P ing! An invitation has landed in your work inbox (is it really an invitation if attendance is compulsory, though?) The subject: “Office team-building away day!” What follows is a packed itinerary mixing jollity and hardcore business strategy. Your morning call time is 7.30am, when you’re expected to be at the station for the first train out of the city, and you won’t return until at least 12 hours later (overnight trips appear to have been vetoed, a decision that may or may not be linked to the mutterings you’ve overheard in the communal kitchen about “what happened last time”).
If you’ve had an office job over the course of, say, the past two decades, it’s pretty likely that you have received an email much like this one. Team building has become a mainstay of our modern working life; you might embark on such sessions annually, twice yearly or even monthly, depending on your HR team’s zealousness. In theory, these sessions can build morale, strengthen bonds between colleagues and help workers feel more valued, as well as allow them to think about their work in a different way.
However, when it comes to away days, retreats and group bonding, the corporate world seems to be divided into two very vocal camps. There are those who thrill at the idea of, say, spending the afternoon in an escape room with a motley crew of office characters, or racing their work nemesis through an inflatable assault course. And then there are those who are chilled to the bone by.
