Gone are the days of team-building over tea and biscuits. Its time to bond – James Bond style.

Extreme team sports are the latest spin in the world of corporate health, fitness and motivation. The phenomenon which has swept business America is now making big inroads in Australia.

If falling off a cliff in torrential rain sounds like just another day at the office, you could be an ideal candidate. Ranging from abseiling to paragliding and go-karting, strenuous physical activity is an effective way to bond teams, encourage change and grow trust, leaving participants better equipped to handle tough challenges in the workplace.

Not for the faint hearted, the concept combines physical stamina and team reliance with mental toughness to test the collective survival skills of team members under pressure.

An element of kudos and prestige has become associated with extreme team sports, underpinned by the belief that those companies who are successful in such a challenging environment are strategically, mentally and physically superior to their competitors.  It is a new take on the old concept of survival of the fittest and one that has led to an entourage of blue chip companies sending senior executives into the wild to battle it out boot camp style.

Coca-Cola is doing it, Merrill Lynch is doing it, even the Deutsche Bank is doing it and, of course, Microsoft is running it. The Microsoft Challengers’ Trophy is an annual event where top executives compete against rival teams in a series of strategic mental and physical challenges. Similar to military training, the teams are confronted with high pressure situations where only the mentally and physically agile can succeed.

This highly prestigious event is taken very seriously by the entrants who spend months training for the event with the aim of increasing their ‘mental toughness quotient’, the elusive quality attributed to competitive success in pressured situations.

While enhancing confidence and mental ability, extreme team sports also work to sharpen team cohesion and self-reliance. The group must work together for a common goal, communicate effectively, overcome obstacles and quickly develop a solution that uses their resources in the most efficient way.

In Australia, adventure skills training is a thriving business offering corporate teams a smorgasbord of adventure from mountain biking, kayaking, land navigation and rock climbing to parachuting and rally driving.