Drum Team Building and Drum Circle for Teams of 10 to 500

Drum team building is a format in which 10, 100 or 500 employees turn into a single orchestra within an hour, with no rehearsal at all. RhythmMen has run drum circles and drumming master classes for companies since 2008: in conference halls, at off-site strategy sessions, at corporate picnics and as part of large forums.

What a drum circle is

A drum circle is a ring of participants, each with their own instrument: djembe, conga, darbuka, shakers, wood blocks or even steel barrels. In the centre stands a RhythmMen facilitator who sets the tempo with gestures, splits the group into voices, suggests rhythms and assembles the separate parts into one coherent piece. No sheet music, no musical background required. By the tenth minute the group is playing together, and that moment is the key to the team building.

How the programme runs

1. Warm-up (10 minutes). Simple rhythm and coordination exercises that release tension and get even the sceptics from accounting moving.
2. Core (20–30 minutes). We split the participants into groups and each gets its own part. We learn to listen to one another, hold the tempo and pass the solo around — essentially the same skills as in work projects, only without the slides.
3. Finale (10–15 minutes). One piece played by the whole company, which we film. It often becomes the most-watched clip in the internal chat.

Total duration is 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the number of participants and the goals of HR. The programme scales: for 30 people it is an intimate circle, for 500 a stadium-style format with a host, a stage and screens.

Format options

• Classic drum circle — everyone in a ring, one instrument per person.
• Drumming master class — a focus on technique and specific rhythms (Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Ukrainian); best for small teams of up to 30.
• Team building + show — after the interactive part RhythmMen gives a full corporate drum show performance, and the energised participants become the audience.
• Team battle — departments compete in rhythms, and the finale brings everyone into one shared groove.

What the company gets

• A real rather than declared bonding effect: in a drum circle nobody can play alone and nobody can hide.
• A format that works equally well for an IT team, a sales department and production staff — no language or cultural barriers.
• A full set of instruments for every participant; we bring, set up and pack away everything ourselves.
• Easy integration into a conference, strategy session or corporate party — all you need is a room with space for the circle and basic sound for large groups (see the technical rider).

Why RhythmMen

We have run drum team building for teams from ten people to several hundred, worked more than 500 conferences and forums and toured 15+ countries. Our facilitators are stage drummers, so the programme offers not only teaching but a show: RhythmMen acts have been seen by viewers of Ukraine's Got Talent, the 1+1 morning show and Dancing with the Stars. Clips from team-building sessions are in our video section.

How to book drum team building

Send us the number of participants, the date, the city and the venue (hall, open ground, country resort). The cost depends on the number of people — that determines the volume of instruments and the size of the facilitator team — as well as on the duration, the format and the distance from Kyiv. We send a proposal with two or three options within a day. Phone +380 68 119 63 33, e-mail shvdrum@ukr.net.