What do we do when we get done helping raise money for world crises or letting anyone anonymously donate to a cause (even non-social network users)? Well, the truth is that we’re never done, but we still find time to unwind. Occasionally getting away from the madness of a fast-paced engineering schedule is crucially important to the health of the team and, by extension, the quality of our products.

When we think "team building", things like seminars and slide presentations don’t immediately come to mind. Instead we focus on more important activities: dinner out, go-kart racing and charades and beer on the roof (charades was second choice to wiffleball, which, unsurprisingly, didn’t last long). We want to get outside, joke around and talk about logic puzzles over delicious food. Our team’s productivity and friendship owes a great deal to the culture that we’ve developed here and we owe it to all of the people we’re helping around the world to keep our team healthy and focused on making a difference.

So next time you’re thinking about bringing in "team building" consultants to bore your team to tears with never-ending motivational presentations in a soulless fluorescent room, take the healthier (and cheaper) route: take them skydiving.

Published: May 22nd, 2008