How to Use Wilderness Survival as a Team Building Event
Decision-making skills when the conditions are not ideal are highly prized in today's corporate world. You expect your team of professionals to be able to think on their feet and act in the best interests of your company. A survival exercise in the wilderness can help build your team's confidence in decision-making, as well as bring them together as a powerful business team.
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Instructions
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Plan to Survive a Weekend in the Wilderness
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Fix a goal for your survival weekend. Your company's mission may be to improve customer support through proactive resolution of customer complaints. A wilderness survival weekend where problem solving is the focus is one way to instill this behavior in your staff.
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Plan the duration of your survival weekend in the wilderness. Since most camping facilities will require long-distance travel, you should plan for at least 1 to 2 days for your team building event.
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Organize transportation to and from the team building event for your staff. This can be something as simple as a carpool sign-up sheet posted in the break room or as elaborate as a chartered bus to the start of the trail.
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Make sure people are well informed about what to expect on this wilderness survival weekend. You should provide your staff with a list of equipment and clothing they should bring along, unless you decide to provide everything that will be required during the weekend.
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Develop a scenario to achieve your team building message. For example, if you want to instill a spirit of support and trust within your group, design a series of way-finding or scavenger hunt activities within the wilderness. Overcoming physical obstacles such as climbing or whitewater rafting is another good exercise.
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Incorporate basic wilderness survival skill training into your event by hiring an experienced guide. Topics that might be covered include edible plants, wound treatment in the wild or way-finding without modern technology.
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Use camping challenges to bring your employees together. Appoint teams in charge of providing shelter by pitching tents, cooking meals or wood gathering and fire building.
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Encourage your team to use this time to evaluate how they work together with fellow employees. They should examine their interactions carefully throughout the weekend. A brief evaluation questionnaire provided at the end of the weekend is one way to encourage this kind of self-examination.
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Tips & Warnings
Use your team building time wisely by keeping your employees actively engaged throughout the weekend. Casual games can be a great way to break the ice.
