Team Building Blog

A blog about team building events in the UK and further afield in Europe.

Monday, October 22, 2007

When team building gets a bad name

Police were called to a mass brawl on a Dieppe to Newhaven ferry between 25 passengers which started as an argument over which team (Arsenal or Chelsea) would win the football league. The news report, which has featured in most of the national papers during the past week, went on to gleefully state that the group were on a team building day out.

It's easy to see why the media would revel in this story so much. There is a inescapable irony in a team building event resulting in drunken fisticuffs.

The reality is that the purpose of the event was defeated by too much booze. It happens all the time and you just can't get it through to some clients. A little alcohol is a social lubricant and can be great for bonding, but too much and it often gets out of hand. People say things they regret or don't mean - I don't think that the old adage In Vino Veritas holds true. You tend to get a sort of extreme thruth; thoughts you wouldn't usually express because they are unmitigated.

So, if you're planning a team building event bear this in mind. In Vino Big Trouble.