Finding the ideal team-building activity for management teams can be difficult. Strong personalities can clash in lots of traditional team building activities, leading to greater friction rather than better collaboration.
If this sounds like your team, you need to think about the box – or outside the building. Getting outdoors and being active is a great way to boost team dynamics and encourage better collaboration. This is one reason we’re a big fan of the long distance cycle challenge to help bring management teams together.
A healthy team is a happy team
First and foremost, cycling is great for your health. Regular physical activity is essential for good mental health. If your management team is feeling the stress of targets, then encouraging them to get fit and healthy together could be the key to lowering stress levels and making the workplace more pleasant for everyone.
Cycling is a fun, easy and accessible activity that everyone can enjoy. Even those with low physical fitness can quickly get up to speed. For those who are really struggling, suggest an electric bike to help with hill climbs and longer stretches.
Bikes can also be adapted to a wide range of physical disabilities, so no one has to be left behind. With the cycle to work scheme, everyone can get kitted out and ready to take on their long distance challenge.
Reset the hierarchy
Another reason that cycling can be transformative for management teams is that it will allow for a complete reset of the hierarchy. Leaders in the office might not be leaders on the road, and it will be beneficial for those who are accustomed to being in the front to learn how to follow.
Cycling in a group requires high levels of trust. Those in the front must not only guide the route, but also look out at the road ahead for obstacles and potholes. Those in the middle have to trust that their leaders are going to alert them to any potential danger. Those in the back of the group have to ensure that no one is left behind.
This dynamic requires a lot of communication and trust between everyone. There’s no use in one person rushing ahead and leaving the group in their dust. Everyone has to work together to achieve a common goal.
Boost creativity and collaboration
Getting outside and enjoying nature can be hugely beneficial in terms of renewing attention and increasing creativity. We’ve all experienced the post-lunch slump where everything feels impossible and you just want to lie down.
What if you could reinvent meetings to happen on two wheels? How would this transform how everyone shows up and presents their ideas? And even if you don’t want to hold meetings on the bikes, you can still enjoy renewed creativity when you get back into the office. Spending time in nature is one of the best ways to boost creativity thinking and to wire new neural pathways.
Lessons from the road
Alongside improved creativity, you can also encourage better approaches to management while out on the bike. The road is there to teach so many lessons about management and how to better relate to others.
More than anything, it teaches us that we learn by doing, not by discussing. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the theory of something, but until you commit to putting it into practice, you won’t benefit from any new insight. The same can be said for cycling. You don’t learn to ride a bike from reading about it or talking about it. You learn by putting your feet on the pedals and moving yourself forward.
Being on the road in a group can also help managers to see team dynamics in action. Who is a natural leader and who prefers to follow? Who believes it’s better to lead from behind? Who will never lead a person behind? These insights can be invaluable to understanding your team and building strong dynamics.
Final thoughts on cycling for management teams
Taking part in a long distance cycle challenge could help to transform your management teams for the better. It’s physically challenging, but not so much that it isn’t accessible for most people. Time spent on the bike is great for socialising and improving collaboration and creativity, but it’s also a great time for introspection.
Individuals will learn a lot about themselves along the way, including their levels of resilience and determination. This can be transformative for workplaces. Something as simple as a cycling challenge could create strong team dynamics, improve individual self-esteem and also help to boost staff retention.
You can be confident that your first team cycling challenge won’t be your last, and it will quickly become a firm favourite in the company event calendar every year.
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