Coming up with just the right team bonding activities for your group can be more complicated than it seems. On paper, many ideas sound compelling. In reality, however, it’s important to bear in mind that while some groups are sufficiently cohesive to be taken out of their comfort zone as a whole, others are made up of more eclectic individual personalities. In that case, finding activities that all will love and grow from is more challenging. Fortunately, there’s something out there for everyone! Here are some of our best ideas…
What Is Team Building?
Team-building – also known as team bonding – refers to any action or process that can help a group of people work together as a team. Team-building activities for work are typically designed to promote cooperation, increase motivation, and foster a sense of belonging.
At TeamOut, we believe that any activity people partake in as a group can constitute a team-building exercise, so long as it matches the dynamics of the team in question. Understanding your team dynamics is the first step in selecting team-building activities that will genuinely bring the participants together while achieving the results you’re looking for. This includes recognizing individual strengths, weaknesses, and communication styles within the group so you can plan your event not just around your goals but around the people too.
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Team Bonding Activities – Choose the Right Activities for Your Team
No two teams are alike. Team assessments and personality tests are a great way to gain insight into your team members’ preferences and working styles. In addition to these elements, you should also consider physical abilities and cultural sensitivities when selecting team-building activities for your group. You’ll want to create these moments when everyone feels included and understood.
Group activities for adults come in all shapes and sizes. Some – such as icebreaker games and problem-solving exercises – are suitable for everyone and provide a quick and easy solution to reinforce the bonds between collaborators at any stage of their relationship. Others allow you to go deeper and promote a genuine sense of belonging through shared memories. Outdoor adventures, team-building workshops, and, of course, multiple-day events such as a mountain retreat are perfect for that.
Look at your options and weigh out any element that could make some people feel left out. For example, while all the members of your team enjoy good food, vegetarians may not be comfortable with a make-your-own-charcuterie-board-type workshop. Similarly, wine-tasting events only work if everyone involved is happy to consume alcohol. You can always find more inclusive versions of these team bonding activities. A pizza-making class, for instance, can include so many different toppings that vegetarians and vegans won’t relish the experience any less than meat enthusiasts. Visiting a bar where people can learn how to create cocktails and mocktails should also work a treat.
Indoor Team Bonding Activities – A Team Building Activity Everyone Can Enjoy
Many indoor team-bonding activities can be enjoyed at the office for a quick session to boost team morale or on a full-fledged team retreat. They tend to be particularly inclusive and approachable, as several don’t require any movement at all. From fun icebreakers to hours-long workshops, these team-building activities are flexible and infinitely customizable, adapting to the size and makeup of your group with just a few adjustments.
Board Game Simulation
Who doesn’t love a nice classic board game? Never underestimate the power of nostalgia to build a sense of community and boost team morale. Most of us grew up enjoying an array of board games like Twister, Chutes and Ladders, Life, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Mouse Trap, Operation, and even card games, chess, and checkers. So why not tap into a theme that’s sure to stir everyone’s enthusiasm and turn it into a bonding opportunity?
Of course, you could just play these board games and have a great time sitting around tables and enjoying some delicious snacks. But you could also challenge the participants differently by appealing to their team spirit and sense of creativity. Have them utilize materials like sheets, cardboard boxes, paper, and foam blocks – or better yet, repurpose packaging that was headed for the recycling bin – to recreate life-sized board games in your largest conference room. When people are the pawns, they are even more motivated to cooperate and work together to win the game!
And, of course, you can also take this idea outside to make a picnic at the park more lively.
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Photography Classes
If you’re looking for team-building activities for work environments that integrate a learning element along with hands-on practice, photography classes can be an excellent idea. This kind of workshop can happen on-site as your employees learn how to use creative camera techniques to capture their subjects uniquely. You can also book photography classes as part of a retreat to learn this new skill in a completely different environment, teaching them openness and adaptability along the way.
One of our best tips for a successful retreat is to select places and activities that take the participants out of their comfort zone while providing opportunities for inspiration and bonding.
Office Trivia
Office Trivia is one of those team-bonding activities anyone can enjoy. Simple and cost-effective, it can be done pretty much anywhere. Perfect for encouraging people to socialize, it promotes good-humored competition while building relationships and creative thinking, even among larger groups. Be creative with the questions you ask your players. They can be about the company – which can help reinforce your corporate culture – or themed around various topics.
Divide the participants into teams. The rules are simple: the team with the most correct answers at the end of the game is the winner! Don’t hesitate to turn this game into a big, game show-like event, complete with microphones and loudspeakers, and a large projector for displaying the questions.
Virtual Team Building Activities
Virtual team-building activities aren’t just great for those times when you must give outdoor excursions a miss. They can bring the members of your team together even if they are thousands of miles apart (or just at home, working remotely)!
Problem-solving murder mystery games and virtual escape rooms are especially relevant. While you can make these scenarios work in a function room, a cafeteria, or even an entire office building, there are also countless options for enjoying a similar – and often much more elaborate – version online. In theory, you could DIY the whole experience. But there are plenty of whodunnit and survival simulation team-building activities out there. Participants will need to be resourceful, think outside the box, and collaborate to solve the mystery.
Sporty Team Building Activities
When thinking about how to plan a corporate retreat successfully, outdoor team-bonding activities often jump to mind, and with good reason! There’s nothing like a bit of nature and fresh air to strengthen the bonds between team members. Some shy away from it, however, because they believe these experiences to be less inclusive, as not all team members share the same level of fitness. Thankfully, not all sports are created equal, and there are plenty of options out there. If everyone on your team is on board for something very physical, go for an activity that will challenge them! If your group is more diverse, on the other hand, you’ll still find things they can do that even the most athletic individuals will enjoy as well.
