The 10 Best Barcelona Team Building Activities

Team building has become a common phenomenon in the corporate world. Organisations are incorporating it in their budgets and routines as a means of improving productivity and motivation among staff.

Barcelona has become a popular destination for team building. Its vast coastland, grand architecture, lively nightlife options and exotic cuisines will undoubtedly help your staff to unwind and bring out the best of their skills.

At Gotland Charter we have a lot of experience with this kind of activities, that’s why we want to tell you the best Barcelona team building activities. ¡Have a look!

Surprisingly, team building activities date back to the 1920s when McDougall, the first team builder, defined the necessary conditions for a high functioning group to be effective. Elton Mayo, another originator of this concept, found that a worker’s performance is affected by internal and external social demands of an environment, and informal groups within an organisation influence the workers’ attitudes and habits.

This discovery caused many companies to value group activity, and the corporate world has adopted it ever since. Modern firms not only value group activity within the company but have also taken to organising team building events for employees to relax while addressing interpersonal problems among employees.

Benefits of Team Building Events

The idea for planning team-building events is to create excitement among participants while achieving the desired team building objectives.

Barcelona team building activities include a vast range of sporting activities both outdoors and indoors; it’s up to you to choose activities that help the group accomplish its goals. Here are other benefits of participating in these activities.

Increased Collaboration

Collaboration involves identifying the different skills that each participant has, trusting them to perform the assigned responsibilities and being able to access that individual when needed.

Planned team building enhances this feature by building relationships and developing networks outside their day to day activities. Sailing Regattas group activity achieves this goal perfectly as participants collaborate in emerging winners during the competition.

Enhances Communication Skills

Communication is an essential skill for the success of any group activity. Team building activities help employees know each other better and eliminate any form of mistrust by encouraging participants to focus on what they have in common, not their differences.

Nurtures Conflict Resolution Skills

Conflicts are inevitable in any group of people working together. Employees come from varying backgrounds and have different working habits and styles. Such unique viewpoints can generate resentment, which can turn into conflicts.

Team building activities require participants to work in unity, which compels them to resolve disputes fast instead of involving the management.

Encourages Creativity and Learning

Creativity thrives when people work as a team. Team building activities create an avenue for team members to combine different perspectives to come up with practical solutions.

The Escape Room is an excellent example of a team building activity that nurtures creativity among participants. The event maximises on shared knowledge and helps participants learn new skills. Collaborating on the project also creates enthusiasm for learning and fosters individual and team knowledge.

Ideas for Team Building Activities

Many companies are undertaking regular team building activities in Barcelona. Some firms opt for short, problem-solving activities while others organise for retreats that last a couple of days. Here are fun team building ideas for companies.

Sailing Regattas for companies

It is the most popular among other outdoor team building ideas. The aim is to pit would-be sailors against each other in a wind-powered race over the sparkling Mediterranean waters.

The activity is technically and physically demanding as the team needs a high level of concentration to perform this adrenaline-packed activity. The participants don’t have to be experienced sailors but should possess the necessary skills that help them unfurl sails.

At Gotland Charter, sailing regattas are available for groups as large as those made up of 250 participants. The groups are divided into three teams that are separated into three boats and assigned a professional skipper.

Each skipper leads the group to the sailboat and acquaints the participants with the safety rules and how to use the instruments.

BBQ on a catamaran

It is another fun activity for teams that love the outdoors. At Gotland Charter teams have the freedom to choose a suitable catamaran from its fleet of six boats with capacities of groups of up to 125 people. The boats dock at the Coast Brava, Port Olimpic of Barcelona and Sitges.

Enjoy views of Barcelona’s cityscape and stunning beaches from a totally different perspective. The ships also have bars stocked with your favourite drinks and light snacks. Groups sailing for barbeque should choose catamaran with capacities of 80, 97 or 125 guests as they have an opportunity to select their BBQ menu and decoration.

Paella Cooking Class

The Paella challenge is another exciting corporate team building activity in Barcelona that involves preparing Spain’s iconic dish. This dynamic activity helps participants work as a team and overcome communication problems.

