Nature-inspired team-building activities are becoming the trend lately. Given today’s highly competitive business environment, people live a busy lifestyle that they rarely have time to relax and unwind. Going for a wildlife exploration in nature offers a refreshing experience for everyone. It helps to break down barriers and improve team dynamics while cultivating a sense of wildlife stewardship among your employees. 

Here’s how taking inspiration from wildlife can benefit company culture.

It Can be Great for Team Retreats
The primary purpose of a team retreat is to strengthen bonds among colleagues. It’s a fantastic opportunity to get to know one another outside of work, which helps to resolve tensions and conflicts. One of the most excellent ways to engage your team and encourage them to bond is by organising an outing to a wildlife sanctuary or nature park. It goes beyond a typical team-building event, encouraging staff members to bond and connect while appreciating nature and wildlife. 

On your visit to a wildlife sanctuary, you can organise activities that allow everyone to bond. Examples are guided excursions, nature hikes, and wildlife spotting activities in a park. These activities can foster teamwork and curiosity amongst the team while promoting stress relief and helping team members solve problems together in a more relaxing environment.

In addition, wildlife encounters offer employees the chance to learn more about wildlife conservation efforts for endangered species and ecosystems, which benefits forward-thinking, sustainable organisations. Through these activities, your team members will understand the implications of their daily actions.  

Another wildlife-inspired team retreat activity that promotes animal stewardship is volunteering at animal shelters. It’s a rewarding experience and fosters teamwork amongst the team while helping to care for and protect vulnerable animals.

It Can be Great for Incentive Travel
If you want to motivate or reward employees, send them on a life-changing, wildlife-inspired trip that can include getting close to fascinating animals, such as safari experiences in Rwanda and seeing the wildebeest migration in Africa. These incredible experiences offer a unique way for employees to enjoy an incentive trip, motivating them to work harder and give their best in everything. 

Close encounters with wild mountain gorillas in the lush jungles of Africa is the ultimate wildlife experience to reward your best-performing employees. For this activity, they will trek deep into the forests with a knowledgeable wildlife guide to search for a family of mountain gorillas. They will have a chance to spend up to an hour with these primates, observing them quietly in their natural habitat. No other wildlife encounter can compare to the thrill of standing a few metres from these giant creatures, making it a wildlife encounter your employees will never forget.

Motivate your employees further by letting them stay at an upscale lodge for their gorilla trekking adventure. Many of these luxury lodges are close to the starting point of the trek. Aside from having posh amenities like a beautiful infinity pool, spa, and excellent restaurants, they offer breathtaking views of the surrounding lush jungles.

It is Great for Wellbeing
One of the benefits of wildlife-inspired team retreats is helping to improve well-being. When encountering animals in the wild, we often feel that time stops, and we can get lost in the moment as we closely observe their every movement. These experiences can leave us feeling better and happier, improving our well-being.

Being with wildlife can provoke a sense of well-being, which can have many psychological health benefits. It heightens our senses since our thoughts and actions focus on seeing, identifying, and appreciating the animals around us. In addition, being immersed in nature among animals in the wild is a fantastic way to take a break from our daily work obligations, allowing us to feel more relaxed. 

When organising a wildlife-inspired team gathering, you can include activities that allow the team to bond even further. For instance, you can take them to a park for birdwatching. Studies show that seeing birds can have mental health benefits. Birdwatching is a form of mindfulness that can help us stay calm as we search for beautiful birds soaring through the sky or sitting on a tree branch.

It Helps Boost Team Culture
A positive workplace culture can make employees feel happier and more engaged, leading to better productivity. Exciting trips can help bring people closer, which boosts team culture. Booking exciting excursions for the team, such as cruising in Indonesia, is an excellent way to motivate and inspire employees. 

Activities that bring together the team are some of the best ways to boost workplace culture. According to a study, these activities can improve cooperation and communication, which improves job satisfaction. Further studies reveal that team outings can lead to increased innovation and creativity. So, if you want to boost team culture in the workplace, take your team on wildlife-inspired adventures.

Aside from wildlife encounters, try to incorporate activities that allow everyone to bond and develop camaraderie among employees. Think of activities that offer the opportunity to work together as a team, which can motivate employees to help the organisation achieve a common goal.

It Helps Employees Step out of Their Comfort Zone
A comfort zone is a state where one has a sense of safety and predictability due to routine and familiarity. Regrettably, staying in a comfort zone can put you in a career rut since you could miss new challenges, growth, and learning.

Wildlife-inspired team outings allow employees to step out of their comfort zone. One of the challenges that many managers face is keeping their staff engaged and motivated. To help employees grow professionally, managers must push employees out of their comfort zones, which can mean visiting places that offer unique wildlife encounters. 

One of the benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone is it can inspire you to take up new roles in the company. Your life-changing trip can make you rethink your career choices and motivate you to move up the career ladder.