HOW TO CREATE A

TEAM BUILDING DAY

WITH A PURPOSE

This free guide contains our top 5 tips that will save you
time and money when designing your next team building
event

BY SCHOOL OF THE WILD

INTRODUCTION
Team building means different things to different people. For many it conjures
images of stag do-esque escape rooms, go kart racing or booze fuelled
karaoke sessions. In today’s diverse and inclusive workplaces these kinds of
activities may no longer be appropriate or right for your team. And we have all
experienced awkward ice breakers and outings that feel more like a school trip
than a day that would have any lasting impact on the team or the business.

If that is one end of the spectrum, at School of the Wild we strive to create
more focussed and inclusive experiences with a purpose: an opportunity to
integrate values, reconnect teams, build meaningful connections and improve
wellbeing.

This guide introduces the five most important considerations to look at when
you’re planning a meaningful event that is enjoyable for all of your team, and
makes a lasting difference when you get back to the office.
 1: DEFINE GOALS/PURPOSE
Is your goal about working together better? Is it a
reward for hard work? Or to help with conflict?

2: ALIGN WITH KEY COMPANY VALUES

Think about the value(s) that are most important to
your organisation and how to align your event
CONTENTS

3: ENGAGE THE WHOLE TEAM

How to make sure your event is inclusive for diverse
organisations

4: CREATE SPACE FOR CONNECTION

This is what team building is all about, deeper
meaningful connection

5: ACTIONABLE OUTCOMES
Capitalise on fresh perspectives and don't waste the
opportunity to make a lasting impact
 1 DEFINE GOALS/PURPOSE

It is important to consider what the

goal of your team building event is
from the outset. Is it about working
together better? Is it a reward for
hard work? Is it to help a team in
conflict?

Your goal might be:

Improving communication
amongst leaders
Breaking down silos
Surfacing creativity
Helping hybrid and remote teams
to get to know each other better

It may sound obvious but having a

clearly defined purpose from the
start will help to ensure you plan a
successful event. Once your
objectives are defined it is much
easier to choose solutions that
align with them.
EXAMPLE
Goal: To address creeping
disconnection in a hybrid team
and break down the silos that
have emerged as a result of
remote working.

Solution: This is a common goal for

team building events and we have
seen great success with activities
that create space for people to
connect in an environment that’s
not online and totally different to
the workplace.

Activities that include an element

of experiential learning also help
with relationships and team
bonding, as participants come
together over a shared experience.
And the facilitation of observations
creates space for ‘aha’ moments –
leading to alignment and growth
for individuals and the team.
2 ALIGN WITH KEY
COMPANY VALUES
Team building days provide the perfect opportunity to embed
values and convey to your team what they mean through what
you do, beyond words on a page.

Think about the value(s) that are most important to your

organisation right now and make sure your event is aligned
with them

Incorporate activities that encourage people to think about

how they can contribute so they feel involved

Take the opportunity to celebrate what is going well so that

people feel valued, to boost drive and motivation
 HOW DO YOU DO THIS?

Let’s take a company value as an

example: honesty.

First think about the environment

needed for people to be honest, a
safe non-judgmental space where
opinions are listened to, ideas and
feelings are valued, and feedback is
invited so everyone feels free to say
what they think and ask for help
without fear of blame or ridicule.

If you have a value like this it’s

important to find a way to create a
team day environment where all
participants can feel safe to both
express concerns and be able to
‘stretch’.

In most cases it’s important to mix

different teams and flatten
hierarchies. Structured activities
that place everyone on a level
playing field work well, and
getting outdoors is a great way to
build cohesion, and foster
authenticity.
3 ENGAGE THE WHOLE
TEAM
Team events are often organised by one person or a small team and personal
preference can take over. The boss loves hiking, the ops manager loves F1, some
people don’t drink, some are not as active as others, some have kids and want to
get home early. Diverse teams need a diverse and inclusive approach so everyone
can benefit from the day. Plan far enough ahead so you can get as many people as
possible to attend, and then structure the day in a way that everyone will relax,
enjoy it and participate. It is important to:

Choose activities everyone can enjoy and involve others in the decision
making process
Structure the day itself so that everyone feels included and has a voice, the
quieter ones as well as the louder more sociable members of the team
Ask for feedback after the event to gauge success from the perspective of all
levels in the business, and so that you can improve the next one
EXAMPLE
We worked with an organisation
that was going through a period of
fast growth. Having a lot of new
team members join in a short
space of time had disrupted their
group dynamic and new staff
members were struggling to
integrate. They needed an event
that would bring all corners of the
business together to build
cohesion and collaboration.

