Team Building Summit County

This San Francisco Marketing Agency Just Wants to ‘Have Fun’ at Their Team Build

Fun – an oft forgotten idea in business. Believe or not, but the concept of ‘fun’ holds a lot of value and implications for business. While many executives and business leaders are focused on improving the productivity and efficiency of their teams and staff, employees having fun can actually be one of the most powerful forces in business today.

In may not come as a surprise that ‘fun’ stimulates creativity; however, it may come as a surprise that such fun and creativity can help employees better problem solve and develop creative solutions. Fun also is a great stress reliever for employees, and in turn, helps them better enjoy their work and also be less likely to leave a company. And wouldn’t you know it? Fun can benefit productivity as well. Where some may see fun coming at the expense of productivity, fun can actually boost productivity as people are found to produce higher volumes of work and a higher quality of work when they are enjoying their job. So as you can see, the idea of fun is really important in today’s work environment. As a result, we encourage and help companies we work with to have fun, whether making fun just a part of a team build activity or making fun the main objective for an entire team build activity.

For Metric Theory, a data driven marketing company based out of San Francisco, having fun was the top priority for their company event in Winter Park, Colorado. We were more than happy to oblige and decided to put the group of 80 people through our super enjoyable Amazing Race experience. This activity is inspired by the famous TV show, as we break people into teams and each team has to complete several different challenges in competition with each other.

On this day’s event, teams first participated in a Tumble Bubble kickoff, where individuals climbed into large inflatable bubbles and raced against each other. Next, teams were sent off with GPS devices to complete GPS-based challenges that involved using a GPS with provided clues to find objects in the shortest amount of time. This activity requires a lot of problem-solving and team communication. Next, teams completed a maze competition where each team had two members work through a maze, in which they had to find pictures and playing cards in a certain amount of time. Once individuals returned from the maze, teams had to make up a goofy sentence from the cards and pictures that they had pulled out of the maze. This activity really got teams going as they had a lot of fun with creativity required for this challenge.

Even though the day’s focus was ‘fun,’ another word seemed to be the theme for the day: communication. Our activities require teams to interact and collaborate with each in new and different ways. As a result, Metric Theory found their group challenged and stretched when it came to communicating in teams (and even openly admitted to this during the event). Yet, throughout the experience, we could see their communication skills improving from one activity to the next. And that’s what really matters – growth. What’s was pretty cool is Metric Theory was mainly concerned with having fun for the day and ended up growing as a team in the process. It’s these types of experiences that we aspire to create every time we work with a company.

So whether you’re interested in just having some fun and maybe growing along the way or want a more structured team building or leadership development experience, reach out to us. We’d love to learn more about your company’s needs.

CBST Adventures Featured in Boulder’s Daily Camera Newspaper

CBST Adventures and CEO Jay Irwin were recently featured in an article in the Daily Camera newspaper.

The article focuses on an interview with Jay and discusses how CBST Adventures is changing the landscape of leadership development and team building for companies in the Rocky Mountain region and beyond.

Be sure to check out the Daily Camera article here!

Growing Leadership Development Company Experiences the Perfect Team-Build

What do Leadership Development Consulting companies do when they need some team building and a little outside time? They come to CBST Adventures. We love when we get to work with companies who are as passionate about leadership development and team dynamics as we are. Such was the case when we put on an event for The Regis Company in Keystone. The Regis Company is a leadership development and coaching company that had brought 20 of their clients and 20 of their employees up to Keystone for a company conference. Our event was the team building portion of the conference and we were asked to incorporate the conference theme of ‘Thinking Forward.’ We love getting to do this integration with companies as it helps us ensure continuity with their meetings and also provide the highest level of impact for the participants!

In the spirit of anticipating the future, we decided to put the team through a customized progressive and forward thinking version of our mega popular Tactical Tablet event. The group of 30 participants first broke into teams and we kicked off the event with a friendly little game of Disc Golf. It’s a great opening primer that allows teams to warm up the muscles and get ready for a day’s worth of activity. We then started the tablet adventure and each team was given one GPS-enabled tablet and had to complete 62 questions for the day as part of the tablet challenge. As we modified this challenge specifically for the theme of the company’s meeting, we added in 10 questions that addressed key ideas, messages, and takeaways from their conference. Yep, we made people ‘walk and chew gum at the same time’ but everyone did great!

