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Sociology and psychology have influenced how companies and organizations approach team building. In the early 1900s, researchers like Hugo Münsterberg, a German-American Psychologist, began exploring the role of human behavior in the workplace. Researchers at the time were discovering the connection between teamwork and productivity. By the 1920s, it became clear through the Hawthorne Studies that effective teamwork and communication are key to a productive workplace. These studies also found that societal attention in the workplace can influence productivity.

After World War II, research in this area began to stress the importance of communication and collaboration, while research in the 1960s and 1970s highlighted personal development within teams. Much of the research from previous decades culminated in the promotion and adoption of structured team-building sessions in corporate training, with activities particularly focused on developing communication, problem-solving, and trust-building in the 1980s and 1990s.

Today, companies factor in the rise of technology when promoting team-building. Many workplaces have turned to fully remote or hybrid positions, while others have increased the number of international workers. Doing so has stressed the importance of utilizing the most up-to-date technologies to foster teamwork among members who may find themselves thousands of miles and many time zones apart. Team building remains an essential component of running a team; it’s important for companies and organizations to make sure that their employees can effectively communicate, collaborate, and engage in diverse work environments.

Does your company want to schedule activities to build teamwork, enhance communication, and improve collaboration? Team-building activities and events like ice breakers, escape rooms, and trivia can help your team get to know each other and build essential skills for working together. You can choose from a wide range of activities that match your team’s interests and objectives.

Why Hold Team Building Activities?

Team-building activities can help your employees enhance their communication through open dialogue. Trivia and escape rooms encourage team members to work together to figure out answers and find clues. Working to solve problems will ease communication and help team members become more comfortable working with each other.

As part of getting to know each other through team-building activities, team members will improve collaboration. While working together on tasks, they’ll learn each other’s strengths. From there, they can leverage each member’s strengths to win or complete the activity. For example, they can determine who excels in what categories of trivia or learn each other’s problem-solving styles while working together in an escape room.

Team-building activities also help teams learn conflict resolution. Working together will lead to forming interpersonal dynamics. Difficult activities that require teamwork may result in varying degrees of conflict. If the team wants to complete the task, they’ll need to figure out how to work together and solve whatever conflicts arise. Such activities can also provide a much-needed morale boost, lifting your team’s spirits and forming a positive workplace culture.

Team-building activities that encourage creativity, like improv, project-based activities, and crafts, can benefit in more ways than one. Aside from team-building, art-based activities can reduce stress and enhance focus. As teams work on their project, they’ll relax and let their mind focus on the activity at hand. This level of focus can help improve attention span and the ability to focus on tasks. Creative activities also improve the mood and promote a sense of achievement. Completing an art project, no matter how big or small, can boost someone’s mood and make them feel good about themselves and their ability to create something with their own hands.

What Will You Do in a Team Building Activity?

Team-building activities center around learning to work together in a team setting. Some team-building activities provide more challenging tasks for teams, while others focus more on the socialization aspect of the activity. Activities like trivia will help team members learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, while also encouraging them to form team dynamics. You can further encourage them to learn how to best work together by switching up trivia teams every few rounds. Trivia also provides teams with the chance to socialize outside of the office and to learn new things, whether it’s about movies, music, science, or history.

Icebreaker activities focus more heavily on getting to know one another and breaking down potential barriers to communication. This activity aids in fostering communication as teams share facts and anecdotes. Some companies depend on icebreakers to break down office hierarchies and make employees more comfortable. During a structured icebreaker activity, everyone will have the chance to contribute, regardless of their position within the company. Doing so emphasizes the importance of listening to one another and valuing each other’s input.

Other common team-building activities include problem-solving challenges (like puzzles), outdoor activities (like obstacle courses), role-playing scenarios, volunteer projects, and trust exercises. You can find team-building activities to sign your class up for or create your own. Creating your own activity comes with the advantage of personalizing it to suit your team’s interests and needs and also allowing you to solicit feedback from your team members about the activity to help you improve it for future use.

