Possibly The 2 Best Corporate Event Team Building Activities In Colorado

This part of the country is ideal for vacationing and traveling in, and everyone is already well aware of that. However, the same things that make it great for that also make it perfect for corporate event team-building activities. 

And in case it’s not already obvious, the things we’re referring to are the scenery and wildlife. We’re not New York City or LA. If you’re looking for that coastal financial capital sort of vibe, then you’re probably not trying to come to Colorado. 

But what kinds of stuff can you plan for your corporate getaway that will unite and motivate the members of your company group? Read on to find out…

1. Spread Some Butterfly Grass 🦋

If you’re over the age of 30, there is a higher than 0% chance that you saw monarch butterflies once when you were a kid. 

Practically a feature of the landscape: For untold centuries, monarch butterflies have migrated every year between Mexico and Canada, crossing most of the US along the way. Monarchs are very much at the top of the list of emblematic North American species, along with bison, moose, bald eagles, and trash pandas raccoons. 

A truly American emblem: They should be a source of pride and wonder for us all, and we should all hope to pass that down to the next generation. However, since the 1990s, their overall population has collapsed by over 90% due to habitat destruction and the use of herbicides and pesticides. 

“But What Can I Do About It?”

As in so many other areas of life, you are hardly as powerless as you may often feel or believe you are. Also, like with so many other problems in life and the world around you, the first step to a solution is to identify the cause of the problem; weeds, in this case. 

Not all weeds are bad: More specifically, weeds are not the problem so much as their disappearance. Monarch butterflies only lay their eggs on milkweed, a native species of “weed” in North America. 

Make more butterflies: You can create monarch butterfly habitats by finding some open land and spreading milkweed all over it. Then, you can return year after year to see the results of your efforts in person. 

Double whammy: That’s two potential annual corporate event team-building activities for the price of one: spread milkweed in one part of the year, and then return to observe the effects in another part of the year. 

Be The Change You Want to See

A big part of team building is instilling a sense of agency and power into the members of the team. So, don’t bother writing a petition that no government official will read or take seriously. And don’t waste your effort posting on social media about how frustrated you are with said government.

Take decisive action on a personal level: Organizing and carrying out a project like this has very real and visible positive effects on the local biome. It even cultivates a sense of pride of place among residents both within and beyond Colorado.

Raise morale: That all makes everyone feel like they’re doing work that matters. And the best part about it is that the feeling is justified because they actually are doing something that genuinely matters a lot. It’s deeply impactful psychologically and emotionally to everyone who has ever seen or will ever get to see these inspiring creatures in real life. 

2. Plant Native Trees And/Or Flowers

Well now, how do we follow something like that, and in the same article, no less? We’re a little emotional after just writing that last section. But let’s keep going by carrying on with the same train of thought we started with #1. 

Think about it, if some native weeds are so crucial to the local ecology and native species, don’t you think flowers and trees are also pretty important? 

Of course they are! 

So, Plant More Milkweed?

Yes, always plant more milkweed! Never don’t do that. But also plant native trees and flowers. You can even do them both at the same time. After all, they’re all native to the area anyway, so it’s not like you need to worry much about whether or not they’ll take to the land. 

Native flora: And because these are all indigenous plants that we’re talking about, you can typically buy seeds, bulbs, and saplings for less than you’d pay for non-native varieties. 

Naturescaping: You can even add in a nature pond while you’re doing it, or come back when the saplings have grown large enough to install some birdhouses. 

Then, take everyone on a hike together to see what it could all look like in a decade or two. 

Yet more corporate event team building activities for the price of one! 

Remember That Pride and Wonder Are Vital To The Human Experience

Do you know why everyone hates “corporate art?” For the same reason that everyone hates modern architecture: because it’s bland, vague, and valueless. 

Humans yearn for belonging: It’s designed specifically to be as inoffensive to anyone as possible by representing no one and standing for nothing. And as a result, it paradoxically ends up being alienating and dehumanizing. It leaves everyone feeling uninspired, atomized, and bereft of any purpose that transcends their immediate, material desires. 

In or out: So, remember that for there to be a team, there must be those who are not on the team. If everyone’s on the team, then no one is. 

We’re not all the same: The members of your team should not feel or suspect that some villainous goon who dumps toxic waste into a lake to make an extra $12 is somehow on the same team with them. It’s necessary to be very clear about what the team is all about and what the team’s mission is. 

Mascots and logos: Part of being on a team is having symbols that represent the team and its values. And what better symbols to choose than iconic local flora and fauna? Even a charcoal sketch of something humble, like a prairie dog or turkey, is infinitely more uplifting than any of the soulless “modern” redesigns of the past several years.

Put What Matters Front And Center

Once again, you can’t approach the subject of corporate event team-building activities without seriously addressing the nature of what makes a team and what causes its members to care. If the members of a team don’t care about the team, its values, or its mission, then there effectively is no team. 

Determine what you’re really about: It’s possible to put together an arbitrary collection of disconnected, atomized individuals and incentivize them to cooperate to some degree for the sake of personal financial gain. That’s just having a job, and we’ve all done it. But if you are trying to do a little bit more with your life and hoping to galvanize some of your colleagues to do the same, you’ll have to be ready to dispense with this “every place and person is identical and interchangeable” nonsense. 

What even is a company?: A company might be “American” in the sense that its corporate HQ is technically based in Delaware or some other state, but no one will really care unless it hires Americans and behaves in a pro-American way. In the same way, nobody will feel connected to their particular corner of the planet if it’s just the same as all the others, not special in any way, and ultimately doesn’t belong to them. 

Behind the paperwork and professional titles, you’re dealing with humans: No one is likely to be anything other than a temporary mercenary for a company that has no consistent value system or loyalty to anyone or any place. A valueless company that has no loyalty to any place or people cannot reasonably expect its employees to be committed or faithful to it either.