Employee motivation: Keeping employee motivation afloat by building a boat

Date: 13/07/2012

It may sound crazy, but building a boat is the latest team building craze sweeping the nation.

This experimental learning and team building exercise is proven to test resource management skills, communication and leadership amongst colleagues.

Getting employees out of the office and into a completely different environment can be very beneficial, whether it is for a weeklong break or just a few hours on a Friday afternoon.

Team building exercises like building a boat are fun for everyone involved and can include an element of competition for extra incentive.

Team members are given a variety of resources with which to build a boat. Depending on the style of boat you are going for, this can include rope, barrels, metal poles, wood and tarpaulin. The teams then have a limited amount of time in which to make a boat that will float and transport one or multiple members of the team. Disclaimer- you will get wet!

Tasks like this encourage and develop interdependent and independent thinking, team leading, delegation, thinking under pressure, working to a deadline and practicality.

The team also gets to see the fruits of their labour and see how it measures up to their competitors.

Different levels of difficulty can be introduced by setting challenges for the completed boats. For example, a team may have to transport one member of the crew a certain distance without the boat sinking. Alternatively, the boat may have to support all members of the team in order to complete the task.

By setting challenges, the team building exercise has a specific goal which everyone will be working towards. 

The great thing about this exercise is the fact that it works with any number of employees, as you can break the group down into manageable teams. So whether you have a staff force of 3 or three hundred, why not get out of the office and challenge your employees to a more practical team building exercise.

Offer an incentive to the winning team as this will elevate the level of competition and the overall standard of the finished product.

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