Whether you’re a manager, an employee, a teacher, or even young adults, you’ve likely attended team building events at some point in your life.
And if you’ve been subjected to things like the ropes course, oversharing your vulnerabilities, or endless happy hours that you feel like you just can’t get away from?
You’re probably sick of them.
However, you also know that these events are important team building strategies and a great way to get to know your community even better than before.
So, what’s the solution?
It’s all about thinking outside of the box, and trying new team building events and courses that will have you super excited to get out of the office or classroom and take a few risks.
Read on to learn what you have to try next.
1. Try out a Cooking Class
Looking for team building events that will benefit everyone in the office?
If you know that your employees have some pretty serious sweet teeth — or if you just can’t seem to stop talking about Top Chef on your breaks — then you’d definitely benefit from enrolling in cooking classes.
One of the most surprising and fun things to learn how to cook?
Sushi and other forms of traditional Japanese cuisine. Because let’s face it, even your most culinarily-challenged team members know how to boil water for pasta or throw together a salad.
Challenge your team while at the same time identifying those who are willing to help one another, follow instructions well, and much more.
To learn more about team building cooking classes, be sure to check out the Gochiso Kitchen website.
2. Take a Circus Class
On the hunt for age-appropriate team building activities for high school students?
We know that, at a time when bullying and cliques run rampant, it can be tough to get everyone on the same page.
If you’re a teacher, a concerned parent, or an administrator who has noticed that tensions in the hallways seem to be at an all-time high lately?
A circus class may be just the thing that your teenagers need to let loose, have fun, and challenge their minds and bodies at the same time.
They can learn clowning tricks, how to juggle, or even how to ride a unicycle. The silly atmosphere of the circus will encourage students to laugh with each other as opposed to at one another.
They can also learn how some basic trapeze skills and more artistically-inclined students can study up on circus costumes, hair, and makeup.
After all, they don’t call it the greatest show on earth for nothing!
Consider inviting parents, teachers, and other classrooms to watch a small circus performance put on by the students. This will encourage collaboration and get students to feel comfortable in front of a crowd.
3. Get Medieval with Inflatable Jousting
You know that some folks on your team have the ability to get seriously competitive.
And while that’s awesome when it comes to getting clients and beating deadlines?
You know that it can sometimes cause drama between them and their coworkers.
So, what’s the solution?
Try jousting with inflatable swords.
There are no horses involved in this version of team building events. Instead, the two jousters will stand on inflated blocks and, while wearing helmets, attempt to knock each other off.
You can even create a mini-tournament, with the winner getting a gift certificate to a local restaurant or bookshop.
This will help to remind even the most competitive people on your team that, at least everyone once in a while, it’s ok to take things less seriously.
4. Give Go-Kart Racing a Try
Are you looking for a team building activity that’s right for any age or work environment?
If so, then we strongly encourage you to give go-karting a try!
To make the day even more fun, you could even create tee-shirts ahead of time. You could also come up with a few run racing challenges, like driving with one eye covered or requiring people to pause every ten seconds on the racetrack.
The sky is the limit here! Just make sure that you’ve taken the time to go over any sort of safety instructions, and always wear helmets when you’re on the track. Even if some of your team members don’t want to race, they can drop the flags or keep score from the stands.
If you don’t have the time or the resources to go to a real go-karting facility?
Then why not use an old school Nintendo game like Mario Kart to take its place? You can create teams, keep score on your whiteboard, and even let everyone play around with their character names.
This is an awesome way to get out extra energy and get a little dose of nostalgia at the same time!
Which of These Team Building Events Will You Try?
We hope that this post has inspired you to get more creative than the zip line or the ropes course when it comes to your future team building events.
Remember that taking some time away from the office or classroom is tons of fun, and is also an awesome way to build up employee satisfaction and loyalty.
Looking for more advice on how to keep everyone on your team happy?
We can certainly help you with that.
Keep checking back with us for more advice about how to improve the office environment and make sure that employee satisfaction is through the roof.
