Building camaraderie is essential, even if your team is still small since they are your startup’s most important asset. You need them to be in high spirits at all times to stay motivated in pushing your company toward its goals.
Taking them on a vacation and engaging in team-building games give your team an opportunity to loosen up and get to know one another more personally. It strengthens your close-knit bond, forming deep friendships that can last for a lifetime, even if you aren’t working together anymore.
For that reason, plan an epic vacation and team building for your company every year at least. Make it your driving force to reach all your goals on time; the bigger the milestones you achieve, the more awesome should your company’s day off should be!
That said, here are some vacation and team building ideas perfect for a small startup team:
1. Hotel Staycation
Sometimes, the best reward can just be a day where you do nothing but be pampered. This type of vacation — or staycation, rather — is perfect if your team has just overcome a particularly hard period where they barely rested. Consider booking a few night’s stay at Seattle Center’s best hotels or at any other cozy accommodation in lively cities.
The urban environment can be relaxing, too, since you’re not about to get swooped into its rush hour madness, but instead take in the scenery, tour around its most beautiful attractions, and just generally have a good time.
2. Enjoy a Happy Hour
Once everyone has had a good rest, regroup for a happy hour in your hotel or somewhere in the city. Raise your glasses in a toast for your company’s success, and then play fun games where friendly competition can brew, like ping-pong, or something that’s more intimate such as “three truths and a lie.”
3. Team Reflection
If your team has been engulfed in weariness due to all the hard work you’ve exerted before reaching your goals, perhaps a mental breakthrough a reflective session will restore your depleted energies. Gather around a bonfire or in your hotel’s function room, and share your triumphs, burdens, and new goals. This establishes trust and respect among your team, and as their boss, you’d get a glimpse of what it’s like to be in their shoes.
4. Problem-Solving Game
On your team building day, divide your team into equal groups, then give them a specific project to accomplish with clear restrictions and a goal. Each team will have the same set of supplies to work with, either given to them or acquired from a pile in the middle of the room. The groups are only allowed to use what’s available to accomplish the project, which is a device that transmits an object from point A to point B, for example.
This game ignites your team’s individual creativity and resourcefulness, not to mention fun and challenging. Their finished products will surely be astounding as well!
5. The Perfect Square
There will be no competition in this game, so it’s an ultimate test to your company’s overall teamwork. Have a facilitator outside your company so you can join the game as well. You will be asked to form a circle and then get blindfolded. A rope with its ends tied together will be given for all of you to hold, and the facilitator will ask you to break out of the circle because you will have to form a perfect square next. You can take off your blindfolds if you’re confident that you’ve formed a perfect square.
These amazing activities will give your team a much-deserved rest and good time, amplifying their enthusiasm to keep pushing your company towards bigger goals. Together, you will relish your success through more corporate events.
