A Day in the Field-Literally-for the Synergy Events Team
Posted by Keith Green on Mon, Oct 04, 2010
In the event marketing industry, we often refer to being "in the field" when we execute an experiential marketing event or program.
On Friday, the Synergy Events team took to the field-literally- for a great afternoon of team building on the paint ball field at Top Gun Paint Ball in Jackson, NJ. For most of us, this was either our first time playing paint ball or the first time playing in 10+ years. We did have a couple of guys who were scary-into-it, bringing their own guns, gear and camouflage. (Note, those guys were on the team that got pounded repeatedly throughout the day).
The day, like our other periodic team building activities, was fun and highly recommended. Based on our day of paint ball and some prior similar activities, I've come up with a list of some "best practices" for out-of-the-office team building.
1. Make it fun. Perhaps this is overstating the obvious, but nobody wants to go to an off-site seminar for a team building activity. Select an activity that you think will be enjoyed by everyone.
2. Make it physical. Even if everyone in your office isn't in the best shape, get out there and sweat a bit.
3. Select an activity that will incorporate teamwork and trust. The better paint ball games during the day were the ones where we we communicated with each other in the field. (By the way, I recommend The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey. It was passed around our office earlier this year, be sure to grab a copy).
4. Schedule a day and time that work for the team. This sounds easy, but it's not. We didn't have our entire team, as some people were working with clients, on vacation, etc. This is probably unavoidable, but make every effort to involve the entire team.
5. As we do for our clients' events, document the day. I absolutely love this photo. It will definitely make our "year-end" highlight reel and be a great memory from 2010.
6. Have dinner, grab a few drinks and recap the day. What's better than rehashing the one-liners and sharing "war" stories from the event? We compared welts, (paint balls hitting you at 200 mph do sting) survived friendly fire, quoted Die Hard, rescued a dying newborn kitten, emulated Predator characters and pulled some hamstrings.
Have fun at your next team building day. We're already looking forward to ours!