Introduction
It’s important to be able to work as productive teams but that doesn’t always just naturally happen. Bonding with your colleagues, finding common motivation, getting excited about projects and dealing with conflict are all part of the recipe that makes a successful work culture.
Team building activities are an essential tool in any workplace’s efforts to produce effective staff members and teams. To help your business on that journey, we’ve put together our top team building experiences and activities to tackle with your employees and co-workers.
1. Beat your colleagues at The Cube
If you enjoy a challenge and fancy going up against each other in The Cube, you can now do it in person. This is as opposed to just watching it on TV and deciding you’d be better than Carol from Accounts at catching balls dropping from the sky. Now, you can get back at her for all those emails she sends you when your expenses are late by emerging victorious and showing her that your lack of adherence to deadlines is because you have other, more pressing things to do. Like practising your hand-eye coordination, for example. Come at me, Carol…
2. Clay pigeon shooting
We know, it’s not technically something you do as a team but bear with us…
Sometimes you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and try something you would otherwise tend to shy away from. It might seem loud and, well…shooty but, in order to succeed at it, you must listen, concentrate, and show patience.
These are all skills you’ve no doubt had to pull out the bag on numerous occasions in your working life, so why not try them in an alternative setting? You might end up surprised, if not a touch alarmed, by how good you are with a rifle.
3. Prove what you know with office trivia
Do you know how long your company has been in business? What’s your mission statement? And just who is it that keeps leaves out of date tuna fish in the office fridge?? There are some things you should definitely know about your organisation but a myriad of others that might have passed you by.
Having a game of office trivia is one of the best team building activities you can do from the comfort of your boardroom (or the local pub??). Better get those corporate manuals out and start brushing up on your knowledge.
No one wants to fail at a question directly linked to the role they do because, oh, the shame.
4. Rock climb your way to the top
If you and your colleagues spend a lot of time sitting around office chairs and only get a bit of exercise when you get up to refill your coffee cup or walk to the conference room for a meeting, it might be about time for some team building activities that involve a bit more moving around.
Indoor rock climbing is a great way to work together and cheer each other on to literally reach the top. It takes a bit of skill, strength, perceptiveness and determination – all excellent traits to help you get on in your working life.
5. Local community service
There are undoubtedly tons of local organisations in your area that would be more than happy to receive a team of motivated individuals to help them run a session at the food bank, paint houses, pack bags, or plant a local garden.
Not only can you spend time on a very worthwhile team building activity, but you can make a real difference to your local area while you do it. It’s difficult to see what the downside is, to be honest.
Your local authority website is likely to have a list of community-run organisations in your area, or simply ask your colleagues to suggest their favourites and take a vote.
6. Escape room challenges
Escape Rooms have become such a popular attraction across the world and they’re also a great way to promote collaboration and bring out people’s natural problem-solving skills.
If you’re up for a team building activity that involves everyone and where team working is essential to getting out, this might be the day out for you. Unless you work in an old Soviet prison camp in Siberia, it’s likely you’ll run into a whole new set of challenges and use your skills in ways you haven’t before.
Escape rooms come in a huge variety of forms to test different skills, require different solutions and match different themes. You might be surprised by what you learn about yourself and the people you work with.
It’s always good to know who to run to in the event of a zombie apocalypse. But who thought it’d be Sarah from Customer Relations??
7. Get personal with your workmates
You might know that Big Dave from Marketing has a new baby due to the fact he’s often bleary-eyed through lack of sleep, and you know Steph from reception has a new dog because every time you pass her, she shows you the latest of the 100+ photos on her phone. However, aside from these little details, how much do you really know about the people you work with?
One of our favourite team building activities is to get everyone to take photos of various aspects of their lives, such as their cars, the living rooms, their hobbies and passions, etc, and get everyone to guess which snaps belong to which colleague. It’s really good fun and you’ll be surprised about how much you didn’t know about the people you spend so much time with.
8. Channel your inner Lewis Hamilton
If you’re looking for classic team building activities, you can’t really go wrong with a trip to the local Go Kart centre. We all work beside someone who thinks they’re a great driver and we all know someone who maybe shouldn’t really be in charge of that much power. Why not combine them all with a driving challenge to see who’s the next Max Verstappen and who should stick to playing Mario Kart in the comfort of their own home?
Go-karting doesn’t even require you to have an actual driving licence, so it’s very inclusive. Obviously, it might help if you do have one, but it’s certainly not necessary. Some of the best laughs are had when you’re not taking it too seriously and don’t feel the need to beat your boss to the finish line. We usually get stuck in a pile of tyres while trying to reverse, but that’s just how we roll.
9. Gladiators, ready!
‘Memba that old show on TV? No? Well, we do, and we loved it. Get the squad together for the ultimate in team building activities and revel in the opportunity to beat each other with huge inflatable pugil sticks.
It’s time to knock them down a peg or two and show them who’s *really* in charge. What could be better to build your relationship with John the cleaner, who secretly rolls his eyes every time he sees you munching on granola over your keyboard? Or Karen, who you constantly must tell to mute herself on Zoom when she’s muttering, even though you only told her yesterday?
Yes, indeed, beating your colleagues in the name of sport is always the way to go. We all know violence isn’t the answer to any problem. And yet, sometimes, it is. Catchy names are optional.
10. Desert survival
Gather your team around the office and split them into teams. Your scenario is that you’ve survived a plane crash and are now stranded in the desert with a list of 15 random items. These generally include ropes, flares, water, peanuts, penknives, etc. Each team initially rank the items individually, then discuss them in their wider groups to come to a consensus on the final ranking.
This is a great way to get everyone working together – particularly if you match up colleagues who tend not to have that much contact on a normal day.
One of the best things about it is that even the office know-it-all, who has always done everything, is unlikely to have been in this situation before. Hopefully, your list will include an old football so that, if all your colleagues die of dengue fever, you can make your own Wilson to chat to until help arrives.
11. Get out into nature
Ideal team building activities should make your staff work together, bring them a sense of accomplishment and make people feel positive. We can’t think of a better way to make that happen than to get out for a walk or hike in nature.
Whether there’s somewhere close to the office or you jump on a coach to your nearest area of outstanding national beauty, we’re sure there’s somewhere you can all head outside for some fresh air and a slightly challenging walk.
Just remember that choosing this activity can present a challenge and an opportunity if your team has members on it who have an accessibility requirement or are a bit older. It’s up to you if you take this as a chance to work together to tackle a doable walk somewhere and overcome those challenges as a group, or if you decide it’s not suited to your team’s needs.
Conclusion
The mention of team building activities used to fill employees with dread. The prospect of sitting around a table and being dragged out of your comfort zone with some lame challenge was the stuff last-minute sick days were made for.
These days, however, there’s a hell of a lot more genuinely fun things to choose from, whether it’s a day within the office or out in the wild. Having a positive attitude certainly helps and being determined to make the most of your time together can honestly work wonders for your confidence and your relationships. You don’t have to be good at something to have fun.
Many of the team building activities on the list are offered by us, so why not choose your area or destination and get yourselves signed up for some literal fun and games?
