Have you started seeing some saggy shoulders around the office? It appears that a team outing is in order.
Team outings are a wonderful method to encourage team building, reduce employee stress, and allow employees to get to know one another outside of the office.
And, to be honest, they’re a lot of fun.
But where do you look for amazing team outing ideas? Perhaps you start by searching for “team outing ideas” on Google and come across an article that suggests “field trips” and “professional development activities.” It sounds like a good start, but where’s the actual thrill?
Cut the trust falls next time you organize a company outing and put one of these ideas on the calendar instead.
1. Room Escape Games
Here’s a fun bonding activity that will test your leadership, collaboration, reasoning, and patience. Escape the Room, Puzzle Break, engaging online escape room, and other room escape games have become hugely popular team-building activities for groups all over the world.
Here’s how it works: For one hour, a group of people is “locked” in a room. They have one hour to collect hidden artifacts, solve puzzles, and decipher clues in order to obtain the key that will set them free. It’s not easy, either: only 20% of players make it out before the hour is over.
2. Cook-Off
This is a delightful culinary team-building activity that could lead to dessert or disaster. Creating new recipes together necessitates innovation, as well as everyones’ ability to work as a team and lead. Divide your team into smaller groups, assign each group a cuisine category, and challenge each group to prepare a delectable dish. Anything from ice cream to salsa to pizza could be included in this category.
What’s a fun twist you could throw in? Choose a single ingredient, such as maple syrup or Oreos, that all teams must use. Alternatively, have each team come up with a unique shape for their cuisine — pizzas can be made into practically any form.
3. Karaoke
What better way to encourage your staff to come out of their shells than to have them sing karaoke? You may even hold a competition to see who can perform the best group karaoke performance. If there are feather boas and cowboy hats involved, you get bonus points. This one is most suited to a more extroverted group, so if yours isn’t interested in strutting their stuff on stage, try one of the other ideas on this list that is more suited to those characteristics.
4. Board Game Tournament
Here’s one method to get your coworkers’ competitive juices flowing without leaving the workplace. Organize a board game tournament for the entire team. It might be easier to pick a single game and have individuals leave their desks when they’re free and spend some time playing the game, especially if your company is quite large.
Boggle, Jenga, and even games with old-fashioned playing cards are all wonderful games with appropriate playtimes. Remember to reward first, second, and third-place finishers with awards.
5. Volunteer Activities
Giving time to help a good cause is not only wonderful for the soul, but it’s also a terrific way for your team to bond. Volunteering in a local soup kitchen, assisting in the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home, or delivering gifts to children’s hospitals during the holidays are all examples of place-based volunteering. Skill-based volunteering is a fun approach to broaden your employees’ knowledge: it’s when your team donates their time and uses their professional abilities to support a nonprofit, which can range from marketing to app development to writing.
6. Laser Tag
Another wonderful approach to get your adrenaline racing is to participate in a race. A good old-fashioned laser tag game. It’s not only a lot of fun, but it also allows employees to put their strategy and logic skills, as well as their teamwork capabilities, to the test. As a bonus, assign folks to teams ahead of time and have them dress up.
7. Water Sports
Nothing says “let’s work together,” like avoiding getting dunked in the water. Do you want to make the most of the great outdoors? For a terrific spring or summer trip, grab a paddle and head down to the nearest river.
Many public parks, lakes, and rivers have boat houses where people can borrow or rent kayaks and canoes — and you may encourage individuals to rent multi-person kayaks and pair up with people they don’t normally work with.
Breaking up the monotony of the workplace with group activities can be a fun way to motivate your employees and put the spark back into work.
