UNFORGETTABLE TEAM BONDING

You’re not at just any hotel conference center— so whip up some team experiences, Up North-style.

BY CARA MCDONALD | PHOTO BY DAVE WEIDNER

» BIKING ON MACKINAC ISLAND

» ALPINE SLIDE AT CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN

According to team-building experts, informal team bonding—team building’s slightly less intensely focused and scripted sibling—is crucial to helping establish a corporate culture where people enjoy coming to work. So, forget your bad memories of awkward trust falls and uncomfortable oversharing, and try these distinctly Northern Michigan ways to bring your work team together.

ENCOURAGE PLAY

At Crystal Mountain, the state’s only alpine slide often gets booked as an attraction for attendees’ families and kids, but it quickly becomes the main event for adults who want to join in the fun. “One group totally abandoned their adult evening reception and took over the slide!” laughs Arah Johnson, director of sales at Crystal Mountain.

DO WHAT’S UNIQUELY LOCAL

Grand Hotel’s Mackinac Island location means no cars and plenty of bikes and horses. Groups have sent attendees out on bicycles or in carriages for scavenger hunts around the island. One recent group worked with a horse trainer and did team-building work with horses at the community stables, using principles of equine-assisted therapy to help those horses reflect behavior back to the human teams.

JUST ADD WATER

When your setting is on the lake, don’t just use it as a beautiful backdrop—let your team get wet. The Homestead helps adventurous groups arrange kayaking expeditions, while guests at Hotel Walloon rent fleets of stand-up paddleboards or pontoon boats for floating welcome receptions.

RETHINK THE TRADITIONAL MEETING SCHEDULE

The old nine-to-five seems like a waste when your event is surrounded by Michigan’s outdoor playground. Crystal Mountain encourages meeting planners to consider scheduling their days to leave afternoons free to golf, mountain bike or ski and reconvening in the evenings over dinner, hot drinks or craft brews.

PLAN SOMETHING OUT OF THE GROUP NORM

A buttoned-up medical group with attendees from South Carolina and Nevada went way outside their comfort zone and embraced their wintery destination. The Homestead set them up on a guided ice fishing adventure on Long Lake and they loved every frosty minute. “Even on day one of their meeting they walked down to the welcome center in 14 degrees,” says Tony Farragh, The Homestead’s senior manager and director of sales. “There’s bonding in that whether you like it or not!”