May 2004 Article                      

Six Dynamic Team Building Activities to Adapt or Adopt
An interview with Jim Waller, president of Catalyst Events, America

Take some duct tape, a 4-inch fuselage, a nose cone, some fins, some aluminum and assorted other bits and a small group of people and Voila! You’ve built a team and a rocket! This Rocket Program is one of the most popular ones developed by Catalyst, an international company specializing in team building activities for meetings and conferences.

Jim Waller, president of the U.S. operation, headquartered in Alexandria, VA, has a magic kit filled with other team building ideas that can inspire you to develop bonding programs of your own or can be arranged through Catalyst.

Assigning the teams can be totally random with all ranks represented on each team. Or, certain personnel can be assigned to the same team because they will need to be working together closely in the future. Such assignments can be made to look random, if wanted, Jim says. 

Here are some specifics on some activities you can arrange through Catalyst or use as a starting point for an activity of your own.

That Old Rocket Science: The bits and pieces of a miniature rocket are placed on tables in a large room. Teams of 7 to 8 people go to their preassigned tables and are told to build a rocket using the items on the table. The twist is that their goal is to build the slowest rocket in the room, using all the ingenuity they can muster. However, their rocket must travel 40 meters so it can’t be a complete dud. After the rockets are built, each team presents its model to the group describing why they built it the way they did. After the presentation, the rockets are set off outdoors five at a time on zip lines with the winning loser of each heat competing in the finals. Jim says bets get placed and people declare ownership, developing a sense of pride in their team and their ingenuity. This activity can be done by from 30 to 300 people. Cost ranges from $70 to $100 per person.

BeatsWork. You are in a large meeting room. Your CEO is addressing the group saying the company future looks great, all hands are marching to the same beat when suddenly the doors burst open and a drum corps marches in playing a rousing samba piece. There’s applause, energy, and excitement. And then the group is told, they are going to learn to drum. At breakout sessions with groups of 50, each attendee selects an instrument from a big samba drum to cow bells. With the help of a facilitator, even the most reserved folk get into the fun. After an hour, everyone assembles back in the main room and plays together, sounding great, much to their own surprise. They can’t believe it. The activity has created a common denominator for everyone in the room. When they return to the office the bonding continues as they marvel at what they learned in a short time and call each other by the name of their chosen percussion instrument. This activity can be done by from 30 to 4,500 people. Cost ranges from $60 to $70 per person.

The Big Picture. Put 400 people in a room at tables for 5 to 7. Give them a piece of stretched canvas 30 by 30 inches, some sponges, some paint, and a laminated picture of what their canvas is to look like. Have them visit other tables to confer on mixing compatible colors, and set them to work. Later in your conference, unveil a 25 foot by 15 foot canvas (all their pieces assembled) and see their jaw-dropping response. The larger canvas could be a new logo, a new theme or campaign, the site of your next conference. But, everyone at this conference will have had a hand in creating it and will buy into the concept because a part of it is theirs. They will see beyond their little piece to how they fit in with the whole. And, Jim says, they’ll want their picture taken with the Big Picture.
This can be done with 50 to 1,000 people at a cost ranging from $50 to $90 per person.

Some less expensive alternatives:

Tradewinds or Shocks and Scares. Two variations on one theme. The group that makes the most money wins. The Tradewinds activity is led by a pirate. Each group has a treasure chest with money and bits of information in it. Shocks and Scares is led by a suit. Each group has a brief case with money and information in it. The challenge is to trade, cajole information from other teams to have the knowledge needed to create the biggest treasure chest or portfolio. Overall, the event is a great way for the group to sharpen their communication and negotiation skills. Real business skills that can help in the real world.

Last Great Picture Show: Give teams a digital or Polaroid camera and send them out into the city with clues on what to get photos of. It is a great way to give them an opportunity to explore the location and not spend all day inside at meetings. Then reassemble the group for a picture show of all the funny, wonderful photos they took.

A Trivia Competition where trivia about your company or association is mixed in with Trivial Pursuit questions. People learn more about their own organization, demonstrate what they know, compete as teams, and just plain have fun with the trivia game.

Catalyst was founded in 1984 in the United Kingdom and opened its U.S. office in 1994. Prior to joining Catalyst five years ago, Jim worked for a large production company. Get more inspirational team building ideas from Catalyst.