DRINK IT IN - WATER PROJECT WITH LIFE LESSON

ONE charity-based team-building activity is The Water Works Program. It asks groups to construct a water filtration system that is then donated to a village in Uganda or Kenya with no access to drinking water. Program founder Matt Hendricks says the activity gives workers a sense of purpose.

“We don’t give them context around the customer at first and we see some cool designs,” he says.

“Then half way through we hit them for six and tell them there is a real customer and give them the opportunity to try again.” Participants later receive a photo of the villagers using the system. “It’s not just doing something fun together but doing something that gives the sense they are not just at work to earn money and clock in and clock out but to make a difference,” Hendricks says.

“Some people say it is the best thing they have done in their career. We talk about the importance of designing things with the customer first, and accountability.”