How Long Do Team Building Activities Generally Last?

Team-building activities can last for an hour or all day, depending on the type of activity you choose and how much time you’d like your team to spend working on team building. Short-form team-building activities include icebreakers and trivia. Both activities typically involve rounds which your team can complete fairly quickly. You can, of course, make them last longer by including more rounds. Crafts, escape rooms, and projects can last several hours or all day if you so choose.

Cooking and baking activities last as long as it takes to prep, prepare, and eat the meal or dish your group is learning to make. Most cooking and baking classes have a lesson at the beginning that covers techniques, tools, and ingredients. Some may include demonstrations of skills your team should know, like knife skills. After that, participants typically work step-by-step to create something, whether it’s something savory or sweet. You can easily anticipate how long a cooking or baking activity will last since most classes can accurately estimate the time needed to prep, prepare, and enjoy.

When you enroll your team in a guided team-building activity like the ones offered by CourseHorse, you’ll have clear expectations set for the length of the activity and may have the option of choosing to extend the time for your group. You may want to consider an extension for activities like trivia, which participants often want to complete additional rounds of. With CourseHorse, you also have the option of customizing your activity for an additional fee.

What Are the Advantages of Hosting Team Building Activities?

If you want to encourage team building among your employees or provide them the opportunity to socialize and become familiar with one another, you can sign up for a team-building activity on CourseHorse today. Registering for an activity with CourseHorse makes the process of planning an activity simple and easy. Instead of having to handle the planning, creation, and hosting process of a team-building activity yourself, CourseHorse will do the work for you. You and your team just need to attend and participate. Most team-building activities offered by CourseHorse include an experienced host who will walk your team through the activity and ensure everyone is enjoying the event.

Booking an activity with CourseHorse can help encourage attendance and participation among your team. You can opt to schedule an event at your location, either in your office or a rented space, while other team-building activities offered by CourseHorse take place at a local bar, pub, or fully online. With CourseHorse, decision-making becomes easy; CourseHorse takes care of location, game mechanics, and hosting, making it easier for people to attend and easier for you to sit back and relax rather than worrying about making decisions about the activity.

What Kinds of Team Building Activities Are There?

You can find a wide range of team-building activities for your team to take part in. You can schedule these activities during the day or after work, at the office, at a local venue, or even live online. Before deciding what type of activity to schedule for your team, consider their interests and your objectives for team building. Knowing these two things will help you figure out what type of activity your team will find the most engaging and will benefit your team the most.

Trivia games will help your team get to know each other and improve their communication skills. When planning a trivia event, you can choose from several trivia topics such as science, history, movies, music, and sports. Depending on the difficulty level and the interests of your team members, questions may prove easy or challenging. Team-building trivia activities include classic trivia quizzes, themed trivia challenges, trivia scavenger hunts, and other interactive activities that involve testing your group’s knowledge of little-known, entertaining, or fascinating facts. Playing trivia challenges people’s brains and gives them a chance to socialize. To create a more fun environment, host a game of trivia at a local bar or pub.

Holiday-themed team-building activities give your team the chance to relax, get to know one another, and put themselves in a festive mood. You can find ideas for holiday-themed trivia, escape rooms, crafts, and cooking. During the fall and winter, you can opt to throw a holiday-themed party. Parties serve as great icebreaker tools and give attendees the chance to unwind and socialize during or after work.

The purpose of icebreaker activities is to encourage people to get to know one another and establish a team dynamic. Icebreakers provide a great opportunity to break the ice among coworkers who don’t know each other very well but need to work in an environment that emphasizes teamwork and communication. They’re commonly used at the beginning of a meeting, in team-building sessions, during training sessions, in the classroom, and at networking events. Icebreakers encourage communication, help people identify each other’s working styles, and can break down office hierarchies.

