Team building is in fashion! More and more companies are encouraged to carry out group activities that improve communication and teamwork. And although there are many types of team building activities in Barcelona, ​​activities on boats and sailboats are usually one of the favorites for companies, SMEs and the self-employed.

At Escola Port we believe that doing a Team Building on a sailboat is not only a fun experience, but also helps the participants to put certain soft skills into practice.

We also have a large fleet of boats and qualified personnel to organize this type of team building activities for companies in Barcelona.

Thus, sailing, in addition to being an exceptional activity, will allow participants to leave their comfort zone and develop teamwork, resilience or leadership, among other qualities.

In this post we analyze how and why a team building activity on a sailboat is the ideal setting for this purpose.

Team building Barcelona by sailboat

Emulating the work teams that are usually formed in companies, to govern a sailboat you need a coordinated group of people with the same mission.

In the case of our team building Barcelona by sailboat, it will be teams of 6 people guided by a professional skipper.

The different maneuvers necessary to navigate a boat require its participants, in addition to knowing the navigation courses and the trim of the sails, to use the same skills that they may need in their job.

Sailing with sails is one of the oldest means of maritime transport. It has the advantage over modern ones that it does not pollute the environment, since the energy that moves the ship is the wind. Nowadays, it is also a sport, an increasingly popular sport.

There are many types of sport sailboats: from small sailboats to start in this sport, through monotype sailboats such as the J80, which is the sailboat used in this basic sailing course of Escola Port. 

But in a somewhat different way. Sailing is practiced in an unpredictable and unknown environment for most people, such as the sea.

The waves, the wind and the course or direction in which you want to navigate will generate situations that require decision-making, leadership, coordination and endless soft skills to put into practice.

Why is it one of the best team building ideas in Barcelona?

The participation of the crew during navigation is 100% active and guided by a captain from the school, the new sailors will be in charge of maneuvering and navigating the sailboat to its destination.

Thus, during the sailing team building in Barcleona, the participants will rotate through different tasks and assume various responsibilities.

To carry out each of these tasks, it will be necessary to lead, communicate, listen, work as a team… that is, put into practice certain soft skills that are important both in the professional world and in the personal world.

Let’s see some examples:

Take the helm

There will always be a participant at the helm, determining the course of the boat and coordinating the maneuvers in changes of direction.

The helmsman undoubtedly occupies a position of leadership and responsibility, being the person with the global vision of the ship (and its team) and in charge of good coordination.

A practice that is perfectly transferable to situations of teamwork and leadership in business projects.

The maneuvers

The two sails with which the boat sails (the main and the jib) work with a series of ropes and sheets that will have to be maneuvered.

Each participant will be in charge of one of them, so that communication, teamwork and coordination will be essential for efficient and fluid navigation.

In this case, active listening, responsibility and efficiency will make the difference between a good maneuver or losing the regatta.

The tactic

The decisions that a person makes on a day-to-day basis in their job must be aligned with the values ​​and mission of the company.

The same happens in our sailing team building activities.

Trimming more or less a sail or adjusting your course can mean the difference between going fast or coming to a virtual standstill.

In this case, the teams will have to work on consensus and decision-making to fight for the same goal.

Although usually, on a boat, these decisions correspond only to the captain, in this Barcelona team building activity the discussion is left open to generate situations of debate and team decision making.

Team Building at Escola Port Barcelona: Leisure and learning

The fact of contextualizing our nautical team building in a regatta format introduces a key factor in the equation, competitiveness, undoubtedly present in the business world.

Thus, a leisure activity is encouraged to generate challenging situations and a small point of stress, inviting participants to leave their comfort zone and «work» under certain pressure.

The ultimate goal of our team building activity in Barcelona will always be the same:

“Learn while having fun”

However, all these components involved in the activity (boats, wind, waves, people, uncertainty, competitiveness…) make the sailing team building experience clearly different from any other of this style.

No more purposeless team building events in Barcelona.

Participation in an event like this generates links, motivates and develops the soft skills of its participants; key aspects, along with fun, to classify a team building activity as successful.

From SMEs to Multinationals

But our approach can be equally adapted to small teams or companies, because you don’t need 8 boats and 50 people to organize such an event.

A small team of 7-8 people can work on a single sailboat, competing against each other, all the skills we’ve talked about so far.

Exercises such as timing the time it takes to perform a manoeuvre, improving maximum speed thanks to good trim or seeing how long it takes to rescue a buoy that simulates a person who has fallen into the water will be enough to generate situations and challenges.

Seeing how the speed and fluidity of the maneuvers improve as communication and coordination become more efficient will be a clear example of learning for the team.

Thus, any small company will find in the activity that experience that brings together fun and learning, regardless of its size.

Are you organizing Barcelona team building activities?

If you are organizing a unique and differentiating event and want to know more about our activity, we invite you to visit our page on Nautical Team Building.

We have a fleet of boats, a team of captains, buoys for regatta, even rescue and jury boats. Everything necessary to simulate a regatta and execute it with all the necessary security measures.

There you will find more details about what is undoubtedly a fun, unique activity in which the participants, in addition to having a good time, will learn from them.

Participating in a sailing team building leaves no one indifferent. You dare?