The best team building events are the ones where no-one realises it’s a team building event.
If you are looking for a unique and amazing team building event- you’ve found it right here.
We play for a lot of corporates– mostly for their staff conferences and end of year celebrations. They’re almost always themed as Hoedowns, Honkytonks or Wild West Nights and they really bring staff together, engage them, and get them working together. It’s a team building exercise and none of the staff realise it until the next day.
How does it work? What makes a Barndance or Hoedown a team building activity?
When we do a themed barndance, hoedown or honkytonk– we do called dances (amongst other kinds of music to suit the night).
The called dances get people dancing with each other– with partners and in larger sets or groups.
The dances work, because everyone dances together. It’s a teamwork exercise.
Over the course of the night, the dances get progressively more complicated and everyone needs to be in sync with each other to keep the dances moving and so the energy is maintained and built over the night.
Many of the dances are progressive dances- where you change partners.
Unlike other team building activities– what we do:
Is not competitive
Doesn’t single out individuals
Doesn’t create teams where people can dominate or disappear
Is a great leveller
Doesn’t give advantage to people with particular skills or roles
Gets everyone involved
And most importantly– does not have any appearance or impression that it building co-operation, coherence, rapport and relationships within your team.
We did an event where the new CEO was being introduced to senior management on a conference and the Country & Western themed night was the opening night. Not only was it a lot of fun– but it got the entire team on the dance floor, dancing with each other.
The entire senior management team dancing with the new CEO.
Yes. Your jaw may be dropping right now– but this is a thing and let me tell you, everyone had an absolute ball and the ice was well and truly broken. You cannot build rapport like that in such a short time in any other way.
Forget PowerPoint and The Amazing Race. Have a Hoedown.
I worked for an investment bank for over 20years, in Australia, Asia, Europe, the US and South America managing a large international team from different cultures, backgrounds and roles. I know first hand the importance of cohesive and functional teams and the need for building rapport across your business. I have seen team building in the corporate world at it’s worst– and through this band, I’ve seen it at it’s best. Don’t muck around. Give me a call.
For a truly unique team building activity, a night with Swamp Dawkins will amaze you. The called dances are often done in sets– or groups– and as the night progresses the dances become increasingly complex needing everyone to play their part and work as a team. Then add into the mix for the night the dressing up, a mechanical bull or two, a pig-on-a-spit for a communal meal and you will have a team pulled together in a uniquely entertaining way.
The best team building activities are the ones where people don’t realise it’s a team building activity.
A hoe-down night with Swamp Dawkins simply will amaze you and your team.