Cooking classes give you and your team the chance to work together, socialize, and make a delicious meal to enjoy together. You can find holiday-themed cooking classes, classes centered around a specific cuisine, and general cooking classes on CourseHorse. During a team-building cooking class, a professional chef will break you into smaller teams. Your team will listen as the chef explains the history, techniques, tools, and, oftentimes, ingredients, before walking you step-by-step through the cooking process. Students typically spend 75 minutes cooking with additional time spent socializing and enjoying the food they’ve cooked. If cooking isn’t for your group, consider baking classes. They follow a similar format, but instead of a meal, your team will work on baking something sweet, like cookies, bread, pies, or cakes.

CourseHorse and other companies offering team-based classes often include a variety of craft classes. Crafts available range from jewelry making to pottery to wreath making. During fall and winter, you can find classes that will teach you and your team how to make holiday decorations such as centerpieces and Christmas ornaments. Like other team-building activities, crafting gives your team the chance to socialize, express their creativity, and work on their problem-solving skills.

How Long Will It Take to Complete a Team Building Activity?

Team-building activities aren’t usually overly complicated. You and your team may already understand the mechanics of some activities, like icebreakers and trivia, while needing to learn or refresh on others, like cooking, crafting, and puzzles. The difficulty and length of time needed to learn and participate often depends on prior experience and the type of activity you choose.

You and your team should pick up trivia fairly quickly. The most difficult part of trivia is usually the questions themselves, while the game’s clear and simple instructions are easy for most to understand quickly. The more you play trivia, the more quickly you’ll understand the rules and gameplay. Regular practice can also help you become more familiar with topics and help you figure out the answers to questions that you don’t know the answers to. You can practice trivia using trivia apps, which will also help you expand your knowledge. Most people catch on to trivia within one round, but it may take longer for them to feel comfortable with the topics the game is covering unless it’s a prior interest of theirs.

Your team should find most icebreaker activities quick to learn. You can find a wide variety of icebreakers for them to participate in, but the emphasis on communication and socializing means that the rules are often simple and easy to follow. You can extend an icebreaker activity by adding more rules or covering multiple icebreaker activities in one session.

Escape rooms intend to challenge participants and push them to develop better problem-solving skills. This can make escape room activities quite difficult for some, but the challenge is half the fun. Most escape rooms last for one hour. While most people can learn the rules of an escape room quickly, it may take them some time and ample communication to work through the clues and puzzles.

Most people wouldn’t find many similarities between cooking and crafting, but when it comes to team-building, you’re sure to find some. Team-building cooking activities and team-building craft activities typically follow a similar structure. Students will usually follow step-by-step instructions and demonstrations offered by the instructor before trying on their own. Cooking classes and craft classes have an end goal, whether it’s a dish you’ll enjoy with your team or a lovely creation you can use to decorate your home or office. During these activities, your team will have the chance to socialize and learn to work together.

How Do I Make a Team Building Activity?

Want to make a team-building activity for your employees but don’t know where to get started? Follow the steps below to create a team-building activity that will improve your team’s communication, help establish team dynamics, build camaraderie, and enhance collaboration.

