Are you looking for some fun team bonding activities? We’ve got you sorted.
Depending on your company culture, team bonding might be a synonym for “unrelated activities I’m forced to do with my work team”. However, it doesn’t have to be the case.
Team bonding is the ongoing process of developing trust and easing communication. It’s an element of the team-building process that helps foster cooperation, collaboration & loyalty between the members.
A key component is spending some social time together. For that reason, team bonding activities usually incorporate an element of fun. (A lot of companies refer to these as team building activities which technically is a misnomer… but that doesn’t really matter).
So if you’re ready to have some fun with your team, let’s get started.
Team Bonding Activities
Below we’ve listed some of our favourite activities. We’ve stayed away from games, which can be used for team bonding, as we’ve dedicated a separate article to the topic.
1. Ziplining
With your team, why not climbing up trees and swing around branches for an afternoon? It will make for great pictures and great memories. Just make sure everyone likes the idea before booking it. Some people don’t like heights…
2. Pub Crawl
Plan a pub crawl for your teammates to enjoy. You can find some pre-planned ones or organise it yourself.
If you’re a large group, remember to call the bar owners ahead of time. Pubs usually have a room they can lend or hire out for the occasion.
While this can be a really fun team bonding activity, it might not appeal to everyone. If that’s the case for your team, consider planning an alcohol-free alternative.
In addition, remember to keep it safe. Plan designated drivers and safe transport home ahead of time.
3. Potluck dinner
If everyone on the team is comfortable with the idea, why not plan a Potluck? Different team members can bring different elements of the dinner. It’s easy to plan and it’s enjoyable for everyone.
If no one has the required space, ask to see if you can use the office. Ideally, you do want to take a break from work.
4. Sight Seeing
If cultural visits are your thing, why not plan a trip to a museum or a historical site as a team. You’d be surprised at how much of your own city you actually haven’t seen. Just make sure to not force-feed the idea to anyone.
5. Hiking
A simple but highly enjoyable activity. In Dublin, we’re lucky to have many great hiking tracks near the city.
Just make sure to choose a hike that matches the teams’ capabilities. Don’t listen to that one team member who thinks a dawn-to-dusk hike is the way to go.
6. Cooking (or Baking) Competition
Ready to get competitive? Plan a cooking or baking competition for the team. A fun excuse to bring goodies to work. As a bonus, you can also use this as an opportunity to raise money for charity.
If your team is very enthusiastic about participating, consider staggering the entries over multiple days. That way you don’t end up with waste.
7. Karaoke Night
Judge your team carefully before going down this route. It can be hit or miss. However, if it’s a hit, it’s the most fun you’ll ever have.
Ideally, you want to book a venue for the occasion which should be easy to find.
Alternatively, you can do it yourself. Get a screen, a speaker and a microphone then look-up some karaoke songs on YouTube (“Your Favourite Song Title” + Karaoke)
If you don’t have the equipment, you might also be able to rent the equipment for the evening or book a karaoke entertainer for the occasion.
Pro-tip: Make sure you test the equipment beforehand. The lyrics and the microphone need to be fully functional for this team bonding activity to work well.
8. Lama Hiking
Lama Hiking… we agree it’s a weird one. Basically, you go walking in nature, accompanied by a lama. For long treks they’ll carry your bags but for day trips there is nothing to carry…. So it’s just you & the lamas.
We’re not sure why this activity is a thing but these walks are popping up everywhere. If you’re based in Dublin you can go Lama walking in the Wicklow mountains (technically you go Alpaca Trekking).
9. Goat Yoga
This craze is a few years old but it’s still around in some areas.
It’s a regular yoga class except goats use the participants as an obstacle course. If you want to have a good laugh, this is a great team-building activity.
Check out this video by Mashable to see what we mean:
Alternatively, if you favour sanity, you can book a regular yoga class for the team bonding.
That’s fairly straight forward to plan. Just check out your local area for a yoga studio that offers private classes… In fact that one team member of yours who is yoga obsessed will know all about it already.
10. Cocktail Mixing Course
Book a cocktail-making class for your team. Learn to make your favourite drink and enjoy the result.
Depending on where you live, you should be able to find multiple bars in the area who offer these classes (a quick google search will tell you which ones).
You will likely need to book these in advance.
11. Cooking Class
Book a cooking class for the team. It’s a great opportunity to socialise and as a bonus, you’ll have a nice meal to wrap up the event.
Cooking classes come in all shape and sizes. It’s up to you to choose what style and cuisine you want. You’ll also want to make sure they cater (pun?) to corporate groups.
12. Escape Room
Escape rooms have become a team bonding classic.
These rooms are everywhere and they come in all shapes and sizes.
The concept is simple. As a team, you get locked in a room. You’re then given a set amount of time to solve a series of puzzles and escape. It’s fun and it forces the team to interact and communicate.
The max capacity of these rooms will vary. Most often they fit 3 to 5 people. If your team is any bigger, you’re most likely going to need to book multiple rooms.
13. Bingo
Bingo is extremely popular at corporate parties and social events. They’re simple to plan and easy to play.
