Office jobs often require people with no prior friendships to work together and rely on each other to achieve goals for a company. A great way to boost employee morale and productivity is to have regular team building events.
These should be done during work hours, so that employees feel as though they are getting a break. 
Many companies choose easy team sports that encourage employees to rely on one another and form partnerships and trust. One of the up-and-coming ways to encourage team building is to have a rock climbing session at a local climbing gym. This article will tell you how to use rock climbing as a team building event.
Preparing for Team Building
- Build your team.
Decide who is included in the team. In large corporations, this may not include the whole company, but rather departments who work together as a unit. - Survey the culture of the team.
If the team is fairly young, generally fit and ambitious, then rock climbing is a great activity for them. If you have any disabled, overweight or chronically ill members of staff, then you may want to reconsider whether rock-climbing is the team building activity for your organization. - Call Granite Arch (916) 852-7625.
Your team leaders at Granite Arch will speak with you and establish goals for the day. Since they are the experts in rock climbing, they will be leading a session where the primary goal is to develop team confidence rather than exercise. Though reasonably-priced, you’ll want to have a budget in mind, since a section of the rock climbing gym will need to be reserved for the duration of the event. Learn more about Granite Arch’s Team Building program here… - Meet with the team before you book the rock climbing session.
Encourage them to be excited, but tell them to come to you, or management, with any doubts they have. You may find hidden disabilities will prevent others from taking part in the activity.
If everyone cannot do the rock climbing session together it will not be a useful team-building adventure. Exclusion may lead to office problems or other team problems, such as feelings of discrimination in the future. - Plan a 2 to 4 hour session with a break for lunch in the middle, provided by the company.
This amount of time will seem like a nice adventure without being tedious.
Ask the employees to sign waivers for the company and the rock climbing gym. Make sure they read them well and know the company is not responsible for any activity that includes horseplay or is deemed unsafe at the gym.
After the Event
If your team loves the rock climbing sessions, you can plan sessions at regular intervals. Some companies even encourage outdoor rock climbing. This should be done with extreme caution since there are more possibilities for injury.
Plan regular team building sessions in different places, such as canoeing, cycling or doing games. Team building should be considered a constant process in order to relay the results into a more productive and communicative team.
Rock climbing should be done with extreme caution and awareness of the potential for injury. Make sure everyone regularly exercises, if they are to take part in this activity.
