The entire business world has been turned upside down and it is consequently time to look at a lot of old ideas and question them. One misconception that many people have is that cruises are only for personal pleasure. Au contraire mon frère, cruise meetings are certainly in style these days. Consider the following reasons:

• Employees are jumping ship and starting their own firms more than ever. Why? Because the pressures of having to do more with less and no raise in sight is driving them to such acts. Would it hurt to schedule a business cruise meeting instead of a landlocked hotel meeting? The results could save employees.
• Businesses are having to do more with less, and cruise meetings are all about more for less. More unlimited food, more entertainment options, more meeting rooms with unparalleled views, and more unique situations in which to get the creative juices flowing, all for a price that may turn out to be substantially less than trying to replicate the same effects in hotels and convention centers.
• Suppliers and customers are also looking for the best deals, and a cruise meeting is a sort of concession for them that might keep contacts happy while they still pay the same price. It may all be a big tax write-off anyhow, so why not consider taking this particular ball and running with it?

Many employees dread meetings because these types of events are often quite boring. Employees are often not encouraged to participate, and there is no real opportunity for teambuilding and growth. While meetings cannot be all fun and games, business should include team building activities in their meeting agenda. These activities will help keep employees motivated, alert, and inspired. However, the teambuilding activities chosen should not make employees feel patronized. These activities should be designed to help employees learn and aid in their overall development. Employees that acts as a team can be more productive and more profitable.

One way to motivate employees to fully participate in and cooperate with teambuilding incentives is to have them design the teambuilding activities. Employees usually design activities that will help develop their own potential as well as the potential of their co-workers. They will choose activities in which they are interested or that relate to their hobbies or other special interests. By allowing employees to have some input into teambuilding incentives, businesses can expect to have majority participation in these types of events. When employees are allowed to work together to design teambuilding incentives they will inherently come together as a team. This is the ultimate goal of teambuilding incentives.