At the Bear Grylls Survival Academy (BGSA), we have been helping businesses from all sectors bring their teams closer together through our outdoor and indoor survival challenges. From bankers to marketers – and everything in between – our activities are designed to develop important skills that are needed by employees to thrive in business.

At the heart of BGSA is our team of highly trained instructors. They not only ensure activities are suited to the objective of the companies who we’re supporting, but they also bring heaps of enthusiasm to each event, making a participant’s day a truly unique experience. We caught up with our development and logistics manager, and senior instructor , Anna Humphries, to learn more about how she (and other BGSA instructors) make each business’ team building event valuable, memorable and of course, fun!

Hi Anna, first question:
How do you prepare for a day delivering training to businesses?

We're proud to have a pool of BGSA Instructors who bring their years of experience in leading adventures and expeditions around the world, to lead our portfolio of corporate team building events.
When a client gets in touch, we work with them to understand the dynamics of their teams and desired outcomes. Based on this information, we will identify the most suitable lead BGSA instructor to deliver the event.

And what does a typical day as an instructor look like for you?

There is no typical day. For example, I was recently in China for two weeks delivering training to children in a high school as part of our Young Survivors Programme. I then flew to Switzerland to be part of a Bear Grylls welcome event to launch the new Mountain School we’re running. After that, I supported on a corporate event at Bear Grylls Adventure for over 300 people followed by a senior manager corporate event in a football field, before heading back to Switzerland to do an expedition in the mountains. At BGSA, we’re all outdoor enthusiasts who want to travel, explore and meet new people; we live what we breathe.

Launching the Mountain School in Switzerland

Delivering training in Shenzhen

Are there any essential items that you always carry whilst running a session?

For every corporate session, we have what’s called the ‘corporate spares box’. It’s literally got spares for everything such as cotton wool, a knife, a first aid box, a smoke grenade, a tarantula (in case the first one runs off) etc.

How do you make sure the events you’re running are both beneficial and engaging?

It starts with the booking process. We get under the skin of the client - understanding the company's environment, the dynamic of the particpants and the overall desired outcome; which we pass to the lead instructor to ensure that we deliver the best event we can.

For example, if it’s new recruits who want to get to know each other, we will make sure the activities are very collaborative, social and interactive. Sometimes it can be senior managers that are looking for more competition, so we make sure activities are positioned towards this. In short, the benefit comes from the client and we embed that into what we deliver.

The engagement is naturally part of the events we offer as everything we do is dynamic and physical but this is also elevated by our instructors as they are super energetic. Additionally, all our activities require the involvement from the whole team rather than anything which just focuses on one person. Engagement matters as if we have participants that turn up that are quiet or shy, our instructors are able to get them motivated. We also try to create an exciting atmosphere from the get-go; we show introduction reels with Bear Grylls, play loud music and encourage participants to put mud on each other’s faces; it brings a vibe that gets everyone ‘ready and pumping’ for the outdoors.

What are some of the key skills you teach to businesses?

I don’t like to use clichés as there are many team building activities that provide skills such as communication, collaboration and decision making. However, what attracts me about BGSA and is the reason why I became an instructor, is that it’s a real-life scenario. It’s not made up. Take for example some of our most extreme activities like climbing and abseils. We’re putting people out their comfort zones and they’re not thinking about their day tomorrow or what they’re having for lunch. Instead, they’re thinking about the next handhold or the risk of falling. Of course they are safe, but it can sometimes be a reality check for them. And when you get the team encouraging each other and motivating their peers, it adds another dynamic. When someone completes a challenge, it’s not just a ‘high five’, it’s more like, ‘wow, you smashed it’! It creates memories that you wouldn’t ordinarily get from other team building events.

Archery Challenge

Our Stranded Challenge

How do you ensure skills learnt from the activities are transferrable back to work and business life?

Post-event, we always check-in with our clients to gain feedback from their day and learn about any improvements that have happened within the company as a result. One of the most significant benefits reported is the connection that people make with each other when taking part in activities – especially in situations where colleagues have never met each other previously face-to-face. We often find that by the end of the day, colleagues are exchanging details, meeting up outside of work, and keeping in touch with each other months down the line. This bond can help breakdown barriers and enable them to build rapports that ultimately makes them better employees.

When designing events specifically for businesses, is there anything you do so participants can get the most out of their day?

Coming back to the initial call we have with our clients and finding out what they’re trying to achieve, we can choose the activities that are suited for that outcome. For some businesses it’s a competition day for the sales team, for others it’s getting new starters to interact with each other. When it comes to senior management, we like to play around with leadership roles and activities that require one spokesperson. This replicates hierarchy and management but in an outdoor scenario, allowing them to develop skills such as leadership and communication.

Can you remember a particularly challenging day when delivering an event?

Whilst we always challenge our clients, I love the challenges we get as BGSA instructors. It’s up to us to positively manipulate the participants day because when we see something happen, we need to adapt and go with the flow. One of the activities we run is called the Viaduct Challenge and it involves the team being split into a hierarchy made up of CEOs, managers, assistants and staff. In the past, we have deliberately shaken up the actual formation of a company and turned the hierarchy upside down. It’s interesting to see staff becoming the management and vice versa. This can be both challenging and rewarding as management don’t always enjoy commands being given to them. But equally, it’s fantastic to see the staff build a rapport that they never normally would have had with their managers.

Viaduct Challenge

What’s a memorable success story from your time as an instructor?

One of my highlights was when we had the CEO of a company participate to try and get his sales team to be more competitive. It turned out that the CEO was the most competitive person and at the end of the day, his team made him eat a tarantula. He didn’t want to but he did this out of respect and to prove to his team that he’s going to do what he asks of them. Afterwards, they chucked him into the air and cheered. It was such a nice way to finish the event. It’s good fun and a great way for employees to experience the human side of their colleagues and managers.

Finally, what do you enjoy most about being an instructor at BGSA?

I’ve come from an outdoors background and have worked for different companies but for me, BGSA is very unique. It feels like a family. We’ve all done rigorous training and have been chosen by Bear himself. We’ve got high-end outdoor qualifications and we live what we do. I think the best part for me is that our unit of instructors all go on adventures outside of work together, so we have a strong relationship. And this comes across to our clients. We don’t just run activities and go home; we go straight on to the next adventure. Of course we enjoy working for Bear too!