Rafting in Team Building
Bamboo rafts are a traditional means of transportation on rivers and coastal waters in Viet Nam. Not only serving to make a living, rafts were also a means of transporting weapons and military supplies to serve the battlefield in the past. During the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954, on the Nam Na River, there were 11,600 rafts overcoming many fierce waterfalls to transport over 2,000 tons of rice. In 1993, Timothy Severin, a British explorer, used a Vietnamese raft to travel 8,850km in 105 days across the Pacific Ocean. Tim helped introduce Vietnamese bamboo rafts to the world.
In the field of team building, if other Asian countries have a dragon boat, Vietnam has a raft. The old bamboo rafts have been replaced by inflatable rafts, making them more mobile, more economical and safer. Inflatable rafts are attached to 2-5 float tubes (4-5m long, 0.2-0.3m diameter) with horizontal bamboo trees combined by ropes. The raft’s load capacity is 10 – 15 members/ each. Making and using rafts to help people reach common goals is an activity highly appreciated by many businesses. Why?
Perfect destination: The riverine environment always attracts everyone with wonderful natural landscapes to check in, clear blue water to cool off and splash together in the hot climate all year round in southern Viet Nam. Exotic Vietnam Company provides many team building scenarios for choices from bays, lakes, rivers to tidal creeks in mangrove forests in Nha Trang, Phan Rang, Phan Thiet, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, etc.
Problem solving: Building a raft always starts with finding the most suitable materials, how many resources to collect, and how to structure the raft to build the perfect result. This problem-solving task requires your team to negotiate and listen to each other to reach consensus.
Team spirit: When rafting, many people row at the same time and with the same strength. If each person cannot perform the strokes properly and in sync with their team, they will never be able to move their raft as desired from speed to direction. Synchronicity is the key! Just like in business, individuals must have a focused mindset to grow the company. The company won’t get anywhere if your team isn’t working effectively.
Leadership skills: The bellman on the raft is like a commander, they direct the rowers to row at the appropriate rhythm. Each time the oars hit the water in unison, the raft would move faster and faster. You will find that there will be different leaders on board, formal and informal, one way or another, striving for the same goal. In business, each individual will have different leadership characteristics, learn how to build a business together with these leaders.
Fun and rewards: This is the time when each employee gets to leave the four office walls and escape daily responsibilities, but they still have the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge to overcome new challenges in laughter. This event allows your employees to have fun while improving their communication skills, which helps them feel valued as employees of the company.
Rafting is a fun, risk-controlled team building activity (with life jackets, monitoring boats, water flow assessments, lifeguards, and well experienced facilitators, etc.), ideal for customers looking for new and unique team building ideas. With “popular” formats such as Treasure Hunt, Island Survival, etc. all participants not only have the opportunity to improve team spirit but also improve mental and physical health. The team building helps to renew energy and creativity, boost productivity upon returning to the workplace.
Exotic Vietnam is ready to provide many options for businesses, depending on venue, budget, group size and desired duration. Contact us today to discuss.
