Respond to the given:
Team building activities can vary from physically challenging to relaxing in a boat on a lake to mentally challenging puzzles and activities. Each activity has its place and strengths and weaknesses, but they all share the common goal of building cohesion, trust, communication and create a more effective team. After all the idea behind having a team is that a group of people working in unity is more effective and capable than people acting separately. The word synergy essentially meaning the same thing as a team. So team building activities should make a team more productive and efficient at their job. Physical challenges are great because they get people who work in offices and take them out of their element. This, in turn, makes the individuals reliant on each other for success. Physical activities typically get people's adrenalin up at least a little and helps them to interact even more in ways that are not typical in their daily routine.
In an article on Wikipedia they state that: The most effective team building efforts occur when members of the team are highly interdependent in performing the task, highly knowledgeable and experienced of the task to be accomplished, and when organizational leadership actively establishes and supports the team (2014). But I disagree it's the unknown, the diversity, and yes the struggle that can be the most unifying tool.
Another great team builder that works from a completely different approach is a group outing. Having a team go out bowling, or tailgate at a football or baseball game or even go to a shooting range can be a great way for teams to build friendships and understanding. By allowing team members to relax, dress in their casual attire, and take the common stressors away individuals will feel more relaxed and be able to open up more and converse, also, it allows people to see a different side to their team members and has a greater understanding of one another.
No matter the approach the goal is the same, synergy. By building trust, friendships, understanding, and communication individuals become teams. By building these elements teams will eliminate mistakes made by miscommunication between team members. Teams also become faster when they have trust in each other. Lastly many of the issues that arise from personality conflicts are diffused through team building exercises. All of these combined has a direct influence on the triple constraint of scope, time, and cost scale.