Corporate team building activities can have big payoffs for businesses and other organizations. These range from improving communication and collaborative skills among employees to encouraging them to build trust in one another and improve their ability to solve problems.
However, for participants to reap the maximum benefits from corporate team building activities, they have to be effective. And they are most effective when they are fun, entertaining, or challenging enough to make employees want to enthusiastically participate.
Here are four types of team building activities that are sure to motivate even the most skeptical members of the team. These activities can be arranged in or near New York City, although you can leverage these ideas regardless of where you’re located.
Culinary Experiences/Cook-Offs
Cooking together requires good communication, the delegation of responsibilities to the right individuals, strong attention to small details, good timing, collaboration and much more. That’s why cooking makes such a great corporate team building activity. There are many variations on culinary team building as well – for example, an entire group can work together to prepare a single meal or teams can compete to cook specific dishes. Some culinary team building activities wrap up with having everyone sit down and enjoy a meal together, or they can be more goodwill-oriented with the team serving the food they’ve prepared to those in need. Many cooking schools, restaurants and other venues offer culinary team building activities, while others just provide the kitchen space while you create your own unique activity.
Sports/Games
Sports and many games are natural team builders that promote friendly competition and help team members to build confidence. Any team sport – softball, flag football, soccer – can be used for corporate team building. But other types of sports that you wouldn’t normally consider team sports – like ping pong or golf – or even something a little more adventurous, like axe throwing, can also be effective for building team-related skills. Games for team building can range from casino-style events to games that mimic TV game shows.
Scavenger Hunts
Scavenger hunts are not a new concept, but can be just as fun as ever, and there are endless ways to customize them. Typically these challenges are limited to a particular place, such as a building or a park, but they can take place in a larger space, such as a section of a city. While there are many different variations, the larger group is usually divided into smaller teams to compete against each other to solve a series of puzzles based on clues. The team that solves all the puzzles and completes the contest first typically wins. The great thing about scavenger hunts is that there are many venues and services that offer them for corporate team building, but it’s also fairly easy to plan one that’s unique on your own as well. Scavenger hunts ensure participants have fun while learning about a city and forging better relationships with their co-workers, and the activity encourages them to think outside the box and work together.
Creative/Educational
Everyone loves learning new things which make educational activities excellent team builders as long as they keep learning interesting, engaging and fun. Activities that let team members tap into their creative sides together can also be great team builders. They also let participants see aspects or talents of their co-workers that they may not have seen before. Group craft or creative workshops and museum tour are great examples of educational pursuits for team building.
Want Your Next Corporate Team Building Activity to Be Unforgettable
Save the Date® combines 25-plus years of vendor relationships and event planning experience to optimize event experiences for our clients and their guests. We’d love to speak to you about your next corporate team building event. There’s no obligation; just call us at 212-333-3283.
