To not want to go on company away day to build rafts

[Mascarponeandwine]

Just that really. It’s held off site, in the grounds of a Manor House. You are divided into groups of 7 or so, and given tasks to complete, such as survival skills, go carting, gladiator type duals or building a raft sort of thing. Does anyone actually enjoy these things, or are most of my colleagues secretly disliking it too. AIBU to bow out by booking leave? Or am I not being a team player?

As an introvert, I don’t want to be “jollied” into this kind of stuff and it makes me stubborn.

A job is just a just for most people and it has always been the case for me. I’m not “passionate” about what I do and I don’t believe the corporate bullshit. I can get on with the actual job and colleagues just fine without being forced to participate in nonsense.

I used to hate going on this kind of thing. No one bonded. Everyone hated each other by the end as no one actually wanted to be there and resented every Godforsaken minute we all spent 'having fun.'

Complete and utter waste of money (and many introverts' worst nightmare.)

Book leave, a thousand times over. Or go self-employed (my preferred option)

Nightmare. I had to go on these things. God, they were awful. I remember standing at the top of an impressive stairwell (at the start of one of these days) and wondering if I should jump.

@AttilaTheMeerkat I think you'll find that @PurpleWithRed was being sarcastic!

I've had two which were 'mandatory ' I just refused. Hideous

I organised my latest work one, after another senior manager did last years'. About 15m in, my team told me they'd already had more fun that the previous year

My rules for these things are:

• late start for a lie in
• early finish (more good will than any other part of the day)
• nearish work (having been dragged to the middle of the countryside taking longer to get back)
• nothing 'heavy' about the activity
• pub!

We did a app based treasure hunt around the city - it was great fun.

I'd enjoy this!

Makes you grateful for cost cutting doesn’t it? Less of this rubbish.

It actually all used to make me SO ANGRY. I was awful at team sports at school and good academically. Made friends one on one but not good in large groups and ostracised by the popular kids. I was faithfully promised that none of that would matter when I was grown up with a proper job. Work would be what I was good at! But no.. you have team building away days.

I always used to think that maybe these companies were invented by the popular kids who wanted to maintain that school hierarchy.

I know how to build a raft - if I want I can tell you how to do it quickly and efficiently so there are no arguments and it'll float without you falling off (scout leader here so I do this stuff for fun )

(Misses point of thread completely ... )

Sounds fun to me, but I love outdoors stuff. As long as there isn’t terrible corporate jargon / awful analogies as to how building a raft is like building a team etc.

I don't mind these things as long as it's in work time (for everyone, you shouldn't have to work an extra half day), local, and includes decent food and drink. Once you start eating into personal time, you lose goodwill.

A group lunch in work regularly can achieve much more than traipsing everyone around the countryside for 'fun'.

I loathe any sort of 'team building' exercise and would rather stick pins in my eyes than go on an awayday to learn how to build a raft.

Something similar has been suggested by one of the partners in our department where I work. Luckily all of the PA's are of the same mind, and we've said that the fee earners can knock themselves out but we're doing our team bonding over a boozy lunch.....

I'm an extreme introvert (and autistic).

The very thought of doing any of this BS makes me feel physically sick. Thankfully I work in the public sector were there is no budget for this kind of thing.

I've done a few of these - circus skills, it's a knockout, transport an egg across a room using only an egg whisk and dried pasta, compose a song and perform it using only these items.

Ironically the best team building was on a workshop about environmental legacy and we all had to stand up and say what it meant to us - without warning - and the second or third guy said "Sustainability is like pornography - I know it when I see it" and the room erupted, the facilitator lost control and no one else had to answer and we had a long and early lunch, united.

I think that the people who love and enjoy these kind of events genuinely don't understand why other people would hate them! And that's the problem, because they're usually so enthusiastic and gung ho about them that they insist on organising them!

My boss loves this sort of bonding shit, and forces us to do it a couple of times a year. I bloody hate it.

I am an introvert and work part time. I hate all of this rubbish. I have RA now though and wouldn't be able to do any of this due to joint damage. I can't even chop vegetables anymore.

I think expecting people to use their free time is completely out of order though and I would resign over it. I work hard and am pleasant with my colleagues but it is just a job at the end of the day and I want to spend my free time with friends and family, or sleeping as it seems to be these days.

Where I work they have totally ruled these out as it was considered unfair to people with disabilities, hidden or otherwise and could also put people in uncomfortable situations e.g having to disclose a pregnancy or other health issues. Plus people declined if it didn't fit into their work hours and people all worked at different times

My boss also expects us all to stay overnight/have a team dinner etc etc so not just in work time. Your time is not your own!

So awfully, fuckingly, boringly, toxically masculine. Sheesh.

Why is it masculine serona?

I was going to ask the same thing.

When I worked for a blue chip company we used to do a lot of this kind of stuff and I'd throw myself into it with gusto.

Sharing a tent with colleagues? Nope. No way.

Book that annual leave!

We were never allowed to book leave once the away day date had been announced. You were okay if you'd booked it before.

The overly try hard ones seem to be solely the preserve of companies who know they have a crap culture and are trying to hold together employee engagement by the skin of their teeth. Anywhere with decent people and morale seems happy enough with a meal/drinks/optional things.

I worked on a magazine, where the owner wanted everyone to go on a team-building weekend. I think it involved something to do with building rafts and perhaps racing Minis.

The sales/marketing teams were all over it like a rash. The editorial team refused to attend. So the sales team had their bonding weekend away. The rest of us took a river cruise down the Thames and had a boozy lunch/afternoon in a pub on the river in Richmond.

Why is it masculine serona?

Maybe it's my industrial safety training speaking.

I've been on these, more times than I prefer to remember, having spent a career working in a very big, heavy engineering company.

It sounds great, it always does. Until you've experienced one. These competitive activities always bring out the worst in the male participants, they turn into whooping and hollering selfish gits 'gone native', especially the rafting bit. And they've always been organised by male HR managers. Speaking to peers in other companies, female HR managers manage to do things in a more civilised fashion, generally they haven't believed in the benefits of these 'team-building' bashes at all. Respect to them.

At least the participants here won't have to build a camp fire, light it with a magnifying glass and cook sausages on it for an evening meal. The fire risk would be too great. Thank deity for small mercies.