Incentive travel programs are particularly used in business management to motivate employees and in sales to attract and retain customers.

Incentive travel gives employees the opportunity to improve the way they work and their attitude in the workplace, allowing them to improve focus and achieve new goals.

Team building brings people together by encouraging collaboration and teamwork. Team building in the workplace Strengthen Cohesiveness, Celebrate Team Spirit, Foster Innovation and Creativity in the process having fun Motivating a strong team through forming bonds and connections.

All of our CORPORATE INCENTIVES TRAINING MODULES and TEAM BUILDING are Fully HRDF CLAIMABLE.

The best kind of Team Building and Company Retreats are those which take participants completely away from their workplace and routine, for 2 or 3 days!

TEAM-BUILDING

The importance of team building is all about practice. When a team participates in team-building activities, they’re really preparing for important, real-world situations that demand cohesion.

Team A and Team B both landed new clients last month. Team A will have a long and fruitful relationship with their client. Team B will lose theirs in just 6 months.

You see, Team A participated in plenty of team building activities and strengthened their greatest asset—their group harmony. Team B did not. Team A put in extra time to prepare for real-world challenges. Team B did not.

What Is Team Building?

Team building is a structured practice in the skills teams need to perform optimally at work.

Basketball players practice together to become strong teams. The same is true for office workers.

Just as basketball practice helps players systematically develop a range of skills comprising their athletic ability, team building helps workers improve skills across different aspects of teamwork, such as communication, delegation, trust, accountability, and collaboration.

If your job is a big game, then team building activities are your practice sessions.

Benefits Of Team Building Activities

The benefits of a team building event for work include improving the three Cs:

Collaboration

Communication

Camaraderie

Enhancing these three team competencies then leads to additional halo benefits, including better morale, stronger motivation, and unified company culture.

Keep reading to learn how and why your team should practice the all-important skill of teamwork.

The Importance of Team Building Activities

1)It Gets Employees Excited About Work

Effective team building is also skill-oriented, leaving participants with new abilities or knowledge they can leverage in pursuit of company goals. The skills can be hard or soft, but the main point is that employees leave feeling they’ve gained something valuable.

Activity Idea

Help employees acquire new skills during an oral storytelling workshop.

In-Person

Open communication will be a no brainer after you’ve all opened up by practicing the ancient art of oral storytelling together. Teams may feel more comfortable speaking out and may also become more attuned to certain inflections and non-verbal cues.

3) It encourages team members to express themselves authentically

Creating a culture where team members feel they are able to express their genuine thoughts and ideas starts with how comfortable they feel about revealing their authentic selves to coworkers.

Activity Idea

Encourage team members to showcase their personalities with a GooseChase scavenger hunt.

In-Person

4) It Provides Concentrated Practice Collaborating and Communicating

Let's-Roam-Virtual-TeambuildingA team-building event can reveal, better than even months of work, what techniques accomplish desired results. Given a clear objective that’s not tied to the stress and pressures of work, many employees are able to remove themselves from the activity enough to reflect on what they did that worked and what didn’t.

Activity Idea

Improve collaboration and communication with Let’s Roam.

In-Person

5) It Shows People They Can Rely On Their Coworkers

Build trust to gain a more effective team. A team-building event might just provide the evidence and experience co-workers need to place more trust in their peers. This way, you can strengthen trust in relatively low-risk situations so it’s ready to come into play when the stakes are higher.

Activity Idea

Build trust with rock climbing.

In-Person

After you’ve let someone belay you, you probably won’t have a problem trusting them with a little deadline.

7) It Helps Make People More Accepting and Able To Resolve Conflicts

Workplace testimonials reveal that many people are just generally frustrated with their co-workers.

Frustration and conflict eat away at team performance potential and also at the bottom line. A successful team knows how to gracefully address conflict; they learned how during team building activities.

Activity Idea

Build conflict resolution skills with “Anything Goes” (p.52).

In-Person

A low-stakes conflict will help employees practice the foundational skills they would need to resolve a legitimate conflict. After all, you might as well practice arguing when practically no emotions are on the line.

8) It Helps Unite People

The Escape Game Virtual Escape RoomAs this Forbes post discusses, employees with solid connections to coworkers generally have better work experiences.

Fostering those employee relationships is just one purpose of team building. Even if employees gain no new skills during a team-building event, they’re still spending time together; they’re still getting the opportunity to build better relationships with their coworkers.

