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Corporate team-building suggestions
My boss is asking us for suggestions for activities for our annual team-building day. We usually do it in June. The last two years, we did a picnic with cornhole and etc (and it turned out to be cold and rainy), then we did a scavenger hunt at the zoo (and it was 90+ degrees - I credit that day with the funky tan lines I had in my wedding pictures!!)
I'm trying to suggest something good, hoping he'll bite and we won't end up doing something lame! I suggested laser tag and monster mini golf already. Anyone else have any ideas? Here are the specs:
-He asks that it be cost-effective. Yeah, I don't know what that means either, but I'm guessing equal to or less than the price of the zoo tix/parking passes, and lunch they provided.
-We have 40-ish employees, and a wide variety of ages, but the vast majority of us are mid 20's - mid 30's.
-We're generally fun, goofy people, as you'd expect from those who choose to work with kids with behavior issues!
Ideas??
Re: Corporate team-building suggestions
We did Laser Tag to build intern/manager relationships and that's always a favorite. Hope you can do that! We also did Monster Minigolf as a department once...that wasn't so fun IMO.
Other ideas:
- Dave & Buster's
- Cooking class/competition. Think Iron Chef or something like that
. Art of Entertaining in O'Bryonville can accomodate a group of your size. There's also Learning Kitchen in West Chester but not sure it's big enough.
- Go-kart racing. Competition Racing in Indiana by Hollywood Casino. Super fun to race in teams.
- Camp Joy. They have lots of team building activities including climbing wall, ropes course, etc.
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We've done the Dave & Buster's thing a couple of times. Once there was a scavenger hunt component (that D&B organized) and we split into teams to complete it.
I also think a volunteer activity can be a great thing--gets you working together in groups outside your traditional roles, and you benefit the community at the same time.
I'd stay away from physical/sports events--at least in my company, the feedback has generally been negative toward those (some people may have physical limitations that they haven't discussed or do not want to make public). It's always tough to find a middle ground, in my experience--we have an issue of the creative folks wanting to do something fun and the sales folks wanting a competition that has a clear winner & bragging rights (which really doesn't foster collaboration and teamwork, if you ask me)
The Fluffy Cat says... "Boxes are the best toys ever invented!"
Mini-spa day - maybe do a group yoga class (I can make recommendations for teachers) and have one of those 10-min massage places come out. People can circulate between the two. Nice lunch.
30-40 people is enough to do a softball game, or even a bowling tournament.
I would think bowling would be fun. You can divide people into teams and while its physical, its not overly so.
I think the mini golf suggestion is good and laser tag would be as long as people felt comfortable enough running around, etc.
Ya know, we did bowling for our Christmas party two Christmases ago and it was kind of blah. Maybe 'cuz all we did was divide into lanes and they were like, "OK, now everyone bowl." Yay.
I especially like the ideas of D&B and the cooking class. I already know we have at least one person who wouldn't be physically able to do something like a ropes course, so that's out. Technically you're not supposed to run when you play laser tag (even though everyone does, heehee) so I think that's about as physically limiting as people want or don't want it to be. I actually have a coworker who is a yoga teacher, but I do LOVE the 10-minute massage idea! Maybe we could integrate it with something else.
It's funny, too - you'd think a group of therapists would be more cooperative than competitive, but we get competitive when it comes to stuff like this. I won't lie.
I'm part of the leadership team now, so I think I may have some say in this (although people have as much say as the boss wants them to have, KWIM?) and I'm going to run a lot of these ideas by him. Thanks everyone!!!
Ya know, you could also do a 'minute to win it' type deal - set up a few challenges and then have everyone draw for their first activity. Do some brackets. Pair that up with a facility and some food/drinks.
Oooh, I like that one! I bet the boss will go for it 'cuz it's nice and cheap too...and we can do it outside.
Because....I emailed him a bunch of suggestions and he said basically, they're good ideas but he wants to do something outside. Doh. Even though the weather's been crap for the past two years and both times everyone was saying, "Why don't we do something INSIDE next year?"