Five Qualities to Look For in a Team Building Provider

For those industry professionals looking to hire a professional team builder, the process can seem a bit daunting. What will work to build morale and strengthen relationships, and how? What type of team building is truly and professionally effective, rather than simply being an excuse to play games or have a nice day outdoors?

 Separating the wheat from the chaff is not always easy. Some team builders are more “casual” than others, and all have varying degrees of skill, so if you are looking for a serious provider that can deliver according to the needs of a large corporate client, it’s important to be selective and thorough during the hiring process. When searching for a professional team building provider, look for the following five qualities:

1. Check for experience. Novice providers are unlikely to have handled many large corporate clients, so if that is what you need, it’s best to look for a provider that has a large body of experience in tailoring and delivering programs to corporate clients. Co-ordinating a large corporate event in an organised fashion takes a whole different skill set than hosting, for example, a simple sporting event for a small group. Look for references and client testimonials, particularly testimonials from clients with needs similar to your own. 

2. Make sure that the provider has a wide range of methods, programs, and concepts at the ready, so that they can custom-tailor events to your needs. The provider should be willing to build a program from scratch to suit your specifications. 

3. Make sure the provider has comprehensive and total (not partial) public liability insurance. No professional team event provider even leaves the building with a group of people without this in place. Plus, the fact that a provider is deemed insurable is a good sign that they have a proven track record, one that is trusted by major insurance companies.

4. Ensure that the provider has a permanent stock of quality equipment suited to the kind of events it provides. This is essential for safety reasons, to create a well-co-ordinated experience, and it also shows a high level of commitment to team building on the part of the provider.

5. Look for a fresh take on how activities are developed. Beware of providers who use the same old “stock” of concepts to create events from, as an event that is not original will not be engaging to the team. Look for creativity and ingenuity on the part of the team building provider; this will lead to events that challenge your team and facilitate the best lessons in teamwork possible.