by Julie Zuzek | Dec 15, 2014 | Spark Blog
Last week I participated in a friend’s birthday adventure I won’t soon forget. In a secluded warehouse in the Toronto port lands we spent the evening throwing axes at Backyard Axe Throwing League. www.batl.ca/. I’d heard a fair bit of hype about this team-building trend from my students and clients, but have to confess, before throwing my first axe I didn’t really get it. The activity starts with some instruction on technique and strategy and a few practice throws. Then our group was broken up for a round robin tournament with these words, “The people who came as your friends are now your enemies. There are no friends in axe throwing.” Yikes! But after one throw, I was hooked and hungry for the elusive bulls-eye. Axe throwing is strangely gratifying and I highly recommend you try it. In the corporate world we’re always on a quest for new and exciting options for team-building events. I think there’s a naïve belief that if we do something fun and cool, this will instantly make our corporate culture fun and cool. Over the years I’ve done many different team-building events ranging from a sales conference where we went on a pub-crawl through downtown Toronto dressed as Star Trek characters, sailing with Olympians, naval drowning simulation exercises and helicopter rides around the Isle of Wight. While I found these activities were memorable and fun the most lasting impact was a few juicy stories. I’m not truly convinced they actually fostered the intended camaraderie or yielded stronger teams. It’s important to understand the fundamental reasons why plucking employees from the office and giving them...