Activity Idea

Bring people together with the Escape Game.

In-Person

An escape room is more than just a fun activity; it actually doubles as a bonding experience because overcoming difficulties together might just bring you closer.

The Escape Game brings high-performing teams together to find clues and tackle puzzles so the entire team can escape to adventure another day.

9) It Gives Morale An Infusion

Whether you’re part of a virtual team or a group that regularly gathers in a luxurious work environment, the right team building activity can make people even happier than they already are.

Activity Idea

Improve morale by starting a tradition.

In-person

Boost your workplace culture and maybe even improve employee retention by starting a tradition everyone will know they won’t be able to find anywhere else.

Swipe an idea you like and put your own spin on it. For example, you might…

Have a monthly brown-bag lunch “potluck” where everyone grabs a mystery lunch

Play bridge while wearing ridiculous hats every Friday

Turn the idea of a “bad manners tea party” into a bad manners cocktail party

10) It Lays the Foundation For A Thriving Company Culture

Happy, collaborative teams make culture authentic instead of forced, and strong company culture will come through in your quality of work and in the general vibe at your office.

Activity Idea

Improve company culture with City Brew Tours and Unboxed Experiences by City Brew Tours.

In-Person

Even during an isolating event like the COVID-19 pandemic, your remote team can still feel the buzz of your company’s culture during one of the Unboxed Experiences by City Brew Tours virtual events. Brew your own beer at home or indulge in a beer and cheese pairing with enough fun and flavor to make you forget how many miles distance you from your coworkers.

11) It Encourages Productive Problem-Solving

Knowing how to effectively solve problems boosts overall productivity. Team building events help teams learn how to solve problems together and also ask for help when it’s needed.

An activity goal will likely be less important to participants than their performance at work. With the pressure off, people can think more clearly about how to quickly resolve communication and interpersonal problems.

Activity Idea

Practice problem-solving with a silent building challenge.

In-Person

Ask your team to recreate the Eiffel Tower from toothpicks and also to do it without speaking (or writing notes) to one another. You’ll see them tap hidden problem-solving abilities even they didn’t realize they had. (They might even develop better communication skills when they can’t fall back on mere speech.)

12) It Helps Employees Feel Valued For Their Skills And Interests

Team building exercises, while designed to make teams stronger, do sometimes focus on individual team members, helping everyone understand their invaluable role as part of the team.

Activity Idea

Make employees feel valued with an employees’ choice activity series.

In-Person

Every month, have a different person pick a game, activity, hobby, or class for everyone to participate in. They’ll love feeling supported and they might even be able to try some new things they just didn’t want to do alone.

People Also Ask These Questions About the Importance Of Team Building

Q: What is the purpose of a team-building activity?

A: The purpose of a team-building activity is to inspire a group of individuals to work, communicate, and think as a harmonious unit instead of a group of independent operators.

Q: How do I measure the success of a team-building activity?

A: Measure the success of a team-building activity by following up with a brief survey to find out if employees enjoyed the event and if it helped them feel more connected to their co-workers. You can also base your survey on any event objectives you set.

Q: What are the benefits of a team building event for work?

A: The benefits of a team-building event for work include improving the three Cs: collaboration, communication, and camaraderie. Enhancing these three team competencies then leads to additional halo benefits, including better morale, stronger motivation, and unified company culture.

Q: What do you mean by team building?

A: By team building, we mean practicing working together. Just as basketball practice helps players systematically develop a range of skills comprising their athletic ability, team building gives groups concentrated practice in the different competencies comprising teamwork, namely communication, delegation, trust, accountability, and collaboration. Find team-building practice activities here.

Q: What are the objectives of team building?

A: The objectives of team building include:

Helping each participant take away at least one new skill they can immediately apply to their work on the team.

Encouraging each participant to remember something new about a coworker that can improve their collaborations.

Having fun in such a way that day-to-day team functions, including asking for help or providing casual recognition, feel more natural.

Q: What are the characteristics of team building?

A: The characteristics of team building include a common goal that demands collaboration, the need to communicate, and stakes, prizes, or time limits that galvanize groups to engage.

Q: How do I plan an effective team building activity?

A: Plan an effective team-building activity by setting team-specific objectives. If your team needs more practice in communication, then an effective activity should revolve around that skill. Find additional planning tips and activity ideas here.