After all the teams completed the Tactical Tablet challenge, they returned to their resort in Keystone for the final activity, Rodeo Ramblers. For this activity, participants put on the goofiest cowboy hats we could find and then hop on inflatable mini-horses for a wild ride of rounding up stationary cattle steers. The sheer image of seeing adults wearing these ridiculous hats flailing around on inflatable horses is worth a thousand laughs (see the Facebook pics for the proof) and that’s why we do it. We have found, and research shows, that teams that have fun and laugh together, are more productive, have greater engagement at work, and overall are happier employees. Thus, we try to create fun-filled, laughter creating experiences and games like Rodeo Ramblers at nearly every event.

Once the day was over – you could just feel the joy in the air amongst the group. Teams did a little problem solving, got outside, laughed at one another, and overall had a great time! In our opinion, these are the ideal kind of team builds as they make for lasting experiences that people will take back with them to the office. Whether it’s reminiscing about a funny thing that happened or connecting with a colleague that someone didn’t know very well, it’s these type of interactions that we love to help create because we know they may not have happened otherwise and, more over, they change companies for the better.

If you interested in creating a fun-filled, team building experience for your company, reach out to us. We’d be happy to talk through what an event for your company would look like.

Growing Consumer Product Company Builds Bikes for At-Risk Local Youth

Safety. Compassion. Integrity. Respect. Fun. These are the core values of Trips for Kids Denver Metro, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to giving underserved and at-risk youth the opportunity to experience and learn about the natural beauty of Colorado from the view on top of a mountain bike. Their mission is to foster positive life skills and healthy development of youth through self-empowerment and community leadership. Recently, Trips for Kids partnered with CBST Adventures to run a team building experience for ALEn, a household cleaning product company. With many company departments represented including finance, sales, management, and marketing, ALEn’s goal for this team build was to build new relationships and new problem solving skills within a working environment other than their office.

For the team build event, ALEn participants were split up into 8 groups where they entered the first stage of the event: the Bike Build. Each team’s objective was to build 2 bikes and 16 in total with 8 teams. At the end of the day, all of the bikes would be donated to Trips for Kids. Putting their collaboration and communication skills to the test, the teams had to build children’s mountain bike from scratch. No small task to say the least. Along with building the bikes, teams were also asked to write a heartfelt message for each child who would receive the bike.

After a mandatory check from a certified bike mechanic, teams were able to move onto the next stage of the event called ‘Challenges.’ During this stage teams find out what their bikes are made of (literally) and ride them through a series of bike station challenges. The teams then broke off into different challenge stations. The first station, ‘Mountain Bike Disc Golf,’ required participants to ride their bikes through an assortment of cones and then attempt to make the Frisbee into a makeshift disc golf goal. Teams next got their limbo on at ‘Mountain Bike Limbo,’ where they had to pass through two different limbo heights, all while riding the bike they built. Other challenges included ‘Turtle Hunting,’ where teams got a good laugh in watching their coworkers act as “turtles,” laying on their backs with their legs up, while other participants had to toss bike tires onto the “turtles” legs. It might sound a little strange but it’s as fun and as goofy an activity as it can get. The teams were grinning ear to ear and cracking themselves up during a good part of this activity.

The day ended with dinner and a special thank you from a Trips for Kids representative, who shared the importance of the day’s activities for Trips for Kids, elaborated on their mission, and thanked the ALEn group for their contribution. We wanted to share that towards the beginning of the month, Trips for Kids had a very unfortunate and disheartening situation – one of their vans filled with at least a dozen children’s bikes was stolen. Since this heartbreaking occurrence, Trips for Kids has desperately needed new bikes to be built, and thus, the ALEn group was immensely grateful to have built and provided these bikes for Trips for Kids.

The event came to a close with hugs, thanks, and smiles on everyone’s faces, as well as positive and an encouraging spirit emanating from the ALEn team. What’s really neat is when you step back and reflect on the day’s event – not only did the ALEn group come together and work cross functionally within their team but they also took part in a charitable experience, first hand. In our opinion, that’s what you call a powerful team build.

If the above sounds like fun and you’d like to learn more about similar events, click here.

Prominent Large Consulting Firm Lets the Good Times Roll at Team Build

So often companies think that team builds have to be highly structured and serious events in order for them to be relevant and applicable to their business. In our experience working with companies from thriving small businesses to Fortune 10 corporations, laughter and fun can be incredibly powerful tools in bringing teams together. Make no mistake, structure and focus certainly have a place when it comes to team building but when these ideas become the primary focus, we find a team build is not as effective as it could be. So when prominent consulting firm Deloitte came to us to help them wrap up their 2017 planning meeting, we were sure to bring the fun.

