Team building is often a big part of the agenda when businesses and non-profit organizations host a meeting or event at Legacy Stables and Events. In addition to gathering for fellowship with good food, making presentations on new policies or strategic plans, and doing professional development or training, off-site events offer an opportunity for activities that help people get to know each other.
These activities, whether it’s ice breakers, games, or some sort of project, are not just fun, they bring a lot of benefits to your organization. Working together to solve a problem helps people work on skills important in the workplace, from brainstorming to collaborating and leaning on each person’s specific set of talents.
For example, a recent Gallup survey found that having close work friendships boosts employee satisfaction by 50%. Other benefits include:
- Stronger performance on the job due to improved motivation and better relationships with team members
- The chance to identify strengths in others and utilize those at work
- Fostering improved collaboration among employees
- An enhanced sense of responsibility toward others and the organization
Team Building Exercises that Challenge and Entertain
One thing we’ve learned from hosting corporate meetings and off-site sessions at Legacy Stables and Events is that the activities presented need to be engaging. You don’t want to start out with an icebreaker that has people groaning to themselves because it’s the same old routine they’ve done at most of the other enrichment sessions in their career. We’ve put together a list of some ideas that can be easily incorporated into your next meeting with just a little advance planning.
Build the Tallest Tower. Building a spaghetti tower provides a great way to work on problem-solving skills. Side benefit: Fun conversation while working together!
What you’ll need for each team:
Package of dry spaghetti
Roll of masking tape
Ball of string
Scissors
Timer
The goal is to build a tower in an allotted time that can hold a large marshmallow for 15 seconds. The winning tower is the tallest one that doesn’t break within those 15 seconds.
Create a Signature Cocktail. This activity inspires creativity along with teamwork.
What you’ll need for each team:
2-4 of the following: Vodka, whiskey, tequila or rum
Mix-ins: lemons and limes, ginger ale, or tonic water
Tools: A cocktail shaker, a long spoon, a muddler and strainer, and a knife
A special ingredient that’s the same for each team. It could be something like a maraschino cherry, a jalapeno pepper, or maple syrup.
Each team is given the task of creating a signature cocktail. The only rule is it must contain a special ingredient. Creativity comes in how they choose to use the liquor and mix-ins. Set up a panel of judges to pick a winner. Share the recipes at work!
Guess Who. Ask everyone to bring in a baby picture, and then put them all together in a page or two you can copy to hand out to each team. The teams then work together to figure out who each person is. It’s a relatively simple game that leads to lots of conversations so people get to know each other better while using collaborative working skills.
Bring in the Experts for Added Entertainment Value
If you want to amp up the event, you can hire a professional to organize and host your team-building event. A couple of fun examples could be an escape room or a trivia contest. While it’s easy enough to create a scavenger hunt, building an escape room from scratch can be costly and time-consuming. Hire it out to a vendor, and you can have all the puzzles and challenges set up for your team to work through right here in our venue at Legacy Stables and Events. The same goes for trivia, a professional vendor not only has the equipment but also brings a charismatic host to liven up your event.
A benefit to bringing an escape room or trivia contest to Legacy Stables and Events rather than going to the establishment is a private setting. You won’t have to share the room with the public and can control the atmosphere.
If you’re looking for ways to foster collaboration and improve relationships in your workplace, consider hosting a team-building outing at Legacy Stables and Events. We offer turn-key services to take away the stress of planning and have great relationships with vendors in the area to be able to offer you a wide range of options in entertainment.
