5 Corporate Team Building Activities Everyone Will Love
Saturday 1 February 2020 4:30pm
After a long, draining work week (or month… or year…) it’s not uncommon to see your team looking a little flat.
If you’re starting to see more yawns, drooping shoulders, and team members keeping to themselves, it might be time to start organising a team outing.
Team building activities are a fun excuse to get out of the office and re-spark some excitement in the team – think sports games, scavenger hunts and escape rooms (with a dinner afterwards to cool down and spend some time together). Your team will learn how to work together towards a common goal and get to know each other on a personal level.
Need some ideas for your next team building event? Read on. We’ve got five corporate team building event ideas that’ll have your team cheering.
#1. Put together an elaborate scavenger hunt for your team
Who doesn’t love a good scavenger hunt? It’s the perfect excuse to get out in sun and get some much-needed fresh air, explore the city, and work together as a team to achieve a common goal.
You can find a range of premade scavenger hunt lists online (it’s as simple as a quick Google Images search) or, for a more interactive experience, you can make your own! Get the team to scour the town for random objects like acorns, a Jane Austen book, or even some treats from the local bakery across town.
Alternatively, consider downloading the Geocaching App. Through their global interactive community, there are hundreds of unique items hidden around towns and cities just waiting to be found. Your team can work together to find these items (often small and hidden in old film containers).
Whoever finds the most Geocaches in three hours wins a prize – think early marks, paid days off, or even a sneaky bottle of champagne.
A scavenger hunt is fun, active and bound to generate some hilarious photos that can be shared in a slideshow at the end of the day, or in your next team meeting.
#2. Create some friendly rivalry by taking the team to a local footy game
Sometimes, dividing a team can bring them closer together.
Consider taking the team down to McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle and catch a football game. Your team will no doubt split into their own respective teams e.g. the Knights versus the Tigers. Then just sit back, relax and watch the friendly rivalry ensue.
Your team can wear their team colours, grab a couple of beers and cheer (or chant) together. It’s a fun, casual method of encouraging the team to bond over a mutual love of sports or, for people who are less-than-excited about sports, it’s an opportunity to get to know their colleagues on a personal level.
Want to take the sports experience to the next level? Hire out our Broadmeadow Room. We’ve got an incredible view of the field – we’ll provide the food, the drinks, and a high-class atmosphere – forget shuffling past football fans in the grandstand!
#3. Organise an escape room experience
This team building activity isn’t for the faint of heart.
Escape rooms are becoming more and more popular with corporate businesses around the world. An escape room is an immersive role-playing experience where players are “locked in a room and given a certain amount of time to solve a mystery or riddle before they can be “set free”.
The escape room experience often involves a make-believe scenario and can sometimes be, well, pretty intense. The Panic Room, for example, has a “room” where teams are handcuffed, blind-folded, and left in a cell filled with smoke. The team has one hour to find a way out of their handcuffs, blindfolds, and out of their cell before the guards come!
It might sound a little intimidating, but escape rooms are a fun, alternative idea for team building. Your team will have a common goal and will have to work together to solve riddles, scenarios, or even crimes!
#4. Designate one day per quarter for volunteering
Martin Luther King once said, “life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘what are you doing for others?’”
One of the most valuable and rewarding team building activities out there is volunteering. Rather than sitting around the boardroom or conference table, get the team out and about helping others.
Consider getting the team to donate lots of clothing and toys to charity, volunteer at a soup kitchen, or even sign up to help out at a local charity event. Samaritans, for example, often holds volunteering events around Newcastle, the Central Coast and the Hunter, including emergency relief.
This kind of bonding is unlike other team building. Your team will grow together as a group, gaining self-esteem and self worth while also spending time together on a personal level.
#5. Try the “egg drop” challenge and offer a prize for the winning team
Want to encourage teamwork but don’t have time to get out of the office?
A games afternoon might be the ticket to team building on a budget. Think trivia, building balloon towers with tape and of course, the “egg drop” challenge.
In the egg drop challenge, teams of 3 to 5 people are asked to build a structure from limited materials like straws, paper and tape which will prevent a raw egg from breaking when it’s dropped from a height of five metres.
Your teams can create parachutes and padded protection – whatever will ensure the egg survives the fall! It’s all about being creative and working together to come up with a realistic solution to the problem.
Whoevers’ egg is all in one piece at the end of the day wins a prize. Again, think early marks, paid days off, or even just a sweet surprise like a 1KG block of chocolate. With an incentive, your team could do incredible things!
Team looking a little flat? - Perk them up again with an exciting team building experience. Get the team out of the office and into the sunshine for a scavenger hunt or a football game, or even book the whole office in to experience an escape room scenario.
If the team knows there’s a big event coming up in their calendar, they’re going to be talking about it for days. Plus, it’s the perfect excuse to encourage team members to spend time together outside of work, build their teamwork skills, and work towards a common goal.
Become the “cool boss” at work – schedule in some corporate team building activities now!
Need a venue for your corporate team building activities? Book a corporate room with McDonald Jones Stadium.
