Sometimes a powerful use of team building activities is to support the overall experience of a day, and provide a fun way to bond, as part of a more intensive program. This was evident, as reported by The Commercial Intent, at a recent training day where the Tigers took time away from their intensive practice schedule to have some fun with cards, dodgeball and other bonding activities.

When you check out the Twitter feed of Mark Weber, and see some of the intensity from the rest of the day, it’s not surprising that the team coaches decided to mix in some more relaxed, and enjoyable, games into the camp.

Working closely together, over a tiny table, building up sculptures from playing cards and tape, is a big change from the typical activities that form a football training camp. That’s something businesses can draw from when considering their events. It’s a good idea to build in bonding activities that don’t completely mirror the day to day activities team members take, although it would seem positive to do so.

For example, if a team of coders was undertaking an intensive workshop preparing to change the platform and code base used by the major corporation they worked for, breaking up the sessions with intense, puzzle-solving team building games might not be the best option. It may be, instead, better to do something outdoors, or something more relaxed and fun, as it would add some balance to an otherwise intellectually focused event. In a similar way here, the football team avoided doing their breakout team building in the form of intense physical games, and instead crowded giant men around a tiny table to play with cards!