Common Team Building Issues Wildly Different Can Solve

Everyone faces challenges when it comes to planning and organizing a team building event. But what are the challenges everyone has in common? After putting a call out to meeting planners, here is a list of challenges and our Wildly Different ways of solving them!

Challenge 1: Diversity & Team Building Activities

Challenge number one is trying to find a team building experience that’s inclusive for everyone. Most groups are very diverse in ages, interests, and talents. For a successful event, you must understand the demographics of your group. Are they tech-savvy? Are they active? Is there a wide range of ages? Once you understand your group you can easily determine what would work best for your participants.

At Wildly Different, we understand that not all groups will have a blanket demographic. Not all groups will be 100% millennial or 100% active and outdoorsy. To accommodate this, we’ve created events like our game shows (including Not Your Average Game Show) that incorporate mental, physical, creative and team challenges all in one event. The beauty of these games shows is that it allows everyone on the team to shine during different activities.

Challenge 2: Getting Outside the Cubicle

The best thing about team building activities is that they get people out of their everyday environment. No matter how progressive your office culture, no matter how inviting your snack wall, getting people out of the office is a must if you want to have a genuine team building experience. One way to make that resonate even more is to actually get them out of their everyday environment, by hosting a team building experience outside of your office if possible.

Doing an event in an outside venue can sometimes be cost prohibitive, so one solution to this challenge could be doing something like a hunt. For instance, our Wildly Different Scavenger Hunts can be done anywhere in the world, and with certain hunts like Get to the Point, guests have to travel to different hotspots to unlock their challenges. Scavenger hunts inspire creativity, teamwork and a sense of adventure as teams try to earn more points than their competition. It’s a great way to get out of the office and explore your destination, whether it be your city or an area of interest!

Challenge 3: “Just Another” Team Building Activity

Team building events have gotten a bad reputation as being repetitive, boring or uncomfortable. Team building activities can also be seen as inconvenient, forcing guests away from their emails and phone calls, just adding to their workload for the week. So how do you get rid of those negative connotations?

Our first recommendation is to schedule the activity during the workday. If you can’t close the office, consider hosting the same event twice, so business is covered, but everyone gets to participate in one of the two while the other half man the office. Another recommendation is to entice them to come out by making it worth their time. How? By polling them to figure out what they’d like best. And once the event is scheduled, we’re firm believers in the infectiousness of enthusiasm. If you’re excited about the event, your team won’t be far behind. Show them videos, post flyers, send email updates. Reassure your participants that it’s going to be fun and not your average team building activity. The enthusiasm all starts with you!