Paella Contest, an Original Team Building Activity

Paella Contest

On Friday, September 11th, Kaizen Coaching and Team Building ran a fantastic activity for IE Business School, attended by 350 students on an international MBA programme, with the goal of welcoming them and fostering integration and a sense of belonging, in a highly fun, enriching and, of course, very Spanish way.

This original Team Building activity started at 16:00, at IE Business School's campus on María de Molina, 31, in the heart of Madrid's financial district. Participants were understandably eager, and our colleague Claire welcomed them and gave them a preview of the great Team Building experience they were about to enjoy: the great paella contest.

First, Sandro, an expert choreographer and professional host, got everyone dancing to kuduro rhythms, undoubtedly the best way to break the ice, since everyone got into it, danced and laughed, creating the perfect atmosphere to kick off the contest.

Before anything else, participants had to complete a series of hilarious challenges, riddles and puzzles, in order to gather all the ingredients needed to make their paella. We also tested attendees' culinary knowledge, with the challenge of completing a ten-question quiz where they had to figure out paella's country of origin or at what temperature water boils in Madrid, among others.

Once these challenges were overcome, Team Building participants had to choose between making the classic Valencian paella, a seafood paella, or a vegetable paella. Most chose the Valencian version, though all 3 types of paella were represented, to the judges' delight. While participants, split into 27 teams, made their paellas, our master paella chef, Jorge Pérez, prepared a fantastic mega paella for 150 people — of which, in the end, not even the leftovers survived.

Throughout this original Team Building activity, Sandro, our host, kept the whole afternoon lively with several performances, always warmly supported by the crowd of students. The highlight came with the dance battle between men and women, clearly won by the women, and the freestyle dance round, where several students amazed everyone present.

After tough deliberation, around 19:00, the judges finally announced their verdict, and the winning team of the team building activity was awarded the coveted trophy — the second edition already, which looks set to become a classic for IE Business School.

If you want to run a corporate activity, event, convention or Team Building, whether in Madrid, Barcelona, or any other city, and want a guarantee of success, don't hesitate to call Kaizen Coaching and Team Building — we'll be happy to help.