Conducting your company team building outside Singapore has its own
advantages. Cost of hotels and resorts are relatively cheaper after
currency conversion. You don’t have to worry
participants asking for excuses to go off to work or attending other
important matters. The experience of going overseas for short holiday
can boost the morale of the team and it is a good way to show
appreciation to the team. While planning for your oversea team building
programme, we have some suggestions to make your team building a
pleasant and delightful one.
1. Make sure team members have valid passport or travelling visa
It is advisable to inform the team one month before the team building programme and check validity of their travelling documents. You won’t want some of your team members to be stopped and asked to turn back at the immigration check-point. It is definitely not a good way to start a team building programme.
2. Give buffer time for travelling time
Although your travel itinerary indicates the time of arrival, do not assume that your flight, tour bus or ferry will arrive on time. Furthermore, delay can happen at the immigration check-point for as long as 1 hour. If your team building programme is running on the same day of the travelling, give a buffer time of an hour or more for possible delay. It is better to be mentally prepared for such hiccups than be disappointed by the unexpected delays.
3. Get up-to-date information about the venue
Most often, pictures in the travel brochures and resorts’ websites are not “what you see is what you get”. Brochures and website may be outdated. Facilities and places of interest that they promote in those materials may be either closed or under renovation by the time you are visiting.
Call the resort and check with them the status of the facilities and places of interest. Alternatively, you can also find out from someone who has visited the resort recently.
4. Avoid Peak Holiday Season
Room rates are usually higher during holiday season. It will increase your budget for the team building. In addition, popular destination will be packed with holiday makers and families. It can be tough running some outdoor activities at the resort. We had encountered previously some playful children coming to “destroy” the entire activity setup just before the team can start to play.
5. Observe and respect local customs and culture
Some Asian countries are still very traditional. Their custom and culture may be very different from the ones in Singapore. For instance, when visiting Buddhist temples in Thailand, it would be consider inappropriate to dress in tank-tops and shorts. In Bali, majority of the Hindu locals are very friendly and mild-temper. Behaving aggressively towards them while bargaining at the market can be considered rude and disrespectful.
6. Accommodation and logistics for team building programme
Plan the logistic and accommodation for the team carefully. You won’t want a female colleague ended up sharing the same room with a male colleague or someone without a room to stay due to errors in the rooming list. It would be best for the organiser and the trainers to arrive at the resort 1 day before the team building programme to sort out the function room equipments, rooming and food arrangement. This can reduce a lot of unforeseen items that were missed out during planning and cause unnecessary frustration.
Although the work involved in organising an overseas trip team building may be challenging, it is a great reward for the team, honouring them the hard work they had contributed to the company.
Our team building trainers are have conducted numerous team building at resorts outside Singapore. You can always ask them for recommendations.