Rather than having their event

organised by a single leader, they
set up a small working group to
decide what they were going to
do. By including people from
different backgrounds and levels
of the business, they were able to
plan an inclusive event that
everyone could enjoy. And buy-in
was higher as other staff members
didn’t feel they were being
dictated to from the top.
4 CREATE SPACE FOR
CONNECTION
Deeper connection outside the confines of the office environment is what team
building is all about - so that people will work together better when you get back to
the office. By going offsite, it is easier to lower barriers, communicate across
hierarchies and build genuine connections on a human level. This will make your
team building day effective, memorable and of benefit to everyone.

Regardless of any specific business goals, meaningful connections are key to the
success of every team building event
Consider bringing in an outside facilitator so that the existing group dynamics and
agendas can be addressed rather than perpetuated, and everyone - including
leaders - can relax and participate without feeling responsible for how the day
goes
Consider where the event takes place and how it will make people feel – will the
seating reinforce power structures or allow everyone to engage, relax and be
themselves? Will the space inspire creative thinking? Will people be able to
switch off or be distracted by calls and messages?
Design fun activities that encourage people to get to know each other better and
have genuine conversations without feeling like they’re being watched or
assessed, or that favour certain people over others
Being in Nature is a great way to enhance
connection and collaboration. Studies have
shown being outside boosts mood and
energy, reduces stress, improves attention
and has a dramatic effect on creativity and
social cohesion. If you can get outside all the
better.
5 ACTIONABLE
OUTCOMES
Last but not least. Even the best team building programme can fall flat if nothing
changes afterwards. Everyone has fun, feels closer and starts to think differently but
then what? If you don’t formulate a way to harness the group feeling, and bring the
fresh perspectives and deeper connections back to the workplace you’ll have wasted
a big opportunity, and tensions, dysfunctions and disconnection may quickly revert to
what they were beforehand.

Consider the outcomes you want in advance

Encourage whole team involvement to improve buy in
Harvest key ideas and actionable outcomes that you can agree on together and
implement when you’re back in the office, to take advantage of people’s
openness to do things differently and break out of business-as-usual
Learn and iterate. If you’re not learning, you’re not growing. No matter how
successful your team building event is, there’s always room to improve.
EXAMPLE
A leadership group from a charity
wanted to become a stronger
team so that they could
collaborate and perform better.
This is a brief we see often and
really enjoy working on. Away from
the four walls of the office it is
much easier for people to see
things differently, and for new
perspectives to emerge, but how
do you take it back?

As part of the process we

facilitated suggestions from the
team on what they wanted to do
differently. By recording ideas,
getting cross-team agreement,
and encouraging key staff
members to take responsibility for
implementation, fresh insights
could be integrated back into the
workplace.
A team building experience away from the
confines of the office can have a hugely positive
impact on your business. But designing a truly
purposeful event that aligns with your values
and makes a lasting impression takes planning
and creativity. We hope this guide helps you to
create an event that meets your goals, and
improves team performance and cohesion.

If you’d like to see how a day in the wild could

benefit your team we’d love to have a chat.
ABOUT SCHOOL OF
THE WILD
A t S c h o o l o f t h e W i l d o u r t e a m b u i l d i n g p r o g r a m m e s a re
based around a campfire and weave together your
business priorities with enjoyable team building
activities and meaningful conversations. Taking
inspiration from Nature and designed around your
o b j e c t i v e s a n d t h e o u t c o m e s y o u n e e d - t h e y a r e a m ix o f
bringing people together and bringing out combined
thinking to take forward.

If this sounds like something that would benefit your

team, get in touch:

[email protected]
www.schoolofthewild.com