Define your objectives. Consider the purpose of the team-building activity. You want to encourage team building, but what benefits would you like your team to get out of participating? Benefits may include improved communication, trust-building, problem-solving, conflict resolution, or something else. You’ll likely have to consider your team’s needs to determine the activity’s objectives. For example, if your team is new and unfamiliar with each other, you probably want an activity focused on building teamwork and communication. If your team has faced conflict in the past and you want them to avoid such issues in the future, look for an activity that helps resolve conflict and builds camaraderie.
Know your team. The size of your team will influence the activity you choose. Some activities work well for small groups while others best suit large groups. You also can break a large group into smaller groups and then reconvene and review as a whole group at the end of the activity. Also, take into account your team’s interests. You want to plan an activity that they’ll find engaging and won’t mind setting aside the time to participate in. If you plan a game of trivia, for example, find out what your team is interested in outside of work. Maybe you have an office of sports fans or a team of art lovers. You can then base trivia subjects and questions around the interests of your team.
Choose a format. You’ll need to choose whether to host the activity inside or outside. The choice you make will depend on the weather and space available to you, but you should also factor in your team’s preference. Dragging a team outside that doesn’t want to go outside can dampen the mood, while forcing an overactive group to stay inside can have them buzzing out of their seats. Choosing a format also refers to deciding between an active, physical activity or a low-key, relaxed activity. You’ll probably need to hold the former outside to give your team space and the latter inside to account for disruptions like noise.
Brainstorm activities. Think about the type of activity that your group would like to participate in that you can reasonably prepare. This includes icebreaker games, problem-solving challenges, trust-building exercises, and cooking classes.
Plan the logistics. Choose a venue that makes the most sense for the activity and that is convenient for your team. This may mean planning an in-office activity or looking for venues in your city that you can book. Make a list of materials and supplies and gather them in advance. Finally, determine how long the activity will take and decide when you can schedule it. When scheduling, you should probably consider times that most members of your team can attend. If the event takes place during work hours, you’ll need to think about how the activity may disrupt the workday. Activities held after work hours, however, may have a smaller turnout.
Communicate the plan. You have your activity planned. Now it’s time to invite everyone. Share the details, including the purpose of the activity, and set expectations for your team.
Facilitate the activity. Get ready to host your activity. Make sure to stay positive and engage to encourage others to do the same. Encourage participation by making sure everyone feels included and comfortable enough to contribute. Also, make sure to pay attention to how the activity is going in case you need to make adjustments on the fly.
Gather feedback and adjust. After the activity, follow up with your team to see what they liked about the activity and what could use improvement. With feedback, you can make necessary adjustments and reuse the activity in the future.

You may find that you enjoy the process of planning and hosting a team-building activity on your own. Doing so means that you’re fully in charge of planning and facilitating, giving you the chance to make sure that the activity meets your expectations. However, you may find that making your own team-building activity is difficult to manage, especially if you want to engage in the activity yourself. If you don’t want to plan a team-building activity on your own, you can look at team-building activities and events hosted by CourseHorse and other training centers.

Best Team Building Activities

CourseHorse provides a thorough listing of team-building events on its website. From here, you can check out a wide range of in-person events available for booking. Don’t see an event hosted in your city? Explore the range of virtual team-building events hosted by CourseHorse that may appeal to you and your team. Each event page outlines the price of the event, how many people the event accommodates, materials you need to supply and materials CourseHorse will send to you, and the company’s cancellation policy.

Foodies in Houston can book Houston: Cuisine Trivia, a trivia challenge that tests your culinary knowledge. This cuisine challenge includes knowledge of all things food, from fast food chains to local Houston delicacies. Prepare yourself to test your trivia knowledge, challenge yourself, and cooperate with your teammates. You can book the event for up to 100 people. Plan to spend around one hour socializing and learning new things about your city’s food scene. CourseHorse also offers a Virtual Cusine Trivia if your group would prefer to attend remotely.

If your team is in New York City and wants to try out holiday-themed trivia, book NYC: The Spooky Spectacular Halloween Trivia. Get ready to answer questions about all things spooky during this one-hour event. You can register up to 100 people for the event, with the location set to your preferred venue in the city, be it an office or public space. During the event, your team will work through four rounds of trivia testing their knowledge of Halloween, with questions about candy, costumes, and other spooky and spectacular topics. 15 people can attend for $550 with additional fees for each person thereafter. If you don’t know how large your group will be, you can select the minimum number. From there, you’ll pay the minimum deposit to secure your date and finalize your payment when you have a headcount.

Does your group want to get their hands dirty? Register your team for NYC: Pumpkin Bread & Apple Turnovers, a fun baking experience. Register up to 30 people for the fall-themed baking class held in Manhattan. During the two-and-a-half-hour session, you and your team will follow along as an expert pastry chef teaches you how to create perfect pumpkin bread and apple turnovers. The chef will walk you step-by-step through the recipes, including how to select ingredients and achieve the desired textures in your baking. Your team will have plenty of chances to socialize and develop better team dynamics as they work through this mouthwatering lesson. Included in the registration fee is access to all necessary equipment and ingredients. Your group should plan to wear casual clothing that provides safety and comfort and can handle potential messes involving flour, including closed-toe shoes. This course costs $792 for up to 8 people and $99 per additional person.

