New Idea for Employee Team-Building: Sweat Lodge — Tip of the Week

Although the economy has stifled employee retreats, off-site training events, and team-building conferences, human resource professionals are always looking for new ideas. When the budget-vise has loosened a bit, these unity-building, self-help exercises will get back on track.

If you haven’t heard, there’s a new idea that could be adapted for these programs. The idea comes from self-help guru James Arthur Ray, who conducts at least three workplace-adaptable motivational, inner peace, adversity conquering programs: Harmonic Wealth Weekend, Practical Mysticism and Spiritual Warrior.

Recently, in one of Ray’s Spiritual Warrior programs, which includes five days of fasting, sleep deprivation and mind-altering breathing exercises, culminating in the “Sweat Lodge” ceremony, based on Native American traditions to show participants that they can gain strength and confidence by mastering discomfort, things went awry. (Click here and here.) The fact that a lot of people were vomiting in the stifling heat, gasping for air and lying lifeless on the floor would seem to have been a tip-off that the ceremony should be cut short, but this event was, after all, designed to help participants overcome extreme adversity. Three of the participants died.

So, maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I’m reminded of a couple of earlier posts on events to promote employee togetherness and toughness. One involved waterboarding. The other involved a poolside party for half-naked employees.

Team-building exercises can be worthwhile, even profound. However, we appear to think that in order to pull these things off, we have to involve an outside expert (or crackpot) to lead the way. Here’s this week’s tip. Let the employees design the program. Draw from their ideas and experience. They probably know more about what needs to be done to ensure team-building than anyone else inside or outside your organization. Either that, or go directly to James Arthur Ray’s “Harmonious Wealth Weekend.”