Building Teamwork in Start-ups – Awesome Activities that Work!

It is difficult enough to get teams to work together when a company has been in business for years, but try getting a new fledgling start-up to build a team that gels! Of course everyone wants to shine and rise the ranks quickly. However, most new hires just don’t get the concept of teamwork and how building a dynamic team can further your career much quicker than the stereotypical ‘dog-eat-dog’ strategy.

Today’s business model is all about teamwork. If you want your staff to shine, here are some amazing activities that really work to build teamwork quickly. Not only can these activities bring staff together in a fun way, but they can be used as future examples if teams start to fall apart.

A Quick Trip around the Race Track

One of the most exciting team activities is racing around a track for hire. There are several throughout the country and you can put your team through their paces by letting them pick and race the cars of their dreams. Let them get behind the wheel of a Mazda 787B and race against the sporty Fiat 500 from Abarth, a Porsche 968, the super-fast Subaru BRU or even one of Toyota’s sporty cars. Assign your teams colours and the teams with the most wins are the champions.

The Great British Cook Off

One of the most popular up-and-coming hobbies in the UK would be cooking classes. Why not sponsor something modelled after The Great British Bake Off. Just as on the show twelve home bakers face each other in a contest, have teams work to put together recipes and have judges sample the dishes. It can either be a team effort to create a single culinary masterpiece or individual dishes presented by each team member. Two teams face off and the ones with the most wins again would be champions.

Photo by Zac Wong

Paintballing Team Faceoff

No matter how large or small your start-up, a paintballing team faceoff is loads of fun. If anything inspires teamwork, it is team members working together to ‘shoot’ and ‘destroy’ the enemy. This activity is not only great for adults, but staff members with older kids could bring them along to round out numbers. There are a large number of venues across the UK that offer team paintballing activities and you can hire the venue for an entire day or by the hour as needed.

Putting It All Together Back at the Office

Once back at the office, it is suggested that the director or manager call the staff together for a meeting. You can relive some of the most memorable moments of your teambuilding day and staff members can share moments they remember best. Show them how by working as teams the end results were not only better than going it alone but much more fun when shared with the team. Perhaps talk about how working as a team towards a common goal is so much more fulfilling when shared and how the whole game could have been brought down if one teammate tried to shine in his or her own glory.

There is nothing like team days away from the office to get the idea across that teams are so much more effective than dozens of individuals working against one another. Not only will you have a working model to build on but you will also have a group of people who actually enjoy working as a group. That’s teamwork at its best and what every start-up needs to build.

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