How Team Building Events Drive Better Communication and Collaboration

Tom Frearson
6 days ago
3 min read

By Tom Frearson | Be Fearsome Events

You don’t really know how a team communicates until it’s under pressure.

That’s the simple truth. In a controlled environment — meetings, video calls, the office — communication appears fine. Structured. Polite. Functional. But communication isn’t tested in the calm. It’s exposed in the chaos.

That’s why we design team building events that replicate real-world pressure — time constraints, ambiguity, incomplete information, conflicting agendas — and then we observe how teams respond.

And more often than not, what emerges isn’t what leaders expect.

What Teams Say vs What Teams Do

We hear the same things during briefings:

“We need to improve communication.”
“We work in silos.”
“There’s a trust gap between teams.”
“People aren’t speaking up.”

Then we run a challenge where communication matters. Where success hinges on who speaks, who listens, and who adapts.

What happens?

The natural talkers take over — but don’t always listen.
The quieter thinkers step back.
Decisions stall. Priorities drift. Clarity disappears.

This isn’t dysfunction. It’s normal. It’s human. And it’s fixable — but only once it’s visible.

Our events don’t fix communication. They reveal it. And what teams choose to do with that insight is where the real shift begins.

Purposeful Play: Why Fun Matters

Let’s be clear. Our events aren’t just about having fun — but they’re not sterile training sessions either.

We design experiences with purpose. The fun is deliberate. Because when people enjoy themselves, they open up. They lower defences. They become more honest — with themselves and each other.

Adult play is something we don’t get to do often enough. But when it’s used in the right context — structured, challenging, professionally facilitated — it becomes a powerful learning tool. It’s not a break from the work. It is the work, just delivered in a way people remember.

Our environments are designed for serious outcomes — communication, collaboration, leadership — but delivered in a way that feels engaging. Energising. Human.

Case in Point: The Missing Voice

One senior team we worked with — cross-functional, high-performing on paper — believed their communication was excellent.

On a task called StratNav, they had to coordinate as a unit to solve a time-sensitive, navigation-based challenge. High pressure. No clear leader. Everyone needed to contribute.

The result?

A dominant voice took control.
Several team members disengaged.
Key data was missed.

At the end, the Operations Director — one of the most experienced in the group — said quietly:

"I had the answers. I just didn’t feel it was my place to interrupt."

That single moment — uncomfortable, honest, unscripted — shifted the entire team’s view of how they communicate. Not just in the challenge, but back at work. The insight didn’t come from us. It came from experience.

That’s the difference between telling someone and showing them.

Why Communication Breaks Down

Communication fails under pressure not because people lack skills — but because:

Time pressure removes patience
Ambiguity causes hesitation
Unclear roles breed over-talking or silence
Trust hasn’t been built to withstand stress

These conditions are exactly what our events simulate — not to test teams for the sake of it, but to surface habits that matter.

Once it’s seen, it can be changed.

The Debrief: Where Insight Turns Into Action

Anyone can run an activity. Very few can hold a meaningful debrief.

Our facilitators — drawn from military, leadership, and performance backgrounds — observe with calm precision. We don’t look for who ‘won’ the challenge. We look for what the challenge revealed:

Who stepped forward — and why?
Who stayed silent — and what was missed?
How were decisions made under time pressure?
What assumptions went unchecked?

We use the C8 Leadership System not as a theory, but as a lens. Clarity. Composure. Communication. Collaboration. These aren't buzzwords — they're behaviours, and they show up under stress.

This Is About More Than Just Fun

Yes, our events are enjoyable. People laugh, move, solve, and challenge themselves. But that’s not why we run them.

We don’t build events for entertainment. We build them as platforms for change. The fun isn’t the goal — it’s the vehicle. Because adults learn best when they’re engaged, slightly stretched, and working together on something that matters.

If you want your team to feel connected, lunch will do.

If you want your team to communicate under pressure — you need structured challenge, intelligent design, and proper facilitation.

That’s where real insight lives.