Q: Will a team-building activity boost employee engagement?

A: A team-building activity may help boost employee engagement at your workplace because these activities help groups develop skills, like communication and collaboration, that work against common workplace frustrations, such as dealing with co-workers and managing company politics.

Q: What can I do to help new employees meet the team?

A: Organize a team building activity to help new employees meet the team. For example, you can create team-specific trivia games and quizzes that help new employees learn more facts about their new coworkers than they could ever pick up during a happy hour.

Q: How can a virtual team building activity help company culture?

A: A virtual team building activity can help company culture by giving workers a designated venue for getting to know each other. This can help reduce isolation, and it also means your company culture is driven by your employees and not characterized by home offices and working in pajamas.

Company Overnight Retreats

The best kind of company retreats are those which take participants completely away from their workplace and routine, for 2 or 3 days!

Overnight Itineraries for Penang

2 Days 1 Night

Day 1

11.00AM - 12.30 PM

Arrive at Resort. Welcome. Ice Breakers & Team Formation.

12.30PM - 2.00 PM

Lunch

2.00 PM - 5.00 PM

On-site Games (Choose from Menu)

OR

Highlight Activity (Choose from Menu)

5.00 PM - 7.30 PM

Tea break. Check-in to rooms. Free Time.

7.30 PM - 8.30 PM

Buffet Dinner.

8.30 PM - 10.00 PM

Indoor Games (Choose from Menu)

Day 2

7.30 AM - 8.30 AM

Breakfast

8.30 AM - 11.00 AM

On-site Games (Choose from Menu)

OR

Indoor Games (Choose from Menu)

Morning Break.

11.00 AM - 12.00 PM

Wash-up. Check-Out.

12.00 PM - 1.00 PM

Prize-Giving. Retreat Closing Ceremony. Group Photo.

1.00 PM onwards

Lunch (Optional) and Departure

3 Days 2 Nights

Day 1

11.00 AM - 12.30 PM

Arrive at Resort. Welcome. Ice Breakers & Team Formation.

12.30 PM - 2:00 PM

Lunch

2:00 PM - 5.00 PM

On-site Games (Choose from Menu)

5.00 PM - 7.30 PM

Tea Break. Check-in. Free time.

7.30 PM - 8.30 PM

Buffet Dinner.

8.30 PM - 10.00 PM

Indoor Games (Choose from Menu)

Day 2

7.30 AM - 8.30 AM

Breakfast.

8.30 AM - 12.30 PM

Highlight Activity (Choose from Menu)

OR

On-site Games (Choose from Menu)

Morning Break.

12.30 PM - 3.00 PM

Transfer back to hotel. Lunch. Free time.

3.00 PM - 6.00 PM

On-site Games (Choose from Menu)

Tea Break.

6.00 PM - 7.30 PM

Free Time.

7.30 PM - 8.30 PM

Buffet Dinner.

8.30 PM - 10.00 PM

Indoor Games (Choose from Menu)

Day 3

7.30 AM - 8.30 AM

Breakfast.

8.30 AM - 11.00 AM

On-site Games (Choose from Menu)

OR

Indoor Games (Choose from Menu)

Morning Break

11.00 AM - 12.00 PM

Wash-up. Check-out.

12.00 PM - 1.00 PM

1.00 PM ONWARDS

Prize-Giving. Retreat Closing Ceremony. Group Photo.

Lunch (optional).

Departure.

4* - 5 * RESORT / HOTEL RESORT

A SAMPLE OF OUR ADVENTURE SERIES TEAM BUILDING/BONDING IN AND AROUND MALAYSIA

3 DAYS 2 NIGHTS HOUSEBOAT ADVENTURE IN BELUM RAINFOREST

3 DAYS 2 NIGHTS TEAM BUILDING/TEAM BONDING

GALA DINNER KOH LIPE

Sample Itinerary

Day 1: Penang/Kedah – Changlun – Wang Kelian Border – Pak Bara Pier – Koh Lipe

Early in the morning, our team will pick you up from your designated pick up point and transfer to Wang Kelian Immigration Checkpoint where each person must pay RM 2 for Thailand Immigration. Change to Thai Van as you go through the immigration.

We then continue for another 1 ½ hour journey to Pak Bara Pier. Please take note that each person has to pay 20 Thai Baht for the Pak Bara Pier entrance fee.