Teams in NYC can also register for a Pizza Party with CourseHorse. During this interactive class, teams will learn to make the perfect pizza from scratch. They’ll follow along as they learn to create the dough and select fresh toppings. You can register up to 40 people for the two-and-a-half-hour class that CourseHorse offers in conjunction with a vetted local provider. After making their pizzas, everyone will enjoy their time eating and socializing. Attendees should dress for comfort and safety, including wearing closed-toed shoes.

Work alongside your team making a hearty and delicious bowl of ramen in CourseHorse’s Japanese Ramen class held by a local provider in NYC. Students will learn how to balance noodles, meat, vegetables, and other ingredients during this two-hour class. You can register up to 30 team members for the single-session cooking course. An instructor will lead the class in small groups of two to four step-by-step through the process of recreating the popular Japanese noodle dish. The lessons will cover knife skills as well as noodle making. Students need no prior experience, making it a great course for all skill levels. The event takes place in a semi-private space, and attendees have the option of purchasing drinks from the venue or BYOB. After your group finishes cooking, you can hang out at the venue to eat and drink. The activity costs $1,980 for registration of up to 18 people and $110 per person thereafter.

Groups in Houston can attend a 90-minute Wreath Making Workshop. Plan to follow along as a professional artist leads up to 50 of you through the process of creating a custom wreath that you can display in your home or office. CourseHorse will provide seasonal objects for wreath making, like greenery, pinecones, sprigs of pepper berries, wire for attacking elements, ribbon or bow, and twine for hanging the wreath. Their fulfillment team will send the items to the addresses of participants upon booking. If you don’t know your headcount but want to reserve a date, book with the minimum number of participants on the date you’d like the class to take place. You can finalize payment and headcount later.

Register for CourseHorse’s Pictionary class led by a live professional host. You and up to 50 of your team members can attend. Like traditional pictionary games, the host will split you into teams. Each team will have one member drawing a prompt while the rest of the team attempts to guess what they’re drawing. The team with the most correct answers wins the game. Your team can expect to have fun and learn each other’s communication strengths and weaknesses during the activity. The full group will engage with each other throughout as well, ensuring that everyone is communicating and socializing. Contact CourseHorse to find out about how you can customize this team-building activity for an additional fee.

If you want an activity for your team that will encourage communication and creativity, look no further than CourseHorse’s Improv Team-Building Workshop in LA. The two-hour class will provide your team with the chance to playfully engage with each other, express their community, break down hierarchies, and let them learn more about each other’s communication styles. Improv games provide spontaneity that helps players relax around each other, which will help your team bond, communicate, and collaborate. You can also expect them to learn more about listening and flexibility as they attempt to create scenes. CourseHorse can host the workshop at your office or a partner venue. Pricing is $1,100 for up to 6 people and $15 per person thereafter.

Live Online Team Building Activities

You can book a virtual or live online team-building activity with CourseHorse. Teams with members who can’t commute to an in-person event, who live in a location where CourseHorse does not offer team-building activities, or who work from home and find themselves spread out across the country, can choose the option of booking a virtual or live online team-building activity. Some virtual classes offered by CourseHorse are adaptations of their in-person classes, while other classes are designed exclusively for virtual delivery.

Sports fanatics should gear up for CourseHorse’s Virtual Trivia: Sports event. You can register up to 200 team members for one hour of trivia testing their knowledge of sports, including international sports and lesser-known pastimes. Plan to laugh, socialize, and feel challenged as teams compete to win. The event costs $400 for up to 15 people and $15 per person thereafter. This is a customizable event for a $300 fee and allows you to pay the minimum booking fee before finalizing headcount and payment.

