Many of our customers are businesses (both SMEs and large corporations) looking for the perfect team-building activity. Sailing is a fantastic way to work on communication skills and to bond with co-workers you might not normally spend time with outside of work hours. It’s also worth noting that getting out into nature, moving along Scotland’s incredible coastline, is guaranteed to reinvigorate and inspire your workforce. In this blog post, we’d like to make a case for choosing a sailing trip with Flamingo Yacht Charters for your next corporate day out.
Sailing is the Perfect Team-Building Exercise
Team-building exercises have been incredibly popular in recent years, and many big companies are strong advocates of their benefits. The idea is relatively simple: give your colleagues/employees a fun but challenging experience that encourages them to work together and bond as a team. Sailing is the perfect team-building exercise, for three main reasons:
Sailing requires clear communication
A team can’t function well without good communication, and sailing a yacht is impossible without good communication. Even the simple act of changing direction requires clear communication as there are several different components of the yacht that have to be coordinated and moved in unison. Without good communication, the yacht won’t go where you want it to, and the unique challenge sailing creates helps develop stronger communication lines between co-workers.
Sailing requires a clear chain of command
This point can also be seen as an extension of clear communication. When sailing, everyone needs to perform their specific role, and this usually necessitates taking orders from someone in charge — someone looking at all of the parts of the yacht and what they need to do as a team. In a way, this is also very true of the business world. If you choose sailing for your corporate day out, you can either have a manager serve as the captain of the yacht or you can rotate this role, giving each team member an opportunity to practice their leadership and delegation skills.
The challenge of sailing bonds a team together
Sailing can be difficult. It isn’t always difficult, but it certainly can be. The challenges of working together on a yacht can push a team closer together as they help each other out and interact more closely than they are used to in an office environment. The sometimes not-so-simple act of sailing a yacht is incredibly satisfying and rewarding once everything starts to work. Sailing together can give colleagues/employees a strong sense of camaraderie that they perhaps couldn’t get from office work alone.
Getting Out in Nature Is Good for Your Health
Restored 13th Century Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull
Team building and improving communication skills are obviously important for any big company, but there are other valuable reasons to choose a sailing trip for your next big corporate day out. Perhaps the best reason is this: being outside, in nature, is incredibly good for our mental and physical health. There’s no point in having a brilliant team of professionals if they are too stressed or anxious to perform to their best abilities.
There is plenty of evidence that being outside, in nature, is good for us, and this article roughly summarises many of the benefits. For instance, a Dutch study found that being out in nature, performing repetitive tasks, can improve your stress levels far better than other leisure activities. It’s also worth noting that fresh air improves blood pressure and being outside, exposed to sunlight, can help normalise your sleeping patterns.
In addition to all of these points above, being surrounded by beautiful scenery can be immensely pleasurable and it can give us a strong sense of wellbeing. That’s why the incredible locations along the west coast of Scotland provide the best backdrop for your sailing trip. Scotland frequently reaches the top spot in international polls asking people where in the world they believe has the most beautiful scenery. Competing with New Zealand, Canada, and Iceland, Scotland has some of the most stunning views and landscapes and its jagged west coast is guaranteed to take your breath away.
We hope this blog post has convinced a few readers to make their next big corporate day out a sailing trip! It’s an incredibly rewarding experience and Scotland has one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. Take a look at our yacht charter service or get in touch if you have any questions. We are happy to work with you to create the perfect corporate experience for your team.