A journey of 1 ½ hours to 2 hours is needed to travel from Pak Bara to Koh Lipe. Once you’ve nearly reach Koh Lipe, the speedboat/ferry will drop you off on a floating dock/platform, please kindly find the staff from your hotel and follow his instructions. You’ll need to pay a Koh Lipe Management fee of 20 Baht per person and 50 Baht per person for the taxi boat that will transfer you from the platform to the island.

Once you’ve reached the island, check in to your resort and have lunch at your own expenses. After lunch, it will be your free and easy time where you can enjoy the beautiful sceneries or explore the island.

Day 2: Snorkeling Day – Koh Jabang – Koh Hin Ngam – Koh Rawi – Koh Adang

After breakfast, your first session of Team Building begins with our Trainers from LEAD. In the afternoon

prepare and board the long tail boat that waits in front of the respective resort around 2:00pm to 2:15pm (Thai Time). It will then transfer you to snorkelling sites such as Koh Jabang, Koh Hin Ngam, Koh Rawi, and Koh Adang to enjoy the beautiful sea and a fun day of swimming with the creatures of the sea. After hours of snorkelling, you will have your packed sandwich at Koh Rawi where you will have 1 hour to eat and swim at the nearby beaches. You will then be transferred back to your resort and you will have your free and easy time to relax and enjoy the beautiful beaches and sceneries or explore the island.

Day 3: GALA DINNER AT CORNER BAR

After breakfast, your last session of Team Building begins with some ice breakers and reflection. The Grand Finale is the Recognition Award followed by the Gala Dinner.

Day 4: Koh Lipe – Pak Bara Pier – Wang Kelian Border – Penang/Kedah

After morning breakfast, please prepare to check out and return to Pak Bara Pier at 9:00am (Thai Time). Like on the first day, you will need to pay 50 Baht for the taxi boat that will either transfer you to the platform where you will then board the speedboat back or directly transfer you to the ferry.

After you have reached Pak Bara Pier, our team will pick you up. We will then head to Wang Kelian Immigration check point. Change to Malaysia Van as you go through the immigration. No charges will be needed for Malaysia custom. We will lastly transfer you back to your designated drop off point with the memories of Koh Lipe.

An Incentive Trip/Company Trip/Reward Trip is more than a trip. It is a reward. A reward for a job well done!

HOW CAN YOU USE TRAVEL AS AN INCENTIVE?

1. Increase Sales or Production Performance

2. Feeling pride for a job well done

3. Corporate or Training Events

4. Results matter for your team

Incentive Travel … A REWARD that fosters TEAMWORK, DRIVE SALES, Attracts TALENTS, Creates ENGAGED and ENERGETIC STAFF. A THANK YOU that they will never forget!

Your employees will CREATE MEMORIES that will last a lifetime. Travel the world. Go on an Adventure and Connect.

Effective incentive trips are part of a year-long incentive program. If a program is well-designed, you’ll be able to track it through the following phases:

Design and Launch: As soon as the details and qualifications are set, the company introduces it to the team.

Qualification: Team members work hard to achieve the goals that will qualify them for the trip. Ongoing buzz creation and progress tracking keep the excitement level high. At the end of the qualification period, the company announces the winners.

Preparation: Once travel arrangements are set, the team starts to get excited. Confidence increases and winners start to perform at even higher levels.

The Experience: The destination and planned activities wow the travelers and encourage bonding.

Post-Trip: The travelers come back and tell their coworkers all about their amazing trip. They continue to perform at a high level, inspired by their experience. Those who didn’t go are motivated by the idea of joining in next year.

To Be Continued: The next program launches, inspiring the team to reach even higher levels of performance.

The goal of this whole process is to motivate employees to do their best work. That means the trip has to be one-of-a-kind. It has to be exciting enough that the winners will want to go again, and memorable enough that they’ll keep talking about it in the office, generating buzz for the next trip.

The group experience is an essential element of incentive trips. It’s what creates a feeling of community among the travelers, inspiring them to reminisce together later, which will generate free publicity for the next trip.

To make the most of the team bonding and vacation elements of the experience, incentive trips should include group excursions, activities, and relaxing meals. Whenever possible, the itinerary should feature experiences that employees can’t get anywhere else; “exclusive access” is always a good phrase to see on an incentive travel itinerary.

Here is a small sample of our Incentive Travel Programs over the years.