A team can have an enjoyable time without gaining a better understanding of how it works. Conversely, a simple experience can open up a useful conversation when it is chosen with the group’s context in mind. For business leaders and HR managers, the question is therefore not simply about finding an original activity. It is about choosing what you want people to experience together. Cohesion is not a quality that can be added to a group for the duration of an event. It is nurtured by relationships, trust and an ability to act with others. Rowing makes this interdependence particularly visible, but the suitability of the choice also depends on preparation and the space given to participants.
What does cohesion mean for your team?
The word cohesion covers different situations. A newly formed team may need to get to know one another. A group used to working together may want to rediscover a shared energy. A cross-functional group may want to better understand each person’s constraints. Before choosing a format, describe your situation in concrete terms.
Avoid imposing a single explanation on everyone. What management perceives is not necessarily what employees experience. Gathering a few expectations, without turning preparation into an intrusive survey, helps articulate the intention more clearly. For example, you could ask what makes cooperation easy and what complicates it day to day. The experience should not claim to resolve all of this; it can offer a different setting in which to observe and discuss it.
Does the activity allow everyone to count?
A group experience is valuable when each person’s contribution has a clear place. In rowing, the boat does not move forward simply because one person puts in more effort. The group’s ability to listen, communicate and row in the same direction matters. This central idea prevents team building from being reduced to a display of individual ability.
This does not mean that all participation conditions are known in advance. The discovery day is described as accessible even without a sporting background; individual and practical arrangements are agreed during discussions. Before choosing, describe the diversity of your team and ask how the proposed format can accommodate its needs. An experience is not inclusive simply because it uses that word: the concrete conditions must be discussed with the organiser.
Should you choose novelty or relevance?
Novelty can spark curiosity, but it does not replace an intention. A different activity becomes relevant when it offers a situation connected to what your group wants to explore. Rowing can shift familiar habits: professional roles no longer automatically determine how the group finds its rhythm.
However, you should not promise that all hierarchies will disappear or that everyone will feel the same emotion. People arrive with their own experiences, expectations and hesitations. Presenting the project as an invitation to share something, rather than a test designed to identify the best, can clarify the framework. The aim is to make room for discovery and mutual support, without turning the event into a personality test or a tool for professional assessment.
What place should communication and trust have?
Cohesion is experienced through concrete actions: asking for clarification, listening for a signal, adjusting and helping another participant. In a boat, these actions take on immediate meaning because movements must take account of the group. Communication is therefore not just a topic for discussion after the activity; it is part of the experience itself.
Trust cannot, however, be decreed. A clear framework, understandable expectations and attention to everyone’s place help make the project more coherent. Ask what stages are planned and how they will be presented. The outline on the website is indicative and is adapted to each project. This transparency avoids asking employees to buy into a promise whose practical conditions have not yet been defined.
How can you connect the experience to working life?
A debrief can help put what the team experienced into words. What happened when you needed to find a shared rhythm? How was a difficulty approached? What made mutual support easier? These questions start from observed situations, rather than a lesson imposed on the group.
The connection with work should remain nuanced: a boat is not a company, and one experience does not capture every professional relationship. Nevertheless, participants can choose an idea to discuss or a way of cooperating to try. Management must then make genuine room for these conversations. Choosing coherent team building also means thinking about what happens afterwards: not to promise a transformation, but to prevent useful observations from being forgotten as soon as everyone returns to the office.
What are the key takeaways?
Does team building guarantee cohesion?
No. An experience can open up a discussion and let people experience working as a group, but it does not guarantee lasting change on its own.
Which format allows us to start with our objectives?
Bespoke team building is tailored to the company’s objectives, the number of participants and the desired level of cohesion.
Which format should you explore for your team?
Discover the format linked to this reflection, then request a proposal for your company.
Read the frequently asked questions to prepare for your project.