Michelle Rodger: Look for weird and wonderful ways to drum up team spirit

Published on Saturday 25 July 2009 14:25

IF YOU want to get the very best from your teams then invest in a drum kit. According to wannabe entrepreneurs in the Dragons' Den, fast-paced, high- energy drumming is the latest corporate teambuilding activity.

Last week's episode was a sight to behold. Four entrepreneurs drumming, badly, while dour Scottish Dragon Duncan Bannatyne sulked in his seat.

The look of utter disbelief – and then contempt – on Bannatyne's face was hilarious. But the boys, Richard Enion and Michael Davis, managed to turn it round, and by the time they had finished negotiating, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis had parted with 50,000 for 40 per cent of the BassToneSlap business.

It sounds weird, but no weirder than some of the other activities on the market at the moment. Enion and Davis aren't the only ones making money from wacky teambuilding activities. There are companies out there taking corporate cash for cookery lessons, building a structure from chocolate, 007 away days and hostage rescue packages.

You can send your team to a fast-moving newsroom, with participants divided into teams of hacks and sent off in hot pursuit of top stories.

Your team could take part in American Team Idol, where they write songs about your business and then perform them, complete with back-up singers and dancers.

Or you could just send them duck herding. Honest.

So there's definitely a market for corporate teambuilding, and it's growing despite – or perhaps because of – the recession.

Bedlam Paintball was one of the first businesses to tackle the corporate market, and right now it's recruiting to cope with increased demand. Owner Roman Rock says the current economic climate has delivered a massive opportunity to its door. Particularly, he says, when people are worrying about whether or not they might be in a job next week, keeping them motivated is difficult. He says focusing on getting the very best out of your teams is essential.

He cites the example of the Halifax and Bank of Scotland merger some years ago. Merging two organisations with differing cultures and approaches to business can be challenging. But after a day's paintballing, the two teams had begun to communicate, to break down the barriers.

Rock explains: "They were all laughing and joking together, and that communication continued back at the office."

Whether you spend your day chasing colleagues through the mud and firing balls of coloured paint at them, or whether you take time out to herd ducks, it's not just about having fun. Escapism is a small part of the process. The key is to link whatever activity you choose to your business goals. Teambuilding only really works when it is directly aligned to productivity, effectiveness and, ultimately, the bottom line.

Fiona Irvine has been on many corporate teambuilding events. She's even run them herself. She is keen to ensure all the perceived "touchy-feely" activities have a real commercial focus and believes that teambuilding must be aligned with corporate strategy to be effective.

Irvine, director of Rainbow HR, says talented teams can be difficult to manage. There's no point having a high-performing team if they are all performing different roles in conflicting strategies.

She suggests simple, low-cost activities such as bowling or nights out to get to know people, which then helps when it comes to managing personalities. "Once you know how people react then it's much easier if you have to have a difficult conversation with them."

You don't necessarily need Outward Bound days, says Irvine; an offsite strategic planning day can be just as effective, but you must ensure that the activities are constructed around your business goals, and the results are fed back to the board. Using an external facilitator will definitely help.

Eddie Gilmour spotted this particular gap in the market when he founded Spymasters four years ago. Run by former police and military surveillance trainers, his teambuilding events were created with the end in mind.

Delegates spend a day being spies, racing across the city and using state-of-the-art surveillance equipment to tail a target. While the skills you learn won't get you a job with MI5, they are specifically designed to improve communication, decision-making and confidence.

"Our skill is in enhancing basic teambuilding activities," says Gilmour. "We identify and then work towards the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on the course."

The delegates are each assessed and, after the debrief at the end of the event, a report goes back to the company detailing how the individuals performed. Gilmour, whose staff are all qualified surveillance trainers and assessors, will even provide a team member to work with the company after the event to ensure further teambuilding skills are developed in the work environment.

It is said that effective teamwork divides the task and doubles the success. Who wouldn't want that? Especially if you can have a bit of fun playing the drums and devouring a chocolate Eiffel Tower along the way.