Why traditional team-building doesn't work

Scavenger hunts, paintballing, and escape rooms can be fun but do they really help to build your team or do they just reinforce behaviours and divisions? Here's why you need to get your team outside into nature instead.

photo: PlusX at a School of the Wild team day. Courtesy PlusX.

What did your last team-building day look like? 
 
Perhaps it was a day of all-out fun and activities: paintballing, go-karting or scavenger hunting. These kinds of team-building days can be a fantastic way to get out of the office and allow team members to get to know each other in a relaxed environment.
 
Or maybe it was a more sedate, work-focussed day, held at a hotel or conference venue, where your team could learn, strategise and think together. This kind of day can be really useful as a way to kickstart new plans and re-evaluate old ones, away from email distractions.
 
But there’s a big problem with both of these kinds of traditional team-building: neither does much to actually build a team. They can feel as if they do, but the real, deep work of growing together rarely happens. ​

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