The mother of all teambuilding events

"Extreme corporate bonding". It sounds like the kind of thing that happens once a year - at the office Christmas party. But actually, it's the name for a new breed of team-building exercises that companies are using to get the best out of their employees, reports Fortune (May 26).

Each year, 200 employees at Seagate Technology, a technology company, take part in Eco Seagate, the $2 million "mother of all teambuilding events", involving months of preparation for activities such as adventure racing and scaling cliff faces in places as far away as Hong Kong and Northern Ireland.

"Everyone here's going to die," Bill Watkins, the Seagate CEO, tells his team. Of course, perishing isn't part of the deal - after all, it could seriously hinder morale. Watkins is simply reminding people to face up to the important choices in their life.

Extreme teambuilding can help people reassess their priorities, he says. "Are you doing what you want to do in your life? Or are you just blowing through?" he asks. "I'm challenging your life right now." It seems to be working, too: one employee lost 40 pounds while others have given up smoking and drinking, Fortune says.

If extreme corporate bonding sounds like hard work, we've come up with an alternative: extreme doughnut eating. While you're unlikely to lose as many pounds, doughnut eating definitely builds relationships and can even help you to reassess your priorities. Now then, jam or chocolate, jam or chocolate?