Strengthen your team spirit!

Believe it or not, we spend 60% to 70% of our daily lives at work, according to the website marketplaceleaders.org. Surrounded by the same faces, with the exception of new recruits, we are constantly in the process of building, maintaining and breaking working relationships with our colleagues. Employers are usually at wits' end to see if their employees will seriously work together. Employees want to see how well they can work with their team. However, will you wait until a crisis occurs to see how well your team will pull together?

Above: Rafting below:Canoeing Pix. Borderlands

Helping your team realise their potential and braving the storm to tackle challenges is every corporate requirement. You need to build team spirit and allow enemies to be friends in times of need. One vital aspect of testing your team's effort is to have corporate training but it is often seen as boring exercise where you huddle in a air-conditioned conference room and some big shot talks about self-improvement. This is bound to make the team less motivated especially when someone who is 'superior' tries to tell everyone to pull their socks.

One of the best corporate training exercises or excursions which is cheaper than paying for team accommodation in a popular resort is 'Adventure Based Training Programs'. A fitting example of this is what the company Borderlands (Pvt) Limited does in team building. With excursions like white water rafting in Kitulgala and Avissawella to kayaking on the Mahaweli River and even rock climbing. Borderlands have proved that you can harness a better team potential by overcoming hurdles. Wade Campbell the managing director of the company said, "Immediate actions outdoors have a direct result on your workplace actions indoors. You should be passionate about what you do and a little mishap from a single member of a team will cause the whole team to break."

Not only does it strengthen team ties, it also fires a passion with Mother Nature. "By taking part in the eco-based program, you have first hand encounters with nature and we set an example of respecting it by taking our garbage with us, never using plastic bottles and eating food wrapped in banana leaves," said Wade. Rafting takes place in Kitulgala close to the Nature Reserve, the Mahaweli excursion goes on to the Wasgamuwa National Park.

"A firm emphasis on safety regulations is followed because there are plenty of so-called 'service providers' mushrooming who don't adhere to safety standards," said Wade. If something were to go wrong along the way, the consequences would be deadly as safety guidelines are not met. They adopt a 'Learning by Doing' concept with skills, support, spirit, trust, rescue, biking, high ropes and water sports.

"Overcoming obstacles individually to strengthen the team is another area we specialise in," said Wade, speaking about how adventure sports can test an individual's fear factor and ways on overcoming it.Greenlife Adventures, another adventure based training company is also in partnership with Borderlands to take those from the government institutions to help them work together.

"It is important that we motivate people from all walks of life to work together instead of just working for the sake of it," said a spokesperson from Greenlife. By making a wise decision and a fun trip for your staff with eco-based adventure training and leisure, you will not only harness team spirit but also make useful factors in your organisation.