Dos and Don’ts for a successful off-site team event

December 2, 2020

Team building activities are an essential component of building team morale amongst employees and can promote a sense of unity and collaboration when it comes to accomplishing a business’ goals.

At times team-building exercises can fall short of executing this well due to not having the proper resources to make the experience memorable enough, and something that employees can gain value from.

The right venue and setting are also important as is the appropriate schedule to ensure that your agenda comes across in the way you intended it to.

Don’ts

• It is important to remember to focus on the team as a whole and as a collective representation of the company; this will provide insights as to how the team dynamic works and thus relates to the company’s performance both now and in the future.
• Be a leader and not only a facilitator as this is needed especially when there are so many different personalities involved and where conflict is bound to ensue as a result thereof. Your responsibility, therefore, is to ensure that rules are upheld and abided by and that everyone is treated with the respect they deserve.
• As much as you are required to be authentic in your leadership skills, so too should the event itself display a sense of authenticity as well. Forced activities that are predictable and cliched can quickly become boring and uninspiring.
• Enforce the notion of collaborative teamwork and try to avoid group activities that may poke fun of team members and will end up dividing and conquering as opposed to uniting and succeeding as a team towards one common goal.

Do’s

• Be specific about the goals you want to achieve through your team-building event. Have a clearly defined action plan to help you get there ensuring that the event has meaning and substance to it.
• After all, the goals should be based on improving the team dynamic and reinforcing the idea that any challenge or obstacle can be overcome through teamwork and collaboration no matter how different or incompatible individual personalities might seem.
• Make it a safe space for coworkers to feel relaxed and comfortable enough to share their professional opinions and input with everyone else. Provide reassurance to everyone involved in group discussions and group participations that their input is valued and respected.
• Focus on doing activities that promote teamwork to accomplish an end goal that wouldn’t be as possible if done individually and getting the team to celebrate their victory together can further cement the notion that teamwork is crucial to achieving a common goal.
• Make time for evaluation at the end and even during the off-site event as this can provide valuable insights regarding how successful your efforts have been and it can give you time to redirect your schedule to focus it in the right direction if you find that you have veered off slightly from it.
• A successful follow-up is critical to closing the loop at the end of your off-site event. This will further instil the importance of team-building in the minds of participants and it will create a framework of best practices for them to plug into when faced with similar demands and challenges in the workplace.

Consider Métis Crossing for your team event 

Métis culture and the strong cultural ties that connect the Métis people to Canada can be just the thing for team members to draw inspiration from.

Métis people were one of the first indigenous people to occupy the land and establish it into a productive and prospering hub. A culture that has unity and solidarity of its people at its core, they were highly skilled as a community in fishing and hunting and saw the necessity for trade relations to advance the land economically.

The new cultural gathering center situated at the Métis Crossing is an exhibition of Métis culture and features all the resources that the Métis are well-known for. It is a stunning facility situated on an expansive piece of land that will invite you and your team into times gone by where you will get to experience a unique piece of cultural history.

The center itself encapsulates a period in Canadian history that is true of the Métis culture and incorporates architectural elements of the way Métis people lived from how they resourced food through hunting and fishing to the way they lived in their ethnic river lot homes.

It is ideal for team events as it is based and built around the concept of learning, gathering together, and remembering and celebrating a thread of Canadian history that is common to us all.

The center is expanding to accommodate a host of team-building activities that are perfect for team-building exercises and are designed specifically to build team spirit. It will soon boast a Métis Crossing Lodge, Star Watching Glass pods, a Historical Métis Exhibit, a Skills Show, a Skills Barn, Traditional Gardens, and much more.

Contact us today for more information if you want to host an unforgettable off-site event here.