Karting and escape rooms have had their day. Here are five ways to take your teams outdoors, a stone’s throw from Geneva.
There comes a point where corporate activities all start to look the same. You have done the bowling, the escape room, the cookery workshop, and the team starts rolling its eyes when the next outing is announced. The good news is that just outside Geneva, the Jura and the Pays de Gex offer a full-scale playground that is still largely underused. Here are five ideas for an offsite in the open air, which I always build to measure around your team and your objective.
1. The cohesion hike
The simplest format and often the strongest. A guided day of walking, at a pace everyone can manage, during which the team crosses a fine piece of countryside together. Conversations start by themselves on the paths, people help each other on the climbs, and the hierarchy quietly fades. You come back closer, with no need for a facilitator or a game. Nature does the work, and it does it well.
2. The discovery workshop out in nature
To mix the useful with the enjoyable, a learning element is grafted onto the outing. Identifying wildlife and plants, reading the landscape, an introduction to navigation. The team learns something together, which creates a shared experience and real shared memories. It is an excellent way to give people a moment that is both fun and enriching, far from meeting rooms, where everyone comes away feeling they have discovered something other than their colleagues.
3. The half-day outdoors followed by a working session
Many companies want to combine cohesion and productivity. The hybrid format answers exactly that. A morning outdoors to reconnect, move and unwind, then a meeting or a strategy workshop in the afternoon, in a far better frame of mind. Ideas flow better when you have walked together first. It is a smart way to anchor a working offsite in an experience that makes people want to get involved.
4. The signature outing reworked for your teams
Our signature events can become full corporate formats in their own right. Picture your people at a private RandOpéra, an operatic voice rising out of nowhere on the path, or a day combining walking and relaxation on the RandoSpa model. These striking experiences, reserved for your team, create a memory people talk about for a long time and project the image of a company that is thoughtful and original.
5. The fully bespoke format
And if none of these ideas fits perfectly, we start from what you need. A specific cohesion challenge, a company anniversary, welcoming new starters, a goal of switching off. I then build a day that answers exactly that, with the right balance of effort, discovery and good company. It is often the best option, because it fits your reality rather than squeezing you into a ready-made box.
How I build your day
Whatever idea appeals to you, the process is the same and it is simple. We start with a conversation where you tell me your objective, the size of your team and the mood you want to create. I then propose a running order to suit, with a route, a pace and any highlights designed for you. We adjust together until it all fits, then I handle the organisation on the day. You do not have to turn into an event organiser, you stay focused on what matters, enjoying the day with your teams. And if you have a budget or particular constraints, say so plainly from the start. I would rather build a fine, realistic day than sell you a dream you cannot reach. Most companies are surprised by how much can be done a stone’s throw from Geneva, with no heavy logistics and no long journey.
All these formats can be scaled to your headcount and your calendar, in a superb natural setting that is nonetheless right next to Geneva. To talk it over, head to the corporate offer page. And if you are still torn between an indoor activity and a day outdoors, read team building indoors or in the open air.
On the same theme
- Team building indoors or in the open air?
- Organising a team day in the mountains
- Kick-off offsite or end-of-year offsite?
Does one of these ideas appeal?
Tell me your objective, your headcount and your dates, and I will propose a bespoke format. Ask for a quote, with no obligation, through the form on the dedicated page.