How to Strengthen Your Team by Taking Them Away From the Office

What if the team that plays better together, works better together? That’s the theory behind team building activities, designed to get workers out from behind their desks and coming together in new and interesting situations. According to a survey, highly engaged employees are 87 percent less likely to leave their company than their disengaged counterparts.

One of the best ways to keep employees engaged is to make them have faith in the team- and the best way to build the team can be more fun than you think. Here are some activities that are guaranteed to bolster the team and build everyone’s confidence.

Volunteer
Doing something for the community is an easy way to help employees feel like they are making a difference. Having an office poll to decide what the volunteer work should be is a good way to jump start the team decision making. Utilizing the office’s location is a good method too. For example, if the office is by the beach, doing a beach clean-up can be both rewarding and good for the image of the company.

Treasure Hunt
The thrill of the hunt is an experience that gets even better when teamwork is involved. A team building treasure hunt  is a unique way that a company must come together to solve problems. Teams can be pitted against each other, or it can be a competition among separate offices. It’s either work together to accomplish the challenge and get the best score — or fall apart separately and miss the treasure.

Room Escape Games
Room escapes are a great way to see how the team would react in the face of “danger.” There is no real danger of course, but the team still has a time limit to escape a would-be precarious situation. Communication is key, as every team member must work together to solve the puzzle and escape the room together. Either everyone wins, or everyone loses- it can be the ultimate in team participation.

Laser Tag
Laser tag might have been something that workers played when they were growing up. Even if it isn’t, it’s a way to split the team into smaller groups and to have them work together in a fast-paced scenario. Plus, it’s fun! Laser tag is a way that some employees can come out of their shell. It can be surprising to see that perhaps someone from the accounting department has the “killer instinct” of the group when it comes to the arena!

Sports Game
A trip to a football game can be awesome for the whole team. Even if someone on the team doesn’t traditionally like sports, the act of having a beer and some stadium food with the rest of the crew is a unique experience. Plus, sports are a great example of how a strong team is completely necessary for success. There are leadership roles and role players, but everyone has to work together for the team to win.

The best teams think outside the box. Bringing them together in unconventional ways outside the office is the best way to keep them running on all cylinders, and to make a company more efficient as a whole.