Tech teams have a reputation for sitting in front of their computers all day and not being particularly active. When you’ve hit a wall with your development project, the answer to your burnout could lie in burning some extra calories.
Getting outdoors together as a team could help you to break through your blocks and find new solutions to your problems. It can also help to renew your team spirit and encourage better collaboration.
But how do you convince a team that time outdoors is the solution to their problem? This is where the long-distance cycle challenge can help to bring renewed motivation and inspiration. If you’re ready to bring your development and engineering team together like never before, you need to float the idea of long distance cycling.
Why cycling?
Cycling is accessible, affordable and adaptable for most people. You can start with any level of fitness and quickly find your groove. It’s also fun and sociable, so teams can chat while on the bike to help encourage greater cross-collaboration.
There’s also an element of competition involved, which is what can be lacking in many team-building exercises. Cycling is also a helpful form of transportation, so employees can start including their daily commute in their training plan.
Through cycle to work schemes, everyone can get kitted out with the tools they need to take part. You’ll end up with a healthier and happier workforce who know they can achieve incredible things when they work together.
How does this help developers?
Sitting down for long stretches is not good for your physical wellbeing, but it’s also not great for idea generation. If you need a new perspective on a challenge, the best thing you can do is change your surroundings.
You could head outside for a walk, but there is something more fun about a cycle. It brings out the child in many people and allows them to rediscover a sense of play in their working day. This sense of playfulness can be just the thing needed to deliver the spark of inspiration needed to finish a project.
When training for a long distance cycle, you’ll want to be out on your bike as often as possible. This could mean that lunch times are reclaimed for fun team outings. There’s nothing that will help to banish the post-lunch slump like a fun cycle. Fresh air and exercise can help to spark inspiration that would otherwise be blocked.
What does the science say?
It’s no secret that exercise helps to increase blood flow, specifically to the brain. This can help to increase creativity. Exercise also reduces stress, which could be getting in the way of new idea generation.
Finally, if you can make sure you’re cycling out in nature, this can further boost creativity. According to one study, time spent in natural environments is linked to attention restoration and increased creativity.
How to get everyone on board
Before you can reap the benefits of cycling for your development team, you need to first get them on board. The potential benefits of cycling could be diminished if workers feel that this is pushed on them and they don’t have a choice in the matter.
Instead, it needs to be something that everyone actively wants to take part in. You might start by getting one person involved. Choose someone who is extroverted and likely to talk about the experience. Make it clear that everyone is welcome to get involved and remove as many obstacles as possible.
Not owning a bike would be a fairly big obstacle, and this is likely the case for most people. You could organise a team building day and hire bikes for everyone so that they can get to grips with how fun it can be.
Once the team building day is over, float the idea of a longer distance challenge. Remember that it’s not about one person in the team “winning” the race, but it’s about everyone making it over the finish line together. This could encourage those with lower levels of fitness to want to take part.
You can also offer incentives to take part, such as team lunches for those that take part in lunch time rides. This will help to encourage uptake while also building a strong sense of camaraderie before the event even takes place.
Making it an annual event
Once your first long distance challenge is complete, start the ball rolling on your next event. Don’t let the momentum die down. There may be people who missed out on the first event who have seen how fun it is and now want to get involved.
You can also capitalise on the enthusiasm from those who have just taken part and start to make cycling an everyday occurrence to help boost creativity and collaboration in the workplace.
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