Ratgeber
Team-building activities abroad: what fits
Corporate recommends choosing team-building activities abroad by goal, make-up of the group and effort. Cooperative tasks, culinary formats and city explorations are suitable, as they involve all participants and do not rely on competition or fitness.
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Schritt für Schritt
- Define the goal of the team building: getting to know each other, collaboration or recognition.
- Analyse the group: age, fitness, preferences, languages.
- Preselect activities by effort and duration.
- Ask providers on site and clarify supervision, safety and insurance.
- Plan the programme with alternatives for bad weather.
- Make participation voluntary and collect feedback after the event.
Checkliste
- Goal of the activity formulated in one sentence
- Fitness and preferences of the group taken into account
- Alternative programme for bad weather in place
- Safety requirements and supervision asked about at the provider
- Insurance cover checked
- Language of the instructions clarified
- Voluntary nature and option to opt out communicated
- Time buffer for transfers planned
Team building abroad succeeds when the activity fits the group's goal and everyone can take part. What matters are purpose, participants' fitness, duration and supervision on site. This article helps with the selection and names the points to clarify in advance.
What is the goal of the team building?
First clarify what the activity is meant to achieve. Is a new group meant to get to know each other, should collaboration between departments improve, or should a team switch off together after a tiring project? Each goal calls for a different format, and the wrong choice costs time and goodwill. So discuss the question with management first.
For getting to know each other, relaxed formats with plenty of conversation suit, such as cooking together or a city walk in small groups. For collaboration, tasks that can only be solved together fit. For recovery, a relaxed afternoon without competition is often enough.
Record the goal in writing and discuss it with management. That way you avoid choosing an entertaining activity that misses the real concern.
Which formats suit abroad?
Culinary formats such as cooking classes or market visits combine getting to know each other with a local experience and are doable for almost everyone. City explorations with tasks, such as a rally in groups, foster collaboration and show the place from a new perspective.
Activity-based offers such as hikes, sailing or cycle tours fit if the group's fitness allows it. Ask about this discreetly in advance and offer easier variants. Anyone who feels excluded loses the benefit of the event.
Creative formats, such as workshops with local crafts, often appeal to people who avoid sport. Alternating between active and quiet programme items keeps the group in good spirits. Ask providers whether groups can be mixed, so that people from different departments work together and do not stay in their usual groupings.
How much programme makes sense?
Less is usually more. One programme item a day with a clear start and end has more impact than an overloaded plan. Anyone who plans three activities in a day usually reaps tiredness rather than community. Participants need time for conversation, recovery and individual discoveries.
On trips abroad, allow for lost time due to travel, check-in and transfers. On the day of arrival, plan a light dinner rather than a full programme. On the day of departure, a short programme item in the morning is enough, since the journey home and luggage occupy the group anyway. Clarify departure times in good time and communicate them clearly.
Leave room for the group's wishes. A free hour in the afternoon or an optional programme item gives participants freedom of choice and lowers the pressure to be present at everything.
What needs clarifying on safety and insurance?
For activities involving risk, such as water sports or climbing, ask the provider about safety standards, the training of supervisors and group sizes. Clarify whether the provider has liability insurance and what it covers.
Ask your insurer whether accidents during team activities abroad are covered and whether exclusions apply to individual sports. Binding information comes from insurers and the legal department, not from this article.
On health and entry: check the current position with the FDFA (EDA) and the FOPH (BAG), and ask participants to clarify medical questions with their doctor.
How do you ensure voluntary participation and inclusion?
Not everyone likes team building. Anyone who feels uncomfortable should be able to drop out without giving a reason. Communicate this in advance so that nobody feels pushed to take part.
Pay attention to cultural and personal differences. Physical contact, competition or being put on show in public can exclude individuals. Choose formats in which every role counts, including the quiet one. Anyone who suspects language barriers picks activities that need little explanation and also has instructions handed out in writing.
After the event, ask briefly what worked well. This feedback is a good basis for choosing the next format with purpose.
How do you select providers on site?
Local providers know the routes, the times and the particularities. Ask about references, group sizes and the languages of the instructions. A written quote with a clear scope of services is part of this, as is a commitment on who is responsible for the group on site and how that person stays reachable. Also clarify how payments are handled and which deadlines apply.
Check how flexibly the provider reacts to weather or delays. An alternative date or a substitute programme should be agreed in advance.
A video call with Corporate helps to put providers and destinations in context. Start via the [Corporate planning page](/m/corporate/planen).