The Paella challenge involves preparing a three-course meal, so not everyone is involved in meal preparation. Participants may start by shopping at the famous Boqueria food market before embarking on the cooking experience.

The teams are then led to a private kitchen where they prepare the meal within a specific period using the ingredients provided. Instructions on how to make the dish may be given in English, Spanish or other challenging languages. A dictionary is provided for each team to help translate.

Groups looking for a more challenging experience may engage a chef to assess the team’s organisation and presentation skills, and its taste.

Luxury Yacht rental

Are you looking to end your team building weekend in style? Rent a luxury yacht rental. Your staff not only feels appreciated but gets to unwind after an activity-packed weekend.

Gotland Charter offers a range of rental plans for formal and informal groups with boats that accommodate up to 280 people. The luxury sailing boat has a capacity of 65 passengers. Note that Gotland Charter is not an agency but is the owner, so you are sure to get the best service and choose from a fleet of yachts.

Escape Room

Escape rooms are all the rage in Barcelona city and have become a favourite team building activity. Teams participate in mentally-demanding games that require participants to look for clues and solve puzzles.

Again, teams nurture their communication skills and ability to work together. Savvy companies have taken to this team building activity to enhance cooperation, confidence and trust between employees.

Only two venues are known to provide team building escape room in Barcelona, and these are the Room of Riddles and the Maximum Escape. The Room of Riddles is ideal for small groups (usually 12) while the Maximum Escape can accommodate up to 33 people. It has eight different games. The company’s HR specialist may watch the participants from the screen to assess how staff works together.

Bubble Football

Another significant team building activities in Barcelona you can play is bubble football. This game is played while half encased inside a bubble. The bubble is inflated covering the upper body part of the players. This game is enjoyable yet challenging. Therefore, it teaches employees how to handle challenging events. The team that will find balance and teamwork when playing bubble football are the ones that win.

This game can be played both in indoor and outdoor spaces. The ball is durable, and thus players should not worry about floating or popping. Team building Barcelona programs are not complete without bubble football. Employers should use this game for team building to teach teamwork and how to handle challenges.

Treasure Hunt

The treasure hunt is an enjoyable game where certain clues are made, which will lead to a treasure. The game organizers can also include various rewards in different locations to make it more interesting. Team members will be selected whereby each member plays a part in finding the treasure. This is an outdoor activity and can also be done in the different stories of a boat.

The team members have to be on the same page to find the treasure. The treasure hunt is educational as the team members have to use their brainpower to solve the clues given. Solving the clues helps to get information on which way to head to find the treasure. Thus, it also helps to improve problem-solving skills in employees. Many corporate events Barcelona programs have treasure hunt as one of the main activities.

Flamenco Workshop

Spanish dance classes are the best way for a team to bond. Therefore, attending a flamenco workshop will be an incredible step for the employees. They will learn how to dance, which will teach them to be open to learning new things. The workshop will also be enjoyable.

Wine Tasting

Wine tasting is one of the exciting habits team building activities that employees usually look forward to on the weekends. This is done indoor, which can be in the office or at a lounge. It is generally done on Fridays as most people do not work during the weekends. The team members will taste the wine and then relate the taste a feeling. This helps employees to be keen as they will have to whirl the wine in their mouth to feel the taste.

It is also a right way of teaching employees to appreciate things as they will learn to taste every ingredient that was used to make the wine. Wine tasting also helps employee show have the same taste of wine to bond. They can be going for drinks during the weekends together, and thus it also helps to create friendships.

Cava Making

When grapes have been harvested from the farm for winemaking, it can go through the normal winemaking process of cava making. Cava making is when the wine is produced with in-bottle fermentation. It is a simple process which employees will understand easily.

It is a good Barcelona team building activity as it helps employees to understand the importance of respecting a process. It is also common because it is Spanish culture. If one method is messed, the wine will be ruined, and therefore it teaches them how to respect the process of how the office operates.

Team building is vital in various ways which include enhancing communication skills, increasing collaboration, nurturing conflict resolution skills, and encouraging creativity and learning.

Do you know already what is the team building activity for your company? Choose one of these and discover the benefits for your employees!