Foxtrail: a team building activity in Helsinki

Foxtrail- City Adventure as a team building activity – written by Anne Seppälä

My colleagues represent the typical setting for a team building activity: everybody is their own beautiful mixture of mindsets, ideas, interests and styles, which is definitely a valuable thing when working together and learning from each other but possibly a pain in one’s butt when planning an activity that would please the majority or surprise those in doubt. In my experience, having Foxtrail City Adventure as a team building activity was genuinely one of the best decisions we’ve ever made and here’s why!

Foxtrail is a ready-made team building activity to enjoy any time of the day!

And it is so easy to get started with! The instruction sheets are printed out and once at the starting point, we’d only need to read on, conduct the tasks and solve the mysteries to continue the trail and just enjoy the ride. The few suggestions I could come up with were mainly clothing-related: I’d recommend leaving your high heels home but no need to get too sporty with the equipment. I didn’t break a sweat during the trail, which I found real nice since we had dinner plans afterwards and hadn’t prepared so much time for freshening up before that. But definitely have a look at the weather forecast just in case you’d need to carry an umbrella with you.

You can turn Foxtrail into a competition. But only if you really feel like it.

Me and my colleagues were split half in two teams of seven people for the two different trails, Sampo and Louhi. Having the different trails drastically minimizes the need to compete against each other and I loved how the absence of any external pressure actually made us to concentrate on co-working and the storyline itself. It goes without saying that there will always be those who like to create a race around any possibility, even a company event, and separate teams between winners and losers but reducing the idea of a forced competition actually made the whole experience just really enjoyable.

Everybody’s strengths will come in handy in this team building activity.

People having varying features is why we love working in teams, also when following the Foxtrail! Those who like to lead will have their moments to push the decision-making forward, the more analytical people will be pleased when solving the mysteries and the fun-loving people will definitely enjoy the idea of the overall experience. On top of these, the social aspect will be at hand as well and I personally found the natural flow of chatter real nice when moving from the previous spot towards the next one. After all, socializing is definitely central to any team building activity! 

With Foxtrail, you’ll see Helsinki from a totally new perspective.

Not wanting to expose too much of the content and the whereabouts but discovering multiple districts from a whole different angle is what makes Foxtrail so unique. Whether you’re local, regular visitor or a tourist, there will be things that make you tick for sure. And amazing how a company event made me feel like a tourist in this city I’ve been living in quite some time now! Talk about breaking routines and seeing gorgeous places I have definitely not been too aware of when running my errands somewhere else or going back and forth the daily commute. 

Fresh air and exercise for team building? Oh yes! 

Walking is said to be one of the best ways to keep in shape and Foxtrail will make you move, the trail being approximately four kilometres long. But as mentioned above, the sporting aspect is not too prevailing in this one. I’d say it’s more about the coziness of going around places with a bunch of good people, enjoying the scenery and realizing how many hidden secrets there actually are in this city! And however you end up spending the rest of the team building day, the idea of having spent time outdoors is somehow very rewarding as well.

Customize Foxtrail to make the company event more fun!

After my first Foxtrail experience and being familiar with the concept I can already share a pro-tip for you to take the overall experience even further! For example, any matching accessories, costumes or team merchandise go super well with the experience and converts into cool memories as well! Also, since the time pressure is non-existing here, why not enjoy a spontaneous beverage or snack somewhere, just to re-boost and maintain the fun-loving spirit? Are you passing by a place you realize none of you have ever visited before or maybe a park that could cater as a venue for a quick picnic? Or is there a cool building, outdoor garden or whatever that inspires for a backdrop of a team picture? Maybe there could be a time and place for some additional team building games as well!

Your knowledge of the people and how they’re like will deliver the cherry on top of the whole team building experience, so why not embrace it also with Foxtrail! With a bit of planning you’ll create an unforgettable company event for the team for sure. Hope you have fun!