Get employees excited to work together with a team building activity that teaches real-world skills. Not only will events like this be valuable to your organization, allowing employees to learn more about one another and improve upon how they work together, but they’ll provide more value to participants as well.

Get inspired by the following ideas, which range from cooking to selling.

Self Defense Course

In 2006, there were 16 million reports of crime against individuals ages 12 and up in urban and suburban areas in the United States, according to the National Victimization Survey. A self-defense course will help your employees learn the skills they need to defend themselves.

The key is finding the right instructor. “It would be important know the instructor’s teaching style, attitude, methodology, and background to make sure she/he will not only deliver a reasonable workshop, but also that she/he fits with the culture of your workplace. Proper vetting is an absolute must if you’re looking for practical and competent self-defense training,” suggests Jeremy Pollack, self-defense expert for The Home Security Superstore.

To find the right instructor, ask for referrals from other companies and vet every option based on the specific needs of your company.

Culinary Group Experience

Ask employees what they know how to cook, and you’ll likely get a short list from everyone with a few basics that they’ve mastered. Broadening their cooking skills with team-building events like the Salsa Showdown, Chili Cook-Off, and Just Desserts is both fun and educational.

During this event, co-workers won’t just work together to create their meal, but they’ll learn from one another—with managers learning from their employees and executives working side-by-side with associates. This gives everyone a chance to get to know one another and forge stronger bonds as company.

Solve the Fictional Problem

This is a simple team building activity that can be done right in your office. Break employees into small groups and create a fictional problem for them to solve. Have the group solve the problem together, writing a two -or three-sentence answer on a piece of paper.

Now, comes the fun part: “Have each member pass the sheet to the left and ask them to use the idea to create a new solution. Continue the pattern for a few rounds and see what the final results are,” explains Aubrielle Billig, with Small Biz Trends.

Teams will get to work together, while each individual employee is empowered to find a new solution that’s better than the first one.

Outdoor Skills Adventure

Wilderness survival skills are important for everyone, whether your employees live in a big city or sprawling suburbia. Outdoors skills classes also serve as a great way to get everyone outside and working together without the confines of computers and email.

Check out programs like Bushcraft Adventure for your team. This particular program, from USA Adventure Activities, provides all the equipment and materials, including food and drink for participants. This makes it easy to plan and execute.

“Sell An Item From Your Desk”

This idea, from Process.St, is simple and perfect for every employee—we’re all selling in our life, whether we’re persuading someone to come to dinner or pitching a new potential client. The idea is simple:

“Call everyone to pick an item from their desk, and then come to the conference room. Now tell them they need to improvise a sales pitch for that particular item that makes the rest of the room compelled to buy it. Bonus points if they stay within the confines of reality!” explains Benjamin Brandall, of Process.St.

To make this a team building event, create teams of two of three and have each group choose just one of the products to sell together. Format the challenge as a bracket, with the winners moving forward to a championship round.

In the final round, executives choose the two products to be sold and the last two groups standing will have an allotted time to prepare—think 15 or 30 minutes. Whoever is most convincing wins all around.

Will You Bring the Real-World to Your Office?

These team building events don’t just help employees form stronger bonds; they also give everyone a chance to learn something new that can be valuable both in and out of work. Not to mention, they’re a lot more fun than the usual bowling or happy hour outing. Poll your employees to see which one they want to try first and give it a whirl.

The post 5 Team Building Events That Teach Real-World Skills appeared first on TeamBonding.

Regardless of your level of experience, fear can have a profound effect on the way you handle yourself professionally, often in ways you don’t even realize. This can negatively impact the way employees see you and your growth within the organization.

Simply being aware of this fear, however, can give you power over it—along with the ability to eliminate it: “Being aware of our fear and how we personally respond to it will help us combat its effect and power over us. It is not the presence of fear, but our response to fear (both as leaders and as individuals) that matters,” says Alli Worthington, COO for Propel Women.

Get those fears in check by correcting the following fear-based habits, which affect the way you manage and work with others within your organization.

1. You Can’t Accept Constructive Criticism

As a leader in the spotlight, your shortcomings will be highlighted far more than your successes, so it’s important to remember that constructive criticism is never a bad thing. Unfortunately, not only is it your job to show respect for others’ opinions, even if they’re critiquing your work, but this fear of criticism can lead to procrastination. Soon enough it’s causing you to be late on deadlines and becomes out of control.

Kick the habit: Take three deep breaths before responding to any criticism. This stops you from having the knee-jerk, defensive response.

2. You Don’t Praise Good Work

Fear of failing at your own job can make you refrain from bringing attention to those who are doing a good job. Yet, praise is an important part of a healthy office culture where people are happy and thrive.

The Carrot Principal proved the value of praise with a 10-year study of more than 200,000 employees. Research found that when managers are good at recognizing employees, there’s lower turnover (than with managers who aren’t good at it), the organization is more successful, and leaders are seen as more accountable and trustworthy.

Kick the habit: Set a goal to praise at least one person a day, in a group or one-on-one. The more you make it a habit, the easier it will be to keep doing. When you see the positive benefits, the fear-based habit will start to fade.

3. You Dread Making Decisions

If you get uneasy about making big decisions or delay them because of confusion, you’re letting fear of the unknown get the best of you. While the downside of being the boss is that you’re the one who gets in trouble if something goes south, it’s just a part of the job.

It’s tempting to delegate your decisions, simply because you don’t want to worry. Even the best leaders make poor decisions sometimes. How you feel about the decision you’ve made is often more important than the actual decision, so trust your intuition.

Kick the habit: Write a list of all the decisions you’ve made that have gone well. Then make a list of the ones that haven’t. Try to identify the difference between the good and the bad, and work to be better at making decisions. Use all of your successes as proof to yourself that you can in fact make good decisions for the organization.

4. You Don’t Think You Deserve to Be There

Imposter syndrome comes from feeling that you’ve managed to get yourself in a position that you don’t deserve. Most of the time, this feeling isn’t grounded on anything besides insecurity. It’s an insecurity we all feel at some point in our lives, but as a leader, it can cause you to hold back from doing your best. You may also start questioning your decisions, your management tactics and your ability to do the job correctly.

Kick the habit: But how do you shake the feeling that you don’t belong? There are plenty of ways to combat imposter syndrome, but one of the easiest is to rethink your language. Stop framing your sentences with “I might” and “I feel”. Instead, say “I have a question” or “I know”.

5. You Avoid Taking Risks

When a leader stops taking risks, it’s typically due to fear of failure. In fact, 31 percent of Americans cite fear of personal failure as their number one fear, according to Fighting Fear: The 7 Billon Dollar Price Tag.

As a leader, it’s your job to take smart risks. It’s expected that not every initiative you put into play and every new tactic you try will work—so don’t let that stop you from doing your job and inspiring others to do the same.

Kick the habit: Start making small decisions that are seen as riskier and resist the urge to delegate. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and get feedback—even as a leader, it’s important to ask questions, especially if you’re new to the job. Work on making larger risky decisions with peers until you’re ready to do that yourself.

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