variety of team building programs that benefit a good cause including Bike Brigade where the objective is to build a bike from scratch that is then forwarded onto a children’s charity of choice. Bike Brigade is a socially aware team building idea for Sydney companies that is a fun experience and the end result is the creation of something that is given to a charity so it benefits others which brings feelings of thoughtfulness and empathy for staff. Be warned though – even though this is a team building exercise for charity, it can get competitive with larger groups trying to finish their bikes first! Results: Bike Brigade is a fun corporate training activity that Beyond the Boardroom offer and it’s a good option for understanding how the group responds to someone who may not be in a position of authority as they project manage this activity.
  2. Road Map Game - The Road Map Game is superb for working together as a team because participants must bond ideas and suggestions to plan the best itinerary. The participants are split into 2 groups with an equal amount of employees in each group that is then given a copy of the same map, paper and pens. The map can be of a specific area, a state, or the whole country. Each group must plan and write down an itinerary for a road trip, which must be arranged within specific parameters that will affect the outcome – what they have for the duration of the trip, how much money for the trip, what type of car they will travel in, the size of the gas tank, the price of fuel for the journey, the origin and destination and any other ideas that may influence the trip. Any team that runs out of money or gas will be disqualified! Results: Road Map is a fast-paced team building exercise (the aim is to finish planning a trip in 30 minutes) so it pulls employees together quickly to plan this project.

Trust Exercises

  1. Circus Skills - Beyond the Boardroom offers corporate training throughout Australia in most capital cities, and one of the unique trust building and bonding exercises we have is Circus Skills. Circus Skills is a fun activity that can boost morale and it helps focus a team through shared activities and learning new skills such as juggling. Results: Participants learn to trust each other with activities such as team lifts.
  2. Mine Field - Mine Field needs a large, empty area and some set up time whereby the facilitator of the activity places “mines” around the area. These “mines” can be represented by anything (e.g. shoes or boxes). In pairs, one team member is blindfolded and is not allowed to speak throughout the activity, while the other can see and talk, but can’t enter the designated minefield zone or touch/guide their blindfolded teammate. The aim is that the blindfolded team member must listen to the verbal directions of their teammate and navigate to the far side of the minefield zone without hitting any mines. Results: Mine Field is a good corporate training activity where participants learn to trust their partner’s directions. It enables employees to improve communication and their trust issues, which is why they are paired into teams of two.
  3. Willow in the Wind - Willow in the Wind is a trust-building exercise that is best suited for staff who already know each other reasonably well. One group participant must volunteer to be the “willow.” The willow stands in the centre of the group with their eyes closed, feet together, and body upright. The surrounding members who form the circle must stabilise themselves with one foot in front of the other, arms outstretched with elbows locked, ready and alert. This ensures they will pass the willow around without trouble. The nominated willow then perform a number of “trust leans” against the other group members, who aim to hold them up and pass them around the group without the willow feeling frightened of falling. Results: Willow in the Wind builds trust and allows respect for each other in a safe and open environment.

To book your Sydney Team Building Day today, visit Beyond the Boardroom Sydney!

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