Teamwork is a crucial part of individual and organizational success. It's especially important now due to remote work models. Team building activities are more than just fun and games – they’re powerful tools for fostering collaboration, boosting morale, and unlocking the potential of every team member. This article includes 6 of the best team building activities to take your corporate culture to the next level.

Is team building important?

Because it requires collaboration and communication, team building challenges people to work together. Team building activities can break-through standard workplace interactions. They're an effective way to introduce people and get them to open up. No one team building activity will create teamwork for the entire organization, but it will help your teams to flourish. By challenging your team to work together, you can facilitate communication, improve problem-solving skills and foster a strong sense of camaraderie.

1. Scavenger hunt

Offering tons of fun in a casual environment, a scavenger hunt is one of the most impactful outdoor group activities that you can plan to boost communication as teammates analyze clues and look for the prize. It also encourages problem-solving and builds solidarity between members, improving company culture. You can plan your own outdoor scavenger hunt, or use an app-led scavenger hunt in your area. Groups of 5 team members are recommended for this activity, the budget depends on how extravagant you want to go.

2. Egg drop

Team building activities help strengthen collaborative skills, and an outdoor game of egg drop is a great example. Split into groups, give each team an egg, building materials like popsicle sticks and cotton balls, and a time limit to build a shield for the egg that would help it survive falls. After time’s up, test all the shields by dropping all the eggs at the same time from the same height. If a tie-breaker is due, increase the drop height until only one egg survives.

3. Marshmallow challenge

This popular team building game is both challenging and fun. Teams of 4-6 people are tasked with building the tallest free-standing structure using only 20 sticks of spaghetti, a yard of tape, a yard of string, and as many marshmallows as required. The last marshmallow must be placed on top of the structure. This game requires teams to work together, collaborate, and think creatively in order to come up with a solution that will allow them to build the tallest structure possible. This challenge is a great way to get your team thinking outside the box and working together to achieve a common goal.

4. Blind retriever

This is one of the best outdoor activities for team building where one team goes against a different team to see who obtains an item first. One member of each team is blindfolded and has to listen for guidance from the rest of their teammates, promoting trust, communication, and leadership skills. Take turns being blindfolded with a new place for the object each round.

5. Catapult launcher

An extremely entertaining corporate team building activity. After splitting into smaller teams, each group will use the same materials such as: plastic bottles, rubber bands, sticks, to design and construct a catapult launcher within a set time frame. Then, test each group’s model by determining which launcher can throw a certain object the farthest. Besides being an exciting game, this activity supports interpersonal, communication, creativity, and idea-exchange skills.

6. Cardboard boat building

One of the most creative outdoor team building ideas is cardboard boat building. Split into groups, give every unit cardboard and tape, set a time limit, and start construction! Once done, each group will demonstrate and test their model. To wrap up the activity, have all teams race across the water. Boat building is a great way to assess how a team member performs within a unit and puts their creative thinking, time management, presentation, brainstorming, and decision-making to work.

Final thoughts

Whether you’re looking for fun, bonding or competition, make sure you have a goal in mind for what you hope the team will take away from the activity, to ensure that it's time well spent. It's also always a great idea to end every team building event with food, drinks and music!

Are you looking for an impactful way to energize your team and reimagine your corporate culture? If so, join the GoGoPerks community for free, to provide your organization with access to exclusive perks. Find out more