Don’t hesitate to include the participant in this choice and allow them to make suggestions: finding just the right activity that will bring everybody together is a very constructive exercise in and of itself! Alternatively, you can always reach out to us, and we’ll help you build the ideal team retreat itinerary.
Walking Tours
Many walking tours are accessible to all, including people with mobility issues. They provide a great opportunity for communication and exploration and, if you hire a knowledgeable guide who can give additional insights, for learning. Museums are a great example of this, but you can also visit more unusual places, such as caves, factories, beautiful libraries, interesting districts in your own city, and more. These excursions are always fun and educational.
If you’re looking for more creative options, why not try a ghost tour, a street art tour, or – for something that will make everyone happy – a food tour? Don’t forget to take pictures to document these great times together!
Rafting
Are all the members of your team adventure seekers? Then you can consider a more challenging team-building activity that will have them depend on each other. White water rafting requires teammates to work as one to steer their raft amid the strong currents – a beautiful metaphor for their work-related activities. Facing down danger (in a controlled environment) gets the adrenaline pumping… but it’s also a real workout.
Fortunately, you’ll find different types of rapids with varying levels of difficulty. If your group includes first-timers, it might be preferable to set an easier course.
Outdoor Yoga
Tranquil and introspective, outdoor yoga can be a great team-bonding activity. Once you’ve selected a beautiful location, all you need to do is unroll your yoga mats and let your teacher guide you through a peaceful flow toward collective well-being.
You can choose an inspiring outdoor venue such as a park, the beach, or even your own rooftop – provided it’s safe. And if you want a truly stunning view, a team retreat out in nature is an even better choice. You could enjoy a yoga session as part of a multiple-activity event or go on a completely yoga-based trip where certified yogis will introduce all the participants to different aspects of the practice.
Guests will discover that yoga is a remarkable tool for stress management. It teaches us patience and adaptability, qualities that are crucial in any work environment.
Playground Tournament
Your team just needs to blow off some steam and allow their inner child to rekindle their competitive spirit? Then a simple round of playground tournaments might be the ideal approach. This low-stake activity requires very few props, if any, and invites participants to share what their favorite playground games were growing up. Some will find they have many childhood memories in common!
Enjoy classic recess activities where teams compete against each other in games of kickball, dodgeball, monkey bar races, and even hopscotch or duck, duck, goose! Of course, you can also include basketball, volleyball, baseball, or any other sport the group may love.
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Creative Team Bonding Activities
Creative and artistic pursuits can make for inspiring team-bonding activities. Giving the members of your team the chance to create something can do a lot for their personal growth and development. Drawing, painting, pottery-making, composing music… all these crafts allow the left side of the brain to expand, making people happier, healthier, and more productive. It teaches us that expressing our ideas is constructive in itself and that mistakes are part of any great process. And daring to unblock one’s imagination is still a huge challenge to step up to! Participants will discover so much about themselves and their teammates…
Painting Classes
Painting classes are one of those creative team-bonding activities that can be about performance as much as they can be about letting one’s inner monologue take over, guiding the mind and body in the creation of something unique. It teaches us to let go of perfectionism to recognize the value in a result that may be flawed but genuine.
Painting in a group can also be a collaborative learning experience, particularly with projects that stimulate interaction. One great example is to have several participants team up to create one art piece together. This exercise promotes open-mindedness and a sense of pride in the group’s achievements.
Cooking / Baking Classes
Participating in cooking or baking classes as a team can foster collaboration, creativity, and communication. These team-building activities allow participants to bond over one of the most ancient drivers of community: food.
Transforming ingredients into delicious dishes is a skill that requires concentration and subtlety. Thanks to the deep relationship we all have with food, the reward isn’t only in winning a game. The result itself brings the most enjoyment since it can be eaten and shared with everyone present.
Pizza-crafting, chocolate-making, tapas-creating, and even no-recipe challenges, where teams must come up with a three-course meal from a strict set of unusual ingredients, are all excellent ideas. And if you’re looking for something a little more relaxed, why not host a creative BBQ event?
Acting Workshops
From giving a presentation to negotiating a vendor contract to managing a team, some would argue that part of being a business person is a demanding role… literally. The art of persuading – be it a single person or an entire audience – doesn’t always come naturally. It’s all about understanding the power of storytelling and entertainment, something that business and acting have in common. Even the term “drama” finds its roots in “dran”, the Greek word for “to do”…hence to “act”! And there certainly is a great deal of action in what a business person does every day at the office.
Acting workshops can teach employees how to channel their actions to deliver the best performance in every sense of the word. Understanding what drives a character and the mechanics of their relationship with their surroundings can help them step out of their own life and identify objectives and obstacles in a new light. Beyond such realizations, drama classes – particularly if they involve improv – kindle creativity and a sense of daring. “Being someone else”, if only for a moment, is a great way to discover the unsuspected potential within oneself. When challenges arise during a typical work day, someone with that understanding can tap into their knowledge to think creatively and come up with new solutions.
And, of course, acting is rarely a solo activity. On the contrary, booking an acting workshop for your team will provide an opportunity to explore its dynamics, reverse the roles, and interact in any imaginary settings the group might come up with.
Team-bonding activities come in all shapes and sizes. Whether you choose to have quick team-building sessions right at the office or multiple-day team-building retreats (here’s how it works!), these exercises reinforce problem-solving and communication skills while raising team morale. From a virtual scavenger hunt that everyone can participate in from behind their desk all the way to a group outing involving white-water rafting, there is no shortage of fun ideas. Choose the right approach by assessing your group’s preferences and abilities (particularly in terms of accessibility) while considering your goals as a company.
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