How we helped Ribot become a closer team

14/2/2018

This is what happened when the team from digital agency ribot came together in the woods of East Sussex for an outdoors team away day programme

Who are ribot?
ribot are an award winning, well-connected digital design studio based in Brighton. They make apps and tools for mobile, and specialise in the interface between digital and physical experience.

They are a mix of developers, designers, and management.

The Aim
ribot wanted an outdoors themed day as a surprise for their team, just before Christmas.

They are a small team, and all good friends but some of them never get the opportunity to work together, so they liked the idea of doing activities outdoors and improving group communication, whilst wanting it to be as laid back and 'non-worky' as possible.

What we did
We suggested a mix of activities and time around a fire in the woods, so they could do stuff together, and there’d also be time to chat and relax.

Campfire Conversation
The day started around the fire with introductions. As they said they know each other quite well, we asked each person to tell everyone else something the others didn’t know about them. Their anecdotes, some funny, some touching, some bizarre, created a feeling of intimacy in the circle.

Next up: a shelter building challenge in two teams.
To get different teams working together, our instructors Feathers and Rosie explained the principles of shelter building and survival, and got the two teams to build an insulated, warm and waterproof shelter, using only the natural resources in the woods and without a tarpaulin.

Each team created something unique using branches, leaf litter and their own ingenuity, and at the end the shelters were tested for their resistance to the elements.

Everyone had fun working together, and designing and building a mini-shelter from scratch.

Then we all made lunch together:

After lunch Feathers took the teams for an ID and tracking walk in the woods, and then as dusk fell, it was time to go.

Did the day achieve its aims?
ribot were a great group, they had fun and worked well together on the team challenges, and had a brilliant attitude despite the wet and cold December day. They laughed, they connected, and they communicated. They were a very positive and happy group, which speaks volumes about their company culture.

Great fun, would love to do again.