Why archery is good for team building
Posted on February 9, 2021 by Delyth Morgan-Coghlan (Del)
In this blog we take a look at why archery and other similar individual activities and challenges are good for team building.
When you think of team building activities you don't necessarily think of individual pursuits like archery, although archery has been popular as an activity for Christmas functions and events for eons. But there are team building benefits to archery that might not be obvious until you think a little deeper about it.
Ultimately, archery is an individual activity where a single person looks to hone their shooting skills with a bow and arrow in an attempt to hit the bullseye and accumulate the highest score over a number of rounds. At Olympic level, this is a highly competitive and intense sport and was first introduced to the Olympics in 1900.
But when you do an archery session as part of a team building activity, there are lots of elements at play and it can be an excellent activity for teams for all sorts or reasons. For a start, there's the basic principle of a team accumulating points together to try and beat another team's points. What this does is bring out the competitive spirit in groups and in turn it gets the team supporting each other for the team's overall performance. That alone is a characteristic that most, if not all, companies would like to see reflected back in the workplace. Doing it for the combined benefit of the team and the business not just for individual glory.
When we're there supporting a team mate or colleague to succeed at archery, we are displaying true teamwork behaviours. We are vocal in our encouragement of another team member, egging them on, supporting their efforts and celebrating out loud when they do really well. And even when they're not doing so well, we've still got some positive words or encouragement and we lift their spirits with positive comments. Don't we need more of that in our daily working lives!
On an individual level, archery is a great personal confidence booster. When you can master a new activity and witness your own progress and success it's a reminder and an affirmation that you are capable of learning, of developing new skills and applying yourself to a challenge, whatever that challenge is. It's part of our growth mindset to overcome challenges that we're not sure we can do. It gives us a positive boost and it creates positive vibes amongst the group too. Here's a perfect example of it in action. The triple bullseye, a seemingly impossible task for a beginner. But with focus, determination and a can do attitude, it's possible and everyone in the team benefits from that feeling.
So next time you're pondering what activity you should do for team building, don't forget to look a little deeper at the benefits of archery and other individual challenges which can be done as a team. It might just be the highlight for everyone and boost their teamwork for the months ahead.
"In the long run, you only hit what you aim at"
If you'd like to include archery as one of your team building stations at your next team building event, you've come to the right place
Contact us at any time to talk through your brief and see what we can do.