3 outdoor team building activities to kick off the autumn season

3 outdoor team building activities to kick off the autumn season

Scavenger hunt in the country

There’s no better place than the countryside to fully appreciate the many charms of the autumn season. This is particularly true in Central Italy, with its hilly landscapes and thick woods, that burn red and yellow with falling leaves. Here, the days are still long and warm, but the evenings are cool enough to allow for cheerful gatherings by a roaring fireplace, with hearty food and rich red wines. When planning a wine-tasting, waiting for autumn is always a good idea: summer selections tend to focus exclusively on white wines, that are deemed more suitable to the season, as they are generally consumed cold. This would mean foregoing the stunning production of reds of regions like Tuscany: you don’t want to miss out on that. This is also the perfect season for one of our favourite team building activities: a scavenger hunt. One of our favourites was the one we organised for Barilla in the Tuscan countryside, using the region’s beautiful hills and quaint medieval villages as the perfect backdrop for a discovery journey through history, tradition, culture and – of course – food. Because there is no better way of ending an outdoor team-building day than a visit to a local winery for a tasting of fine wines. The team building benefits of this activity are several. First and foremost it is a fun and effective way of bonding with your colleagues and employees. Scavenger hunts also help develop a specific set of skills that can come in handy in the workplace, such as creative problem-solving, coordination, the ability to listen to one another and take ideas from every member of a team, and the ability to work to a deadline. And let’s not forget all of this can happen in one of the most beautiful regions in the world and be fuelled by delicious Italian food and excellent wine.

Put on your snowshoes!

Not all Italian regions enjoy warm autumns with long days and mild temperatures: in the North, particularly on mountain resorts, autumn is a completely different experience, more often than not featuring a few dashes of white – enough for a snowman and a snowball fight. Snow, however, is no reason to stay indoors. If anything, it is an incentive to go outside and enjoy the sparkling beauty of a winter wonderland. We have organised team building experiences in several Northern Italian locations, and the Thuille woods are among our all-time favourites. The stunning landscapes of this sub-region look like they could reasonably be inhabited by fairies, pixies and elves. This is our go-to location for team building activities featuring orienteering events and all kinds of outdoor sports, providing exciting challenges for our clients, with the added bonus of an ever-changing and breathtaking scenery. And if it starts to snow in earnest, we will just put on our snowshoes and go for a hike, ready to welcome the cold season in with a smile.

Paintball attack!

There is one outdoor activity that works better in autumn than summer or spring is paintball. This is the perfect exercise for those wishing to hone tactical and strategic skills, as well as leadership and coordination (and to let out that extra steam and go back to the office in a more relaxed state of mind). The reason this sport is best played in the cold season, is that it requires participants to wear full-body gear that can get really hot in the sun. The best thing about paintball is that it fits perfectly in a variety of locations. You just have to create a different narrative for a countryside chase or a woodland guerrilla, for a post-industrial adventure in an abandoned building or for a fight on the beach.