Life of a Managing Director: A Thunderbolt to a Business

The recurring patterns in team-building trends?

When we started the business many years ago, there was a heavy focus on the traditional country pursuit days: motorised vehicles, shooting, and archery. The ethos of the company was just getting people to have fun.

And, in a way, it still is. We even say it on our website: we make it fun.

But as I got older and we grew as a business, I realised it wasn’t just about shooting and driving fast cars. The industry started getting more creative with team-building. We had to adapt. One of our early games was called Human Sheep Herding, with one person acting as the shepherd and everyone else blindfolded and having to make their way into different pens.

Watching the outcome, I began to see the importance of communication and collaboration, of helping imprint a company’s values into its staff. For example, creating games that help people take ownership, work together, and connect with others.

It’s like therapy, in a way. You can tell people something, but it’s only when they do it themselves that things really resonate. When I noticed the difference between people at the beginning and end of an event, I got hooked.

As we progressed and our clients saw the value in what we were doing, we had to create more collaborative and sustainable events. Companies focused more on corporate social responsibility (CSR) events, accounting for their environmental and social impacts.

Especially post-pandemic, businesses are less inclined just to hire a boat and drink champagne all night; they want events where they can contribute and give back to the community somehow.?

We often work with Buses 4 Homeless, who refurbish decommissioned buses into spaces to help re-engage homeless people back into the community. Last year we hosted an event called Give What You Get. You have a series of challenges to earn money (real money), and then you go out and buy things that go to a chosen charity.

We have an event called Jolly Jumpers where teams decorate cardigans, and the best-looking clothing at the end wins. We then donate (undecorated) jumpers to homeless charities.?

After so many years in the business, I’ve noticed that any time there is an economic crisis (a recession, political unrest, the pandemic), companies put much more emphasis on these types of activities and, above all, just making their events fun again.

And by that, I mean the team building and collaborative elements go out the window. Companies become more concerned with seeing their staff enjoy themselves than having any set agenda. Not only is there a relaxation of the itinerary, but people aren’t so worried about participating. If they want to join in with the competition and games, they will (and to some, it’s a welcome distraction), but a lot of people just want to get have a few drinks and catch up with their mates.

Prior to the recession in 2008, we had several big years in a row. We were inundated with companies doing parties for 600+ people. Then post-2009, these large companies began doing much smaller events. The stress everyone had been under was palpable, so instead of working on the brand values or company messaging, we saw a resurgence of activities like quad biking, hovercrafts, and rage buggies.

It seems to go in cycles. You’ll have a few years of forward-thinking brands working with us to create events that embody their company values and motivate the staff. The focus is: how do we run events that signify what we are as a business? How do we enforce our ethos? One year they might want the sales team to increase their productivity. The next year the focus will be on diversity or growth. The fun side of it is often an afterthought.

Then something comes along, a thunderbolt to a business, and the thought process changes. It’s not necessarily external factors like a recession, either. It may be something within the company, like redundancies or a change of ownership. The next event will often become all about the fun again. It’s almost a total reset.

During a boom period, we do lots of large activities and regular all-hands meetings. After a boom, the same companies will host smaller events for their separate departments. Teams go insular, which can have its positives but can also drive a wedge between them. The sales team might be consistently rewarded, while the warehouse and finance staff feel totally left out.

This lack of communication makes it harder for everybody to work cooperatively. Gradually, companies start to realise this again, and we get back to the bigger all-team events and family fun days.

In my view, it’s positive to focus on the fun again at times like this. But where possible, bringing everyone together is still crucial as it instills more unity in the business.

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As we’ve seen from the pandemic, cutting people off from each other has such a negative impact.

That’s one thing that worries us about the use of technology in events. It will undoubtedly become more prevalent over the next few years. The metaverse is great and as successful as our switch to online events was from 2020, people need that physical interaction.

More and more staff are working from home, so in-person events are becoming more important than ever. People are starved for daily interaction. You’re no longer passing Emma in the car park, Bob on security, or Danny at the front desk on your way into work.?

When you’re meeting face to face, you don’t have to think about the internet lagging during a conversation; you can read body language and feel another person’s energy.

But on top of all that, you can push yourself to do more, to lean into anxiety.

Recently, we had a lady booked on our hovercrafts. She was 65 years old, and when she arrived, the first thing she asked was, “How fast do I have to go?”

“As fast as you want,” I replied.

She got out afterwards and said, “I’m so glad I’ve done that. I’d never in my life imagined I’d drive a hovercraft.”

Being there in person allows you to push yourself out of your comfort zone, to the point that you can be 65 years old and do something you never thought you’d be capable of.

We don’t want people stuck in their rooms; we want them out and together. For us, no matter the future trends or recycling patterns, events will always be about the same thing: to help people create experiences they never thought they’d have.