The Best Team Building Activities to Bring Your Team Closer

What is the Purpose of Team Building Activities?

Team building activities serve a deeper purpose beyond strengthening bonds. They provide an opportunity to embrace the spirit of collaboration, extend a warm welcome to new team members (we all love an ice breaker!), and foster the unique values that define your team’s identity.

Whether it’s working in small groups or large groups coming together, team building activities will benefit everyone in the entire team. Some activities can be just a few minutes or you can make it a whole morale boosting day. Either way, your working crew will enjoy doing a fun team building activity – it’s all about finding the right activity for everyone.

So, let’s explore these team building activities and see which one suits your company culture best!

Quick Team Building Games:

Stuck for time? Here are some team building activities that can still establish group values, inspire team collaboration and make new team members feel welcome. These team building exercises will build team bonds in a fun way and will leave a lasting impact on team relationships.

Two Truths, One Lie

Kickstart your team building journey with a classic game that offers a twist, a laugh and gets your team bonding on a personal level. It’s all in the title, making it a simple team building exercise, think of two truths and a lie to tell the group members. The funnier and outrageous the statements, the better!

This quick team building activity an engaging icebreaker that not only fosters connections and trust, but it also reveals some unique stories about your team members.

Pictionary

For those who are fans of creative thinking, whip out the classic game of Pictionary. It’s one of those indoor team building activities that can be done at the office or if your original team building event is affected by weather.

Split into pairs or small groups and ignite some healthy competition all in the name of drawing. While this team building session will make note of who should stick to their day job, it’ll inspire creative thinking, communication skills and develop team relationships.

Paper Plane Challenge

Now here’s a team building exercise to help you soar to success. Teams create and collaborate to craft paper planes, competing to see whose plane can fly the farthest. This team building activity embodies the Kiwi spirit of ingenuity and teamwork. As the planes take flight, so does the sense of unity among team members.

It can also inspire creative problem solving and point out team leaders among the group, looking to better their paper plane design to reach a goal.

Charades

Challenge your team’s communication skills with a fun game of charades. It’s a team building activity that as each round goes, the team bonds and can see how they can communicate effectively. With a time limit, this adds more anticipation and urgency, espicially if there is a prize on the line for the winning team.

Add some cultural flair to this team building game by acting out phrases like “starry night in Lake Tekapo” or “haka performance”.

Office Trivia

A great team building activity is office trivia. Not trivia of the show ‘The Office’ (although you can do that!), but questions about the company and team members. It’s the perfect team building activity that can include your remote team or virtual team also.

Office trivia allows you to split into teams and delegate a one team leader for each group. Watch as co-workers develop their leadership skills without even knowing it. Who knew doing office trivia could be so valuable!

Show and Tell

If you’re looking for team building activities for work, an easy one could be doing show and tell in the office. Encourage team members to share objects or stories that relate to their career development or make it more personal. It’s a delightful way to uncover shared experiences and connections.

Coworker Bingo

Liven up the atmosphere with a game of coworker bingo. Whether it’s about who is most likely to be late or a team member saying their catchphrase, it’s a fun team building activity to learn more about your colleagues.

Long Team Building Activities:

Team building exercises that leave the conference room often find themselves on the memory wall. Have your teams compete, exchange ideas and develop communication skills that will have a lasting impact on company culture.

These team building activities are perfect for the entire group, big or small! If you’re looking for a team building event that will be more exciting than finance meetings and last longer than lunch, here are some top recommendations!

Scavenger Hunt

Get out of the office and explore the charm of your city. Whether it’s Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, an engaging scavenger hunt is a great team building game to see how well your coworkers know the area.

From uncovering hidden street art gems to locating historical landmarks, this is one of the fun team building activities encourages a deeper connection to the local culture and history.

Make it more exciting by offering an incentive for the winning team. Nothing will enhance their communication skills, creative thinking and listening skills more than encouraging healthy competition.

Sip & Paint Class

Make your next team building event all about creativity, and maybe a glass of wine while we’re at it. Pinot & Picasso offers team building sip and paint that are all about boosting team morale. Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, you can sip, paint and celebrate your work crew with a company bonding session that will no doubt be the talk of the office.

With New Zealand specific artworks, collaborative designs for everyone to work on and even specialty concepts like Textured Art, this team building session will no doubt boost company culture and bring a little life to the office with some new art to hang up.

Escape Room

For those seeking adventure for their next team building activity, get out of the conference room and take on a thrilling escape room challenge. It’s a test of critical thinking, teamwork, and problem solving skills with a time limit to add some pressure.

There are many great escape rooms that can be found in Auckland, Wellington and other cities across New Zealand. Watch your team bond as they try to crack the case and get over the finish line.

Cooking Class

Indulge in a cooking class with the best local chefs from your area.. Learn to prepare classic Kiwi dishes like lamb roast, pavlova, or hokey pokey ice cream, or learn a classic dish like pasta. It’s a delicious way to bond with your colleagues both in cooking and eating the great food you’ve made together.

Don’t worry if you have remote teams or if your virtual team feels left out. There are plenty of virtual cooking classes that you can do from the office or at home during work hours. This way, you can incorporate everyone in this team building event and everyone can share snaps of their food online.

Bowling

Let’s rock & roll and bowl! Enjoy a fun and competitive game of bowling with your team at the local bowling alley. It’s a classic team building activity that encourages teamwork skills and fosters a sense of team spirit all while relishing in the joy of friendly competition.

Tree Planting

Give back to the environment and bond with your team through a tree planting activity. This charity initiative allows your team to spend time outdoors and focus on sustainability and conservation effort. While it might not be an exciting team building activity, it gets your work crew out of the office, into fresh air and provide an act of community service.

Jet Boat Ride

For an adrenaline rush amidst New Zealand’s stunning natural landscapes, embark on a jet boat ride. It’s the perfect way to bond with your team while immersing yourselves in the breathtaking beauty of the country.

Axe Throwing

Looking for a distinctive and fun-filled team building activity? Try axe throwing. Challenge your colleagues to hit the bullseye while enjoying a unique experience that encourages team bonding and friendly competition.

Allow your colleagues to let off steam and watch the entire group feel more relaxed after releasing some stressful energy.

Book a sip and paint session with Pinot & Picasso!

Some team building activities are just meant to be! Book a team building session at your local Pinot & Picasso studio. Our sip and paint sessions inspire creative thinking, team bonding and boost morale all in an arty and fun way, with a glass of wine in one hand and a paint brush in the other.

If you have a big team, take the stress out of making sure everyone turns up on time for your team building event – we can come directly to you or the venue of your choice! Whether it’s your office, hotel or conference, we’ll bring the equipment you need to have the best team building experience!