For those managers who dread "The Office" bonding sessions, there are spectacular alternatives that are fun as well. Lansbury Marine of Knaphill operates a 58ft sailing yacht based on the Solent near Southampton, which can take 12 "team players" and a professional crew of 2 or3. Team Building events are usually designed to fill a day on the Solent, but could be any duration or location. The ketch (2 masts) "Eccolan" is about an hours drive from the Woking area and easily found at Swanwick Marina on the A27. On arrival, the team will be greeted by the skipper and crew and following introductions and formalities, given a hearty breakfast, while donning team clothing, logo'd caps, t-shirts etc.

The skipper will give a safety briefing and explain some of the gear on board, including the "moving" parts and run through a man overboard recovery procedure (note). All take part in readying the boat for sea. The guests are split into two teams and each chooses a name for themselves (very game show… better than A & B!). One team is then shown below to study charts and instruments while the team on deck are given a sailing lesson. The teams are swapped and given basic challenges such as "where are we?" and "navigate to this waypoint" using only chart and compass (and a knotted string). Points are awarded for accuracy by GPS! (this exercise gets quite interesting in fog…)

At some stage during the day, the skipper will throw a spare fender over the side and see if anyone reacts! What he's looking for is someone to shout "Man Overboard" and for the team on watch to recover the "person" as quickly as possible. Both teams will be tested and points awarded on times. After all their activities, the guests will be allowed to unwind ashore during lunch and the crew will discuss the morning's exercises and suggest how things might have gone!
The afternoon's team building will be explained, which usually entails some competitive boat tuning and sail trimming for the fastest hull speed. Each team will start with the boat in neutral and can adjust anything to make the yacht go faster. The boat's speed is measured by an accurate ultra-sonic ship's log. When all the exercises are completed, the yacht will return to the marina and there will be a short winding-up session, before the "bonded team" depart with lungs full of fresh sea-air not stuffy office…
Lansbury Marine can tailor the team building to your company's requirements and will liaise with the managers as to exactly what is to be achieved during the day. For example, some exercises can be set where specific people are given their own role beforehand, other tasks could be a free-for-all where a leader emerges; this is not always as predicted! But it does allow some of the junior members to shine through and take initiatives. You can be guaranteed to have a better understanding of your staff and a stronger team after sailing with Lansbury Marine. www.lansbury.co.uk/marine