Go-Kart Racing: A Corporate Team-Building Activity That Isn’t Virtual
Team building events have evolved way past trust falls. As a corporate event coordinator, you can boost your company’s culture with an activity where they can let their personalities shine!
Put your pedal to the metal and take team building to the next level at Tampa Bay Grand Prix — your place to race. With a convenient location in Clearwater, Florida, our corporate go-karting events give team building a refreshing twist. You’ll have more fun with the speediest karts than with any company video call.
Moving Away From Virtual Team-Building Activities
Virtual team-building activities have become commonplace as more businesses transition to online work. While these exercises come with their own benefits, they also have potential drawbacks.
1. Difficulty Collaborating
Connecting over the internet can be taxing, especially for remote workers suffering from screen fatigue. Even with video conferences, team members may be unable to participate verbally since only one person can speak at a time.
In comparison, in-person activities allow you to break off employees into teams, where they can foster a sense of unity and ask each other questions while still being part of the main event.
2. Lack of Trust
Building trust still requires the team to be present. Different time zones or other life circumstances may prevent your team from engaging in these essential trust-building exercises. If your virtual team-building activities are not well-organized, they can also stifle your employees’ ability to build trust with one another and mingle. Likewise, some team members may find that introducing themselves or participating in a large online meeting doesn’t feel as natural as communicating in person.
3. A Sense of Disconnect
It’s easy for employees to feel disengaged from virtual activities when they’re staring at their teammates on a screen. In some cases, workers may not even turn their cameras on to show their faces. Bonding through a screen can also feel unnatural because you cannot tell if employees are making eye contact or looking at something else on their screen.
4. Technical Difficulties
Technical problems are common, especially when working with remote or hybrid teams. However, these issues can cause frustrations and end up souring the employee experience. Outdated hardware, screen lags, slow internet connections and security issues can disrupt the flow of your team-building event and affect your momentum.
Virtual events can also be rife with distractions. Dogs barking, doorbells ringing and phone alerts can all keep your employees from focusing on the activity.
5. Body Language Barriers
A key factor of team building is learning communication skills — and reading body language is vital.
Though your employees can communicate with virtual events, seeing when someone talks with their hands or crosses their arms is sometimes impossible. Face-to-face events allow your team members to identify body language signals and facial expressions for more effective communication.
Team building is an essential component of company success. To ensure your members reach their full potential, you should make the most of these activities by hosting them in person. Face-to-face team-building exercises provide ample opportunity for your workers to collaborate, establish trust and connect.
7 Benefits of Team Building Go-Kart Racing for Corporate Teams
Go-kart team building does more than get your blood pumping. It’s a fun, innovative way to bond with your workers and challenge them to achieve their personal best. You and your team members will enjoy benefits many other business leaders miss out on, including:
1. Higher Company Morale
The laughs, the victories, the best pizza in Florida — your workers will carry this memorable experience from the track all the way back to the office, feeling pride in their own achievements as well as those of their team. This mindset can help boost morale and make your team members feel valued and appreciated!
2. Enhances Thinking Speed
Go-kart racing challenges your employees to arrive at creative solutions and make decisions while under pressure. When they bring this skill back to work, your company is sure to emerge a winner, too.
3. Awareness of Strengths and Weaknesses
With corporate go-karting events for your team, you’ll gain insight into who’s naturally more competitive or quick on their feet. This information is invaluable when assessing and building your team.
4. Builds Communication
A team-building go-kart activity requires your workers to communicate with each other verbally or through gestures to avoid collisions and achieve their goals. While they’re focused on winning the game, they will also be breaking down barriers and promoting inclusion.
5. Improves Camaraderie
With go-kart racing team building, your teams must strategize to complete as many laps as possible within a set amount of time. This challenging yet exciting task lets your team members get to know their coworkers in a relaxed, fun environment. What’s more, they’ll learn how each person approaches a problem with a unique solution. You can watch in real time as they work together to keep their team at the top of the scoreboard!
6. Offers a Change of Environment
Whether you have in-person, remote or hybrid workers, everyone loves getting out of the office for the day! Consider indoor go-kart team-building events like a field trip for your employees. It allows them to put their focus on an exhilarating, collaborative task that won’t feel like an obligation.
Changing up their physical environment can also make your event more memorable. Your team will look back on this day as a mental “break” from the busy work week, but it’s actually an informal way of deepening team engagement!
7. Promotes Leadership Skills
Each employee brings unique skills to your company. In-person team-building activities like go-karting allow individuals to exercise their problem-solving, delegation and decision-making skills. For a task like racing, everyone has to learn to lead and follow. This event can help emerging leaders take charge while enthusiastic individuals motivate their team members. Everyone has a valuable role to play!
Foster Fun, Healthy Competition at Tampa Bay Grand Prix!
Though it’s a crucial exercise, team building is often at the bottom of the company to-do list. By being here, you’re already ahead of the game. Take your employees for a spin around the track for your next team-building activity, and you’ll be winning more than a go-kart race. Contact us today for more information!