If you work in the food industry or have a team with an interest in drinks, register for Virtual Trivia: Wine & Spirits. Questions cover champagne, varieties of well liquor, and other wines and spirits. For one hour, you and your team will cooperate, compete, and enjoy a lively round of trivia. A professional host will lead teams through each round over Zoom or another web conferencing platform that CourseHorse can accommodate. Up to 200 people can attend this event for $400 for the first 15 people and an additional $15 per person thereafter.

If your team would rather learn to make drinks than compete in a game of trivia about them, register for the Virtual Mixology class CourseHorse offers. A professional mixologist will lead you and up to 500 team members in this private workshop. Attendees will learn about the history of cocktails, the skills and tools required to make them, and how to craft them while working on team building. CourseHorse will ship all necessary ingredients to participants ahead of the class, including tequila, vodka, whiskey, cocktail umbrellas, and edible glitter. In addition to the items shipped to participants, the class requires them to prepare a jigger or other measuring device, a cocktail shaker, a hawthorn strainer, and ice. Students will learn to master three craft cocktails: The Day Dream, 5:00 Somewhere, and Pretty Rad. The class takes place over Zoom unless you request another platform that CourseHorse can accommodate, like Microsoft Teams or Google Meets. The cost of registration is $920 for up to eight people and $115 per person thereafter.

Escape rooms provide teams the chance to enhance their communication, hone their problem-solving skills, and work on conflict resolution. If you’d like your team to work on those skills, register for CourseHorse’s Virtual Escape Room: Halloween Haunted House. The online escape room provides them with an immersive Halloween adventure, working out puzzles, engaging with clues, and completing mini-games. At the core of the activity is the chance to foster teamwork and improve communication. Your team members will split into mini teams and spend 75 minutes trying to escape an online haunted mansion. They’ll fall into the Louisiana countryside—the setting of the escape room—and work through clues, puzzles, virtual maps, video clips, and character descriptions. The default web conferencing platform for the activity is Zoom, but you can contact CourseHorse about an alternative video conferencing platform such as Microsoft Teams or Google Meets. The minimum group size for the escape room is 15 people, with a maximum of 200. The cost is $400 for up to 15 people with a $15 per person fee thereafter.

Register your team of up to 200 for a virtual round of 2 Truths and a Lie. The host will break your team up into small groups of 2-3 people using Zoom breakout rooms to help facilitate the activity smoothly. Group members will share two facts about themselves and one false statement about themselves. The rest of their team must then try to determine which statement is false. Once the small groups have finished the game, your team will come back together and reveal the truths and lies. Icebreaker activities like 2 Truths and a Lie help teams learn about each other and get closer to one another. This activity isn’t just for new teams; even teams that have worked together for years can play 2 Truths and a Lie to become more familiar with their coworkers. You can keep playing 2 Truths and a Lie with your team each time you hire new team members as well. Pricing for this class is $400 for up to 15 people and $15 per person thereafter.

Virtual Corporate Improve Workshop. The workshop emphasizes collaboration among team members as well as active listening and problem-solving. Teams will learn how to collaborate and make quick decisions as they form scenes and make character choices. Improv classes such as this virtual one also help people learn to not take themselves too seriously and stress the importance of having fun while participating. The all-inclusive price for 10 people is $500, with a $25 charge per additional participant. CourseHorse also offers an in-person version of this workshop that your team can attend if it’s offered in your location.

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Learn More About Team Building Activities Courses

Why Hold Team Building Activities?

What Will You Do in a Team Building Activity?

How Long Do Team Building Activities Generally Last?

What Are the Advantages of Hosting Team Building Activities?

What Kinds of Team Building Activities Are There?

How Long Will It Take to Complete a Team Building Activity?

How Do I Make a Team Building Activity?

Best Team Building Activities

Live Online Team Building Activities

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Team Building Activities Topics

Escape Room Team Building Activities

Trivia Team Building Activities

Holiday Team Building Activities

Icebreaker Team Building Activities

Cooking Team Building Activities

Art Team Building Activities

Tasting Team Building Activities

Team Building Games

Tasting Team Building Activities

Team Building Activities
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