12 Team Away Day Ideas
Table of Contents
When considering what makes a good team building away day you need to know what the goal is for the day plus what your team enjoy. A lot of teams enjoy team-building activities so whether you’re an office of sports fanatics or you’re looking for corporate away day ideas, an activity is an excellent route to go down.
Having an activity also gives teams something in common to discuss and get excited about which will act as an icebreaker and help to open up conversations if employees are meeting for the first time or are unsure what to talk about with other departments.
Is a Company Away Day Worth it?
A company away day can be a beneficial investment for businesses looking to boost team morale and enhance productivity. By moving away from the normal office environment, employees have the chance to relax and engage with colleagues in a less formal setting, which can help break down barriers and foster new relationships. This is especially valuable for remote teams or those companies spread across multiple offices, as it places everyone in a neutral, unfamiliar environment, levelling the playing field for all.
A dedicated away day provides the opportunity to address specific team dynamics or challenges in a focused setting. If you’re worried that your team will be out of the office altogether, however the benefits of your team being able to communicate better and work more cohesively in the future will greatly outweigh this. Having an away day with an overnight stay can really help to stay focused in the goals of your team building, whilst also letting people have fun and let off some steam together.
If you’re concerned about budget contracts for a team away day, plenty of venues offer all-inclusive packages for events like this or holding an team building afternoon can work just as efficiently.
Team Away Day Ideas
- Escape Room
- Summer BBQ
- Outdoor Activity Centre
- Murder Mystery
- Paintballing or Laserquest
- Sports Day
- Go Karting
- Scavenger Hunt
- Cooking Class
- Volunteering
- Mindfulness and Wellness Days
- Artsy Day
Escape Room
Your team members will be required to enter a room and solve a series of challenges to escape. This is a chance for smaller teams to get to know each other whilst learning about their abilities and colleagues’ strengths. Escape rooms are an affordable and fun team away day idea for individuals to work under pressure and to think proactively.
Summer BBQ
As soon as the sun begins to shine your team will start to think about the late summer evenings and that delicious BBQ smell. Hosting your very own team summer BBQ, whether you choose to host it onsite or offsite is a great way of rewarding your team and recognising their achievements. This is also a great informal setting that’s a good alternative to your typical corporate away day sit down meals.
Outdoor Activity Centre
Activity centres are a fantastic place for you to host your team building away days, and will have plenty of great team building activities for you to choose from. Whether you are looking to enhance the relationships between your team or to improve your company’s culture, activity centres are a great team away day idea that can help to tick all of your boxes.
There are also a number of companies, like our partner OffLimits who provide themed team building activities such as Crystal Quest based on the popular TV show.
Murder Mystery
Murder mystery day events are a popular team away day idea and are guaranteed to add excitement and thrill to your corporate event. This type of event helps to improve the communication skills of your team members whilst having to use plenty of creativity to deal with problem-solving tasks. Whether you are looking to host this team building away day idea virtually or at a murder mystery event venue, you can be sure this will bring your team lots of laughter in a fun and challenging environment.
Paintballing or Laserquest
Ensuring your team spend time together in a fun and positive environment is one of the most important steps you will need to take to improve the retention and productivity levels of your staff. A fantastic staff away day idea that all of your employees are going to love is paintballing or laser quest. These team away day ideas are suitable for all ages and are a great way of building relationships whilst enjoying a fun day out!
Sports Day
Compay sports days are a chance for your team to take a trip down memory lane and to put their fitness to the test with a number of sports activities. Sports days allow you to reward your employees for all their hard work and dedication whilst taking on some much-loved traditional sports games.
Outdoor activities not only improve the mental and physical health of your team, but they also help to create some fantastic memories whilst boosting morale. A bit of healthy competition among the team is always fun too.
Go Karting
Go-karting is a great way of enjoying a competition whilst providing a memorable team-building experience that your employees will not forget. Whether your team are adrenaline enthusiasts or would prefer to watch from the sidelines, this corporate away day idea is a popular way of strengthening your team’s abilities whilst showing your company’s ethos.
Scavenger Hunt
This is an excellent team building activity as it requires collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills, plus a bit of healthy competition! This is an excellent idea for a team day that gets people out of the office working together creatively and strategically.
Whether you set this up yourself or hire a company to run one on your behalf, this can be a lot of fun. Why not extend the fun and decompress the day’s events with dinner and drinks?
Cooking Class
A team cooking class is great for communication and collaboration. It also mimicks the cooperative dynamics needed within the workplace but is engaging and creative, plus the added benefit of being able to eat what deliciousness you cook up!
Sitting to eat together afterwards will also provide a fantastic social opportunity to laugh about how the event went as well as feeling achievement and camaraderie.
Volunteering
Volunteering not only creates a sense of community and empathy among team members as they work together towards a common goal, but it also strengthens working relationships and collaboration skills in a meaningful context outside the typical work environment. Additionally, it provides a unique opportunity for individuals to lead and show initiative in new settings, which can translate into increased confidence and leadership skills back at the office.
Mindfulness and Wellness Day
A mindfulness and wellness day is a valuable team building activity because it helps reduce stress and enhance mental clarity, allowing team members to return to work rejuvenated and more focused. Additionally, participating in shared wellness activities can strengthen interpersonal bonds and improve communication within the team, creating a supportive and empathetic workplace culture.
Artsy Day
Having a creative day, through painting sculpting or crafting, will help to encourage innovation but also provide a relaxing environment. These activities can reveal hidden talents and encourage people to discuss how to get the best from the tools in front of them with each other. This form of creative collaboration can strengthen relationships as teams share ideas and work together to create something tangible and memorable.
How to Ensure That Your Team Day is Inclusive For All Participants?
You can send out a pre-event survey to gather information about attendees’ preferences, interests, and any special accommodations they might need. This might include physical limitations, dietary restrictions or personal comfort levels with different types of activities to give you an indication of what to plan.
After the event, gathering feedback from your team after your away day, you can find out if the activities were appropriate for the whole team, what they enjoyed and what they didn’t which will allow you to plan future staff away days.
How to Run a Team Away Day?
It’s time to ditch virtual team building and enjoy each other’s company! Whether your team away day is to recognise your employees for all their hard work or for team-building activities, you should first establish its purpose and create an agenda. When planned correctly, a work away day can have a huge impact on the performance levels of your team.
Team Away Days at Kents Hill Park
To complete your company away day, tie in your AGM and celebrate with a meal or evening entertainment. Our corporate event venue welcomes the chance for you to host your team away day and offers a large space suitable for a wide variety of team-building activities, summer parties, conferences and many more. We also offer bedrooms for a comfortable and well rounded corporate retreat for your whole team.
Team building activities provide employees with a fulfilling experience that promotes a “can do” attitude that can be brought back into the office. So to find out more or to begin planning your next corporate team building day at Kents Hill Park, please feel free to get in touch with a friendly member of our team.
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