Where do you build your team?

In your office, with ringing phones and pinging laptops? In a bowling alley? Suspended by cables over whitewater rapids?

How can you improve communication, trust, rapport, and esprit de corps with all those distractions pulling focus away from team bonding?

We suggest instead that team building works best when:

1. The environment keeps the focus on building your team rather than the next deadline, the next pitcher of pale fizzy lager, or surviving a 500 foot fall
2. The activity keeps teams focused on and communicating with each other rather than responding to client emails, picking up the next spare or wondering if the cable will hold
3. The activity is fun for everyone, not just the guy most adept at picking up the 7-10 split or the gal who can rappel sheer cliffs blindfolded… or no one at all

Keep this in mind when you’re searching for ideas for your next team outing.