Experiential team-building with MULTI.engineering

MULTI.engineering, an engineering firm, wanted to invest in team development for its central services. Not as an incentive, but as a targeted learning experience. The requirement was clear:

‍

‘It must be substantively strong and sufficiently challenging to get everyone on board’.

‍
‍
Pure theory or PowerPoint presentations do not generate sufficient engagement for the colleagues at MULTI.engineering. At the same time, they did not want a non-committal activity, but an experience that would really set something in motion.

‍

Our approach

Together with MULTI.engineering, we developed an experiential team-building programme in the great outdoors, led by Tom Dijckmans, a trainer at Better Minds who specialises in experiential learning.

‍
‍
A two-day programme with the approach: learning by doing and learning at the group’s own pace. The programme combined outdoor activities, moments of reflection and challenging tasks in which cooperation, leadership and decision-making became visible.

‍
‍
Elements such as walking assignments and ice baths were not ends in themselves, but served as a context for revealing behaviour. Systematic reflection took place during and after each activity:
‍

• What is happening within the group?  
• What dynamics do we see?  
• What role are you taking on yourself?  
• How are decisions made?  
• What do we do when we feel uncomfortable?

‍

Experiences were consistently linked to scientifically grounded models of group dynamics, collaboration and leadership. Practice thus became a framework for insight. A key aspect of this approach is the engagement of the entire group. Participation is not optional. Resistance or reluctance is also brought into the open and forms part of the learning process. For this target group, the combination of physical experience, mental challenge and structured reflection proved particularly powerful.

‍

‍

Impact

The team-building exercise achieved more than just building connections. Staff got to know one another outside their functional roles. Behavioural patterns became apparent and open to discussion. The team acquired the vocabulary to discuss collaboration and decision-making. The transfer to the workplace was made explicit and resulted in actions that were implemented step by step following the two-day event.
‍
What began as a team-building exercise grew into a shared reference point. An experience that was later drawn upon in the workplace. Not just a one-off incentive. Rather, a targeted investment in collaboration and leadership.

‍

‍