Team Building. Outdoor Training, an Example of Experiential Learning.

Outdoor Training

Today it's a fairly widespread belief that we learn mostly from experience — we've all seen this in some context of our lives.

A Team Building day, in its outdoor training format, is an experiential learning method, based on observing, reflecting, doing and feeling, which leads to real learning. Knowledge is gained, skills are worked on and developed, and attitudes and values are mobilised — one of this methodology's most important strengths. It's a training style that also helps employees accept and identify with the company's culture and values, while sharing new, different experiences with colleagues in a non-work setting.

Running this type of Team Building activity in a natural setting is key, since stepping outside the usual environment breaks down participants' usual structure and makes it easier to improve personal and interpersonal relationships, encouraging innovation as a key part of the training.

What's more, many social skills (communication, teamwork, leadership) can't be developed in a meeting room — real, hands-on work is needed that fosters unifying attitudes in order to learn them. A natural setting also fosters emotional development, since many of these skills are built around shared emotional ideas, letting go of the formal role held at the company.

What's more, in outdoor training-style Team Building activities, underlying conflicts within teams also come to the surface, helping first unblock them and ultimately resolve them, helping participants critically analyse their own strengths and weaknesses in order to learn from themselves. The goal is for participants to commit to improving their behaviour, through collective analysis and feedback from their colleagues, always facilitated by our team.

The trainer or facilitator leading the team building session also affects its effectiveness. A good facilitator creates the right framework and drives learning. They stand out for asking effective questions, intervening only when necessary (just enough to maintain productive tension), and are experts in the art of encouraging feedback. Learning happens more often in areas where we have no control, outside our comfort zone. Walking this path requires courage and commitment, both attitudes that must be handled tactfully by the trainer facilitating the team building process.

Our team building or outdoor training programmes are tailored to each company, and their design takes into account, besides the goals to be achieved, the specific needs and characteristics of the group being trained, allowing the activities and programme to be adapted accordingly.

If you're interested, don't forget to check out our Team Building video library, with videos from the latest corporate days and events we've organised at Kaizen.