Summertime Outdoor Team Building Activities
During the summer, it’s easy for employees to stare out the windows into a beautiful sky and daydream about beaches and sunny vacations. A 2012 study found that in the summer, not only does attendance drop by 19%, but productivity drops by 20%, project completion times go up by 13%, and workers are 45% more distracted.
Getting your employees out of the office and participating in summertime outdoor team building activities can help reinforce comradeship and re-engage employees. And it’s a great way to enjoy the sunshine! Here are some ideas to get you started.
1. Prepare for Your Summertime Team Building Event
The sun can be very harsh, especially during the summer months. Give your guests plenty of warning, so they come prepared to your team building event! Provide lots of sunscreen, hats and/or sunglasses, water and even bug spray for participants. A good rule of thumb is to have a gallon of water for every 10 guests to ensure everyone stays hydrated.
Having a rain plan is another must when planning a summertime team building activity. During the summer months, especially in Florida, rain can surprise you out of nowhere. Be prepared by coordinating with your venue and renting tents. If you’re unable to move your event indoors and find yourself having to cancel, you can flip frowns upside down by providing fun umbrellas, colorful ponchos and branded towels for your guests.
Or, you could even consider bringing your summertime indoors! Too hot to hit the golf course? Do something like our Mini Golf Fore Good event. In Mini Golf Fore Good, participants are tasked with designing their own hole using cans that will later be donated to a local charity. Guests must be creative, innovative, collaborative and just a little competitive to create the best hole on the green! After everyone builds their masterpieces, teams take turns actually playing the holes. There are prizes for most creative hole design and best golf score, ensuring everyone has a shot to win!
2. How to Choose Your Summer Team Building Activity
When choosing your event, make sure you know your group and know your venue. Is your group active and competitive? Or is your group more laid back and creative? Or do you have a mix of both? Knowing your group is the most important part of planning a summer team building activity.
Once you’ve decided what type of group you’re planning for, you can begin finding activities that best suit them! For instance, we created our event TOMS for Tots to Teens CSR event for those groups who want something laid back. It’s a creative activity that allows guests to relax on the lawn, paint, converse and give back to the community while decorating a pair of shoes with a summertime look to donate to kids in need.
Now if your group is more active and competitive, try relay races or other outdoor games. One of our favorite activities is the Summer Camp Challenge. In this activity, guests participate in a series of games like a S’more Stacking contest, a Leaky Bucket relay, a game of Giant Jenga, and other activities that bring back fond memories of summer camp.
3. Involve the Family in your Outdoor Team Building Games
With school being out for summer, it’s hard for parents to find time to get away, especially for a corporate meeting. Help reinforce the family unit by incorporating the kids into your outdoor team building games. Teamwork is a very important aspect for kids to learn, and doing an activity together just makes it more fun! For instance, in our beach-themed Crunch Time, families compete in a series of beachy challenges to win as many points as possible before time is up. Some games include bouncing Ping-Pong balls into beach buckets, rolling marbles down pool noodles to knock over sunscreen, and catching plastic fish with a beach towel. These simple games are a blast and allow participants of any age to compete and win!
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