Some teams don’t need a fun day out. They need to get better at handling the moments when things go wrong: a tight deadline, a sudden change of plan, not enough people or budget to do everything.
Those are the moments when communication breaks down, priorities clash and decisions stall. They’re also very hard to practise in the middle of a real working week.
So we built two indoor activities that create that pressure safely, with no real business at stake. Teams get to see how they actually react, then talk honestly about what to do differently.
LOST!: making hard choices with not enough information
The situation: Your team is stranded on a deserted island with limited supplies and a countdown clock running. The information is incomplete, and every choice has consequences.
The challenge: Do you use your scarce resources to survive right now, or to plan your rescue? What happens when people disagree and time is running out?
What teams usually discover: Who takes charge under pressure, who goes quiet, and how decisions really get made when there’s no time for a long discussion. Managers often see how people behave differently under stress, which is useful to know before a real crunch.
Good for: decision-making under time pressure, communication across departments during a crisis, and learning to focus on what matters most.
Helium Hoop: when the obvious approach backfires
The situation: The task sounds almost too simple. The whole team must lower a light hoop to the ground together, using only their fingertips.
The challenge: As everyone tries to keep contact, the hoop tends to float upward instead of down. The harder the team tries in the usual way, the worse it gets. How does your team react when doing the “normal” thing produces the opposite result?
What teams usually discover: The habits that quietly get in the way, and how much easier things become when everyone stops, listens and agrees on one approach.
Good for: teams going through a change in process or systems, breaking “we’ve always done it this way” thinking, and solving problems together.
How a session runs
Each activity follows three simple parts:
- Getting started (15 minutes). We explain the scenario, the time limit and the resources available, then let the team dive in on instinct.
- The challenge (45 minutes). Teams work through the activity while our facilitators add unexpected twists, so people have to talk, adapt and decide quickly.
- The debrief (30 minutes). The most important part. We connect what happened in the room to how your team works day to day, and the team identifies specific things to change back at work.
Indoors, so the weather never decides
Both activities run indoors, in your office or a venue of your choice. There’s no travel to arrange and no rain plan needed, which makes them easy to fit into an offsite, a conference or a normal working day.
They also pair well with our other programmes. Some teams start with a DISC, MBTI or Emergenetics profiling session, so people understand each other’s styles before the pressure starts. See more indoor and outdoor team building activities.
Programme length
You can choose:
- Half day (morning)
- Half day (afternoon)
- Full day
- Two days
- Overseas programmes
- Something else that suits your schedule
Is your team going through a difficult stretch?
Maybe there’s been a restructure, a new system, or a quarter where everything felt urgent. Teams in that situation often don’t want a party. They want to feel more confident handling the next hard moment together.
Tell us what’s been happening. You don’t need to share anything sensitive in the form. A sentence like “we’ve had a lot of change this year” is enough to start. We’ll talk it through with you before suggesting anything.
You get a clear proposal. Every cost is itemised line by line, and what we quote is what you pay.
Pressure reveals a lot about a team. It’s much better to discover it in a room with a facilitator than in the middle of a real crisis.