Marketing requires fresh ideas and new perspectives to be able to connect with your audience. So when your marketing team is running low on inspiration, you might find that everything becomes an uphill struggle.
Teams can function more effectively as a unit if they learn how to operate as one outside of the office. This is where team building exercises come in particularly useful. Team building is all about engaging workers, uncovering hidden talent and encouraging everyone to bring their best self to the workplace.
One of the best team building exercises you can try for boosting creativity and collaboration is the group long distance cycle. You might think of cycling as a solitary pursuit, but when you do try this as a team, you’ll soon see how engaging it can be for marketing teams.
Let’s explore how you could make a team cycle event work for your marketing department, and how it could help to boost fitness, create stronger teams and encourage better collaboration.
Why is cycling great for creatives?
Cycling might not be the most obvious choice for sparking new ideas. But there are proven benefits to getting outside, enjoying some fresh air, getting your heart rate elevated, and changing your scenery.
First and foremost, exercising is a great way to spark creativity as it increases blood flow to the brain. Sitting and staring at the problem is never going to spark the most creative outcome. It’s often when you’re engaging with another activity that you have your best ideas.
Cycling is also great as it gets you outdoors and in nature. This can help to increase attention spans and boost creativity while also supporting your mental health.
How does cycling boost collaboration?
Another way that cycling can be great for marketing teams is that it can also help to develop collaborative practices. When cycling together, you have to work as a functional team. No one can power ahead and leave their teammates behind. When completing a long distance challenge together, it’s not about individual victory, but about making sure you all make it across the finish line.
Teams have to learn to cycle effectively together, maintaining an ideal distance. The leaders of the pack are responsible for navigation and looking out for obstacles. The middle of the group set the space. And those at the back of the group make sure no one is left behind while also keeping an eye on what is happening behind them.
For a team to work well together, they have to communicate and be willing to pull together for the success of the team. There are no personal victories here.
Cycling together could reveal new team dynamics you hadn’t previously seen, such as natural-born leadership qualities. It can also help junior and senior team members to socialise and interact in a natural and non-forced way.
How does this all improve marketing output?
Teams that trust each other are more likely to share ideas and be willing to kick start the ideation process. The first idea might not be the winner, but this can pave the way for a conversation that helps spark something truly unique.
Cycling together can also help to improve communication between individuals who might not know each other very well in a professional capacity. Before long, they’ll be chatting away on their bikes and their distance in the office will be a thing of the past.
There are also lots of lessons about marketing to be learned from the road. First, that you can only do by doing. You can talk about cycling and you can plan the route, but it’s only when you’re on the road that you’ll really know what challenges you are going to face. This approach can help teams to build their resilience and allow them to act on ideas without being overly cautious.
And finally, there are the health benefits to encouraging your marketing team to try such a physical challenge together. If they are training for a long distance cycle challenge, more team members are likely to choose to cycle to work everyday which will improve their overall fitness.
Cycling to work sets you up for a day of creative challenges by allowing you to get rid of the cobwebs every morning. There is also a far greater sense of division between work and home, which can further help with stress reduction. In general, creativity cannot thrive in high stress situations, so it’s a positive move to help team members to manage their stress.
A company wide image boost
Alongside the individual employee benefits, there are also company benefits to be found. Companies that invest in their workforce enjoy higher staff retention, improved productivity and higher revenue. Instilling a culture of cycling into your workplace is not just great for creativity, but it could also give your company an image boost.
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