Team bonding is essential to cultivating a thriving and vibrant work culture. There are a billion studies proving that team building and bonding have drastically positive outcomes for work culture and in turn productivity because staff are engaged and happier while they are working.  In almost every single organizational culture project I’ve worked on the employees share that they are craving more time to be together to bond, but they don’t want it to happen at a meeting.  Team building should regularly happen out-of-the office and it needs to be fun. 

15 Team Building Ideas

•       Screen printing workshop

•       Escape rooms

•       Creative activities like ceramics painting

•       Picnic and games at a beautiful state park

•       Volunteering at a local nonprofit

•       Lunch out of the office (okay, any meal out of the office)

•      Trip to a local museum or art gallery

•       City-wide scavenger hunt

•       Brewery tour or wine tasting

•       Beach or pool day

•       Catching a baseball game

•       Day at the local Amusement Park

•       Bowling, shuffle board, laser tag, trampoline park, arcade

•       Board game tournament

•       Cooking class or competition

You need to pick something that is within the interests of your team (this is best done by a committee of staff members), and some activities are better suited for smaller or larger teams.

My rule of thumb is that you should always do team building during regular work hours, but there are exceptions to every rule. It doesn’t need to take the whole day, and in fact breaking it up throughout the year with a few half days here and there might be more beneficial than one full day a year.

It’s important to note that impromptu happy hour on Friday night is not a replacement for team building because not everyone’s schedule allows it and you aren’t being paid for it. So take the time to plan intentional and fun team building and watch your employee’s satisfaction increase!