When the Michigan Boating Industries Association of Commerce Township held its annual board of directors’ retreat in Port Huron last October, one of the activities involved completing an escape room presented by Port Huron-based The Hallway Entertainment. “The groups had to work together to finish the escape room,” says the association’s Vice President of Marketing Amanda Wendecker. “It’s important to do things like that. You get to know your board members—you’re not just in a meeting.”
Like Wendecker, planners are increasingly incorporating team-building activities into agendas for events of all sizes. Kim Corcoran of Destination Michigan and Meetings Michigan says many workers are still remote or on hybrid schedules. Meetings that incorporate team-building elements help bring them together, she notes.
Whether for a corporate group or association with far-flung members and vendors, team-building events can range from informative or recreational outings to classes that teach new skills, challenges where attendees must work together to complete a task (sometimes for charitable purposes), or active pursuits that might include curling, mountain biking, field days, climbing, or high-ropes courses.
Some of these collaborative activities are one-size-fits-all, but others might be customized to meet objectives specific to a particular group. Michelle Yurcak, president of Ann Arbor-based destination management company Premium Event Services, tries her best to pinpoint the goals clients want to achieve before planning team-building events. “As a planner, it is my job to get to the root of what the client’s expected outcome actually is,” she says.
Strengthening Bonds
Jenn Morden, convention services and events manager for Choose Lansing, says she sees many planners who aim to depart from tradition by getting out of the meeting room and into less-conventional venues and activities. “When [teams] step outside their usual environments and connect in a meaningful way, they tend to return to their office more aligned, more energized, and more motivated,” Morden says.
Marcy Simpson, the executive director of Visit Southwest Michigan in Benton Harbor, says team-building activities are beneficial for a broad spectrum of groups: sales and leadership teams, cross-functional and project-based staff, nonprofits, sports entities, and more. “Some expected results of team-building activities are improved communication, enhanced collaboration and teamwork, boosted morale and engagement, and increased productivity,” Simpson says. She also cites problem-solving and creativity, building trust and relationships, identifying leaders and strengths, onboarding and integration, conflict resolution, and reinforcing company culture as other achievable outcomes.
Delamar Traverse City recently rolled out a formal menu of team-building options for planners to access. “We were starting to get quite a few requests for additional team building outside of the typical off-site tours and excursions,” says the hotel’s Director
of Sales and Marketing Taryn Miracle. Options include a mixology class, yoga, a Southwest-style mixer activity that has teams making guacamole and salsa, cooking and pizza-making classes, wine tasting, wine-pairing dinners, and a cupcake-decorating challenge.
ElizaBeth Hacker, director of sales for The Inn at Harbor Shores in St. Joseph, says planners hosting there incorporate everything from golf outings and trail walking to cocktail-mixing classes, salsa-making competitions, sunset cruises, river tours, and harborside bonfires into their meeting itineraries. “Whether it’s to boost communication, build trust, or just break up a long day of meetings, these team-building activities help create a more engaged, cohesive group,” she says.
Sky’s the Limit
Traverse City Tourism’s Director of Meeting Services Sarah Barnard says Traverse City attractions for team building include pickleball courts, learn-to-sail classes, indoor electric go-kart racing at K1 Speed Traverse City, lessons in whiskey blending at Mammoth Distilling, and curling at Traverse City Curling Club. “Curling is an ideal team-building outing because it is an inclusive sport and a game nearly everyone can learn and play together regardless of age or athletic ability,” says Traverse City Curling Club Executive Director Kate Sterken.
Simpson cites a list of activities planners might consider in southwest Michigan. Outdoor adventures include kayaking and paddleboarding, scavenger hunts, or a trip to The Woods Fitness Park in Benton Harbor, with more than 60 obstacles, fishing charters, boat excursions, fat biking, and snowshoeing in season. Other ideas include classes in cooking, glass blowing, painting, and candle making.
Escape rooms, ax throwing, bowling, arcade games, and trivia nights also are good choices in southwest Michigan, with many similar offerings available in other parts of the state. Sean Nash, general manager of Escape Room Novi—which has a sister location in Brighton along with a mobile component—says the premise of working together to use clues to escape is ideal for helping groups bond. “The natural concept of an escape room is to explore, communicate, find items, and complete puzzles,” he says. “It forces people to communicate and tell each other what they found. It also helps with problem-solving skills.”