A different and really fun take on the classic bingo game is music bingo where a DJ will play songs and if you identify a song on your card you cross it off. It’s a great way to play music and play an interactive game at the same time.
14. Pub Quiz
Another fun team bonding activity is to do is table trivia or a ‘pub’ quiz. Simply plan a series of questions about the company and other topics for the audience to answer.
This is ideal for larger teams as the game has no max capacity.
To make the game fun, the questions should be silly. Combine internal knowledge/trivia with common knowledge questions. The winning table gets a silly prize.
15. Visit a Distillery
If you’re based in an alcohol making area why visit a distillery. For example, In Dublin, you can also book tours of the Jameson and Teeling distilleries.
Of course, don’t pass up the chance to do some whiskey and gin tasting while you are at it.
16. Blind Tasting
Plan different types of food and drinks. Then blindfold your team members and get them to guess what they are tasting. Wine tasting is always a popular choice. Especially if your team members are wine connoisseurs.
17. Music Blind Testing
Similar to the food, create a playlist and get everyone on the team to guess the name of the song and the author. If you want to make it even more challenging, ask for the album and/or the release date.
It’s simple and fun for team members to share the music they like.
18. Beer Making Course
If your team has a lot of beer enthusiasts, why not book a beer-making course. An activity that goes hand in hand with beer tasting.
These workshops usually allow you to mix your own beer which you can then collect a few weeks later. A souvenir you can taste.
19. Cinema
For a simple, minimal planning, team bonding activity why not go and watch a movie in the cinema. This is perfect is there is an icon movie on as it prevents any spoilers on Monday.
20. Improv Workshop
If you want to have a good laugh as a team while learning something new, why not attend an improv workshop. Check your local area to see if there are any improv teachers that do corporate groups. As a bonus, this activity will improve everyone’s public speaking and presentation skills.
21. Restaurant
Another team bonding classic is to go out for a bite to eat. Going to eat at the restaurant is usually paired with another activity… and precedes going out for a few drinks afterwards.
22. Lazer Tag
Ready for some sneaky strategy? Why not play a game of Lazer tag as a team. It’s great fun and you can play in fairly large groups which makes it perfect for team bonding.
Lazer tag is very popular so it should be easy to find a venue nearby. We favour Lazer tag over paintball as players are less likely to end up with bruises. However, both options are viable.
23. Kayaking
If it’s possible in your area, for something different and fun, why not go for a Kayak trip? You’ll get to paddle around for a few hours and have a great time.
To foster coordination and work-sharing you’ll, of course, want to get two-person Kayaks…
Pro-tip: plan sunscreen. With the water, the sun can be treacherous.
24. Painting Class
Ready to bring out your inner artists? Why not book a painting class as the team bonding activity? It’s fun, relaxing and you get to learn something new with no pressure on performance.
25. Attend Sport Games
Soccer, Rugby, GAA sports… the list goes on and on.
If you’re fans, attending a sports game as a team is a great bonding experience. Ideally, you’ll want to be in the stadium but if that’s not possible you can also watch it live from the pub.
26. Tag Rugby
This is extremely popular in Ireland and in the UK.
It’s the same rules as rugby except instead of tackling people you simply tag them. This makes it accessible to everybody and you can play with mixed teams.
If you based in North America you’ll probably want to play tag football. It will be easier than trying to teach your whole team rugby…
27. Trampoline Park
Trampoline parks are clusters of trampolines stuck together for people to bounce around on… and yes they cater to adults. It’s a fun thing to do and it will be your workout for the day.
Safety-tip: Be careful and stick to the safety guidelines. Trampoline parks are safe but there can be nasty accidents if you don’t follow the safety procedures.
28. Bowling
A proper old school classic if ever there was one.
Although it might be a bit overdone, bowling remains a fun team bonding activity. It’s affordable and it’s suitable for large teams as you can book multiple lanes.
29. Go Cart Racing
Everyone has played Mario Cart but not everyone has gone actual carting before. It makes for an exhilarating activity to do as a team.
Most often, there’s a limit on the number of people that can be on the track. This means you’ll most likely need to do two or more rotations.
30. Live Shows
Last but definitely not least, why attend a live show in your area? This could be comedy, music, magic… It doesn’t have to be big-name acts. If you’re on a budget, it’s a great opportunity to support local talent.
Team Bonding Practicalities
There are a few practicalities you’ll want to consider when planning your team bonding activities.
Team size
Not all activities are suitable for all team sizes. If you’re a large team your options will be restricted.
When to host the activity
Choosing when to host the activity is always tricky. For long activities, you’ll ideally want to plan them on a weekday as you can’t expect people to be available on weekends.
Fridays, of course, are the best. However, that requires getting some time off work. Talk to your HR about it.
If it’s an evening activity, it’s a bit easier to plan but you’ll still want to favour a weekday over a weekend for the same reason.
Budget
Who is paying for the activity will have a big impact on what you do and who can afford to come. Ideally, you’ll want the company to sponsor the activity (or part of it).
Don’t be afraid to ask your HR or Management about it. Otherwise, try to keep the costs lean in order to encourage attendance.
That’s a Wrap
We hope you find these ideas useful and you have fun with your team bonding activity.
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