In learning that the Deloitte was coming off a couple days of intensive meetings, we felt like the group would really benefit from some active experiences that emphasized enjoyment and silliness. The day began with a Disc Golf competition that the group had fun with, especially as some folks struggled to throw the disc and received some playful ribbings from their colleagues. All in good fun, of course.

We then moved on to our main event – the super popular GPS Challenge, where the group was broken into teams and were provided a GPS unit and a camera. The object of the game was to complete challenges throughout the town of Vail using clues we provided. Teams are awarded points for how well they complete their challenges and the team with most points at the end of the day wins. Challenges for the day included the hilarious Tour De Trikester, where adult participants ride child-sized tricycles around a mini-bike course, and the entertainingly ridiculous Rode Ramblers, which involves participants hoping around on inflatable mini-horses and trying to rope and wrangle targets all while wearing outrageous cowboy hats. The images alone bring out non-stop smiles and laughter but the good times really happen as folks dive in on these events.

What was especially neat to witness with this group from Deloitte was that while they certainly competed against one another for the GPS Challenge, they also were just really excited to partake in the different challenges and their enthusiasm was evident from one challenge to another. We love seeing teams having a great time like this and not taking themselves or the event too seriously. If you haven’t seen them already, we highly recommend you check out the pictures on Facebook as they’re pretty enjoyable, complete with people doing planks, posing with statues, and even some dancing.

It’s safe to say that at the end of the day folks were relishing the day after a rollicking good time. The team was also more connected at days end – the events, while ridiculous at times, gave them an experience to share and bond over for sure. It was great to watch and be a part of.

If your company or team is interested in working with us, give us a shout! We’d love to chat with you.

Well-Known Healthcare Product Company Finds Big-Time Fun in Team Building Event

Retreats, sales meetings, or quarterly reviews have become necessary lifeblood for businesses today. They’re great for looking back and planning ahead or even charting a new course. Oftentimes, however, these meetings can be quite intense and mentally draining after a full day or two of discussions, presentations, and problem solving. In these situations, companies and teams need a fun, relaxing break to balance the meeting work and also help bring people together. Enter CBST Adventures. Recently, a well-known healthcare product company held some team meetings in Vail and engaged CBST Adventures to inject some fun and downtime into their meetings through team building activities.

Many people may think of team building as not actually fun but more ‘mandatory fun’ – a forced activity that’s not genuinely a good time. We totally understand this, and as a result, we offer team building events that will often incorporate some degree of silliness into them. One of the activities we put this company through is called Tour de Trikester, where we have participants partake in a very mini-bicycle course on kid’s tricycles. If you can’t picture several adults on tiny tricycles, it’s downright hilarious. At the same time, as this activity is a competition, when the group is broken into teams, they can’t help but get into the activity in the spirit of competing against their coworkers. What we observe in these situations is the teams will then come up with creative strategies, encourage their coworkers, and communicate with one another without much prompting from us. We don’t tell the participants this (or at least not until the end of the day) but amidst all the fun and goofiness going on, they’re actually working on skills that have vital importance in the workplace.

Probably the best part of the day was getting to see the this company’s teams take part in our Aviation Creation activity. While this activity took place near the end of the day when you’d expect a lot of teams to be checked out, this company was all in. The challenge involved building flyable airplanes out of random plywood and foam pieces. Trust us, it’s a little bit more involved then the wooden or foam planes you got as a kid and could put together in five minutes. Once the planes were built, the teams then competed against one another to see whose plane could fly the furthest. The ingenuity folks put into designing and building the planes was impressive to say the least. Though, some planes designs and subsequent flights were not so impressive, you can be sure they got a lot of laughs. Once again, it was another activity that was pretty fun and silly at the core, yet required teams to come together, think creatively, and collaborate in trying to achieve a goal.

At the end of the day, people were smiling, laughing, and overall feeling relaxed. After daylong meetings in a conference room, you could say the experience with us was just what the doctored ordered. We’re just grateful to have helped create a memorable, fun-filled event that also helped a team grow and become more connected. Honestly, we’re not sure there’s anything more a company could want out of a team build.

If the above sounds like fun or if you’re interested in additional team building activities for your team or company, reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you!