If you feel like your employees groan every time you suggest a new team building activity, the hard truth is that you’re not imagining their reluctance.
Let’s face it: there are only so many ropes courses, race tracks, basketball courts, and other “forced fun” settings that your team can take.
Especially if you haven’t taken the time to ask your employees what sort of corporate team building activities they would enjoy, chances are that they dread corporate outings.
Poor corporate outing ideas don’t just make your team think less of you. They can also cause tension between employees.
Ready to make corporate team building activities fun again?
If so, then you’ll need to think outside of the box.
This post will show you some unique Wichita company event ideas that will have everyone smiling.
1. Learn a New Craft
The best corporate team building activities are those that actually teach your employees something new.
But instead of taking a cooking class or hiring a mixologist to teach your team how to make the perfect craft cocktail, we suggest trying something more unexpected.
Teach your team members how to work with their hands by signing them up for a team building embroidery class. They can flex their creative muscles by choosing a design that they love. They will even be able to help each other understand some of the trickier stitches.
Even better?
Embroidery, cross-stitch, and other sewing crafts have actually been shown to lower stress levels. This is especially helpful if you’ve noticed a bit more tension in your office than you usually have.
Of course, no matter how hard you try to learn embroidery, for some of your team members, it’s just not something they’ll be able to master.
The good news?
Instead of forcing them to keep trying to thread a needle for another hour, let us help you to create stunning and on-brand embroidered designs. You can put them on tee-shirts, tote bags, hats, and other promotional items.
2. Try Screen Printing Your Own Shirts
A fun way to take corporate outings to the next level?
Make your own screen printed tee-shirts.
We love the idea of hosting a design contest, where each of your employees can submit their own design idea. Hold a vote in the office, and then have the winning design screen printed on a tee-shirt.
To ensure that everyone is happy with what they get, let each of your team members choose the color of the shirt they’d like the most. Also, make sure that you keep sizing a private matter.
Instead of having a sign-up sheet where everyone can see everyone else’s size, send around a private email instead.
You could have your team wear the shirts to your next corporate outing, which will help to create a sense of camaraderie within your office.
Plus, the branded tee-shirts that you’ve made will help your employees to prevent your company even when they’re not in the office. If they wear them at the gym, the grocery store, or even while out at the bar?
People will take notice — and will likely want to learn a little bit more about your company as a result. Now that’s what we call cost-effective advertising!
3. Game Night
After a long day at the office, we know that some of your team members love to relax in front of their televisions and tune into their favorite game shows.
We also know that you likely have some seriously competitive people on your team.
Instead of letting that competitiveness infect your office, and potentially create rivalries between employees, why not make it a part of your next event?
We love the idea of creating a game night right in your meeting room, or, if the weather is nice, hosting it outside in your office’s parking lot.
You could play your office version of Family Feud, or set up a company-themed game of Wheel of Fortune.
You could even host your own Jeopardy tournament. Instead of random facts and questions, make the clues related to your specific employees. This will help everyone get to know each other better while also having tons of fun in the process.
If you really want to make things interesting on your office game night?
Offer some seriously competitive prizes, like an extra vacation day or even the chance to pie the boss in the face! If you opt for the latter, film it and upload it to your company’s website.
It’s not just a great way for your team to relive fun memories. It also shows customers and clients that you have a close-knit team and that you take teamwork — and rewarding your employees — seriously.
Which of These Wichita Corporate Team Building Activities Will You Try?
We hope that this post has inspired you to take your future corporate team building activities to the next level.
Remember that it’s important to think outside of the trust fall. Not only will this help your employees to actually enjoy corporate outings, but coming up with cool ideas allows you to better observe management potential and identify skill sets.
That’s because your team members will be genuinely enthusiastic and seriously engaged with the activities at hand.
Looking to learn more about screen printing and embroidery in Wichita?
Want to have promotional items made that you can hand out at your next corporate event?
We’ve got you covered.
Check out our services to learn more about what we can help you to create for your team members, your clients, and even your prospects and leads.