Company retreat team building activities: Fun games to rev up your team

Just as you need a spark to light a fire, you need team-building activities to ignite team spirit and collaboration. Below, Basejam delves into company retreat team-building games that can rev up your team. Let’s jump in!

3 benefits of company retreat team-building activities

Great chance to form new company objectives and goals: Coming up with company retreat ideas gives you time to create new business goals with your staff. It can give you new insights and fresh perspectives. Also, roping in employees builds a sense of accountability.

Increased productivity and decreased turnover: To have a successful company retreat, thank your employees by rewarding them for their hard work. Recognising their effort is a great morale booster, leading to increased productivity and low turnover.

Foster a sense of belonging: Doing things together during your amazing company retreats can build a sense of belonging. Colleagues can feel that you appreciate their contribution, resulting in improved loyalty.

Considerations for organising company retreat team-building activities

To make the most of company retreat team-building activities, you should consider the following vital aspects:

Location

Your company retreat’s location is the key to the success of your offsite event. It determines your costs, whether your team will like the event, what you’ll do when you get there, and how you’ll travel there. Have a look at some top venues here.

Schedule

How long should you run a company retreat? Ideally, it should be between 3 and 5 days, as this gives you enough time to achieve your objectives.

Goals

For your company retreat to yield positive results, ensure you have crystal clear goals. Do you want to develop a company strategy, for example, or improve team communication?

Company retreat team-building activities: 6 fun games

Only 33% of remote businesses across six continents hold simple team-building activities such as virtual coffee and tea breaks. And yet, there are plenty of team-building games companies can organise for their employees at retreat venues. For example, Basejam is a platform where you can easily search for and find a venue to hold team-building activities.

1. Company trivia

This is a fun and simple retreat team-building activity that’s versatile and engaging. It caters to a range of settings and abilities and lets the team learn more about your company and each other.

Besides encouraging teamwork, trivia can develop vital skills like decision-making and critical thinking.

How to play

Create specific trivia questions based on your organisation and team members on the retreat. A quiz focusing on your firm’s sales goals, strategic plans, past events, and forthcoming events can test your attendees' knowledge of your business.

Divide your colleagues into teams and tally points. Award prizes to players with the highest score to incentivize them.

Here are some examples of company trivia questions to get you started

General company trivia questions

• “What year was our company founded?”

• “Name three core values of our company.”

• “What charities does the business support?

• “What’s the company tagline/motto?”

Note that the game’s aim isn’t to prove who doesn’t know enough about your organisation, so ensure at least a few participants will know the answers. And check out more quiz examples.

2. Cooking and mixology classes

Cooking together and learning about different cuisines helps your team to understand a culture and its traditions. This team-building activity also helps teams to bond and get to know each other better, as they share experiences about their home countries.

Let the attendees take turns cooking their home country's classic meals and talk about why they like them. You can spread this activity over the course of your retreat, so everyone can have a chance to demonstrate their meal preparation.

It’s also a fantastic idea to have your co-workers take a mixology class. Coming up with a company drink adds a unique touch to the experience and creates a shared memory.

Don’t forget to give the drink an awesome name!

3. Camping

Want your company retreat participants to immerse themselves in nature and enjoy some fresh air? Try camping. It’s a budget-friendly retreat team-building activity that can create strong bonds as attendees set up tents, cook meals, and play games together.

Also, it can benefit mental health in several ways:

• Improving mood

• Reducing feelings of stress and anger

• Helping you feel more relaxed

You can breathe life into your camp by engaging in outdoor activities to improve physical health. Consider the following ideas:

• Birdwatching

• Bug collecting

• Fossil hunting

• Searching for nuts, wild berries, and other edible plants

• Swimming

These activities depend on your camp’s location.

4. Team olympics

An Olympic-style event is an excellent way to inject physical activity into the retreat. It lets participants compete against each other in a fun, inclusive, and thrilling way. You need enough space to host a variety of different Olympic sports, such as track and field, basketball, volleyball, and soccer.

You can also set up stations for field events, such as javelin and discus throwing, as well as a high jump pit.

How to play

Divide your colleagues into teams and create some challenges. Note that the Olympic Games depend on your location, available materials, and your team’s interests.

Let the teams compete in several rounds, as they fight for points to receive the Olympic crown. For example, you could have a relay race, a paper aeroplane flying competition, and a test of strength with arm-wrestling matches.

Ensure everyone participates in the games regardless of their physical abilities.

Other possible olympic sports include:

• A mini-talent show

• Volleyball tournament

• Kan-Jam

• Sandcastle building competition

• A relay race

5. Arts and crafts

Want to bring out the creative juices in your co-workers? Introduce arts and crafts into your company retreat team-building activities. Arts and crafts can promote creativity and collaboration, as participants will need to work together to create something unique.

Pottery or painting lessons can empower your attendees to show their creativity or emotions. Here are some examples of fun-filled activities to get you started:

• Paint each other’s portraits

• Make coffee mugs for each other

• Paint a picture together

• “Redesign” the company logo

You may also have a “Paint and Sip” class, where everyone can create a masterpiece while enjoying some drinks at the same time.

6. Volunteer works

Voluntary work is a team-building activity with immense benefits, such as:

• Increasing social skills, like empathy, effective communication, conflict resolution

• More connected teams

• Increased employee empowerment

• Happier, healthier staff

Ensure you assess your employees’ professional skills and expertise before you identify volunteer opportunities. Also, find out what your local community needs.

Try the following volunteer ideas:

• Donate blood

• Help the needy in your local community

• Organise a public clean up

• Share your professional skills

• Put together care packages

Discover and book the perfect company retreat venue

Company retreat team-building activities must be fun and align with your team’s interests. Now you’ve read this article, you have a range of games that you can try during your offsite event.

Need a perfect venue to host memorable company retreats? With Basejam, you can quickly and easily search for venues that meet your needs.

The best part? You can send venue enquiries in just a few clicks. You can also request full-service retreat planning if you need help organising the entire event. Browse venues now.