Valhalla Indoor Axe Throwing in Mount Pleasant offers cornhole and ladder golf, as well as its signature hatchet-throwing games. BattleGR in Grand Rapids, where attendees might engage in competitive games, including laser tag, ax throwing, archery tag (with foam-tipped arrows), and cornhole, receives lots of corporate business. “Most companies have many different age groups, demographics, and athletic abilities, and we’re able to fill in that gap for everybody,” says BattleGR owner Jenny Lashuay.
Golf often is a staple of business get-togethers and also serves as a team-building opportunity. Director of Sales Mike Flynn of Gaylord’s Treetops Resort, which is preparing to undergo a $500,000 renovation of its conference/convention facilities, says team building there can include a chance to take on a golf pro with its “Closest to the Pin” challenge, 18 holes of championship golf, and playing a nine-hole disc golf course. Other on-site options include scavenger hunts, challenges like those seen on the TV series “The Amazing Race,” volleyball, team strategy games, and more.
One of a Kind
Corcoran hired a company called Puzzle Ruckus Teambuilding based in Scottsdale, Arizona, as part of an event at Delamar Traverse City last year. Puzzle Ruckus’ National Team Lead
Pamela Jann says a hallmark result of the company’s activities is broken- down silos, noting, “Our puzzles are not just games—they also are subtly crafted to underscore crucial workplace lessons.”
Corcoran also included team-building opportunities as part of a Destination Michigan Certified Meeting Professional Experience event she held at Bay Pointe in Shelbyville, with activities like a scavenger hunt built using a free app called Goosechase. “Bay Pointe is a great team-building location,” Corcoran says. The resort accommodates gatherings of up to 300 attendees.
In Lansing, Morden described a customized activity that had a group visit Alt Printing Co., a screen-printing studio where participants designed their own tote bags. “Everybody was able to be creative with colors or the design they wanted to do,” she says. Another one-of-a-kind option in the East Lansing area is The Local Epicurean’s group cooking classes. “Every person on a team has their own part in the process,” Morden says of the classes, noting Choose Lansing is always on the lookout for new and creative ways to provide team-building options to meeting planners.
Yurcak recalls taking a group on a scavenger hunt for pieces of a puzzle at the Detroit Zoo. The finished puzzle depicted a crossword filled with recent sales goals the group had achieved. She also once organized an activity where teams earned Monopoly money to “buy” groceries and fill bags for a nearby Ronald McDonald House Charities location.
Los Angeles-based Laughter on Call does events all over the U.S., including in Michigan, for virtual, hybrid, and in-person gatherings. It works off a basic format full of improv games and activities, and its leaders use comedy principles and improv tools that make participation accessible regardless of age, experience, personality type, or background.
In Ann Arbor, Michigan Stadium tours at the University of Michigan are a huge draw, says Destination Ann Arbor Business Development Manager Kristy Poore. When Destination Ann Arbor and Meetings Michigan hosted event planners from around the U.S. for the Meetings Michigan Experience in June, Destination Ann Arbor staff had participants’ nameplates mounted on the lockers, a special touch. (See photos from the event on page 38.)
The same group experienced a sound bath courtesy of Ann Arbor’s 7 Notes Natural Health, where attendees were immersed in soothing sounds and vibrations designed to foster relaxation. They also created bonbons with the city’s Mindo Chocolate Makers.
Dorothy Mott, director of sales at Meet Mt. Pleasant, says Dan Gaken, director of the Sarah R. Opperman Leadership Institute at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, also puts on team-building programs. “He’s especially good about talking to the person in charge and asking, ‘What are you looking for your group to get out of this?’” Mott says.
Another opportunity in the Mount Pleasant area is slot tournaments courtesy of Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort. “They don’t involve any [actual] money,” Mott says. “I have done it for 40 people and they turned 40 machines into a slot tournament.” At Crystal Mountain near Thompsonville, “Crystal Crazy Olympics” is part of an extensive list of offerings in the resort’s recreation guide. For up to 50 attendees, the activity includes an opening ceremony, along with goofy games and relays that culminate in an awards ceremony. Other popular team-building events include archery tag, trivia, and scavenger hunts.
In the Upper Peninsula, Keweenaw Adventure Co. provides mountain-biking tours and sea-kayaking adventures. “In Copper Harbor, where we’re at, there’s no cell phone signal,” says owner Raymond Landsberg. “It forces people to put down their phones and get out in the woods or on the water and reconnect.”
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