Planning a virtual, hybrid or in person corporate or academic team building event? Here at Odyssey Teams, the team building industry leader, we have a few tips for team building events that will ensure your team receives the maximum impact.

Tip 1: Consider The Current Team Climate

Are there any hostile interactions between team members? Are there new teams that could use some bonding time? These variables should be thought about early in the planning stage. It will guide you in deciding which give back activity will be the best to engage your employees.

Tip 2: Think About Location

As you continue planning your event, consider having the event at your company’s location instead of having it at an offsite which is usually more expensive. Having your team meeting onsite will free up additional funds that could be used towards adding a meaningful, CSR component to the event like Life Cycles or Build-a-Hand®.

Tip 3: Hire A Third-Party Facilitator

Hiring a facilitator to give an experiential keynote or engaging a team building  company like Odyssey Teams, to help with your corporate team building event is ideal. As one person within a company, you may not know everyone at the event. Those you do know might be attentive, but those you don’t might be put off by the lack of relationship. With a facilitator, everyone is equally distanced from him or her and has equal potential of engagement. 

Tip 4: Build In Breaks

Frequent short breaks should be added throughout the team building experience. With large groups, everyone will have different needs at different times so frequent short breaks give people options. Just make sure you or your facilitator is able to refocus the group quickly after each break.

Schedules that are easy to read and everywhere are a must for these workplace engagement activities. The best way to keep everyone engaged is by letting them know what is coming up. People don’t like to just wait and see what happens during these meetings; they want to know what’s happening every minute of the day.

Tip 5: Host Mini-Team Building Activities

One of the most effective ways to build teams within a large group is to have mini-team activities. There are a multitude of activities such as treasure maps, scavenger hunts but here at Odyssey Teams, we offer team building activities with CSR components such as the Board Meeting, Team Mosaic, and Life Cycles.

Tip 6: Engage Their Hearts, Not Just Their Minds

At Odyssey Teams, we often say, “Success depends on every part.” Organizations are made up of and serve real, living-breathing people who have thoughts, feelings and motivators that are fundamentally similar. How we work with and for those people with each choice we make impacts the communities we exist in. So it makes sense that to truly make an impact on a team, you need to appeal to your employee’s hear and emotions.

A powerful memory of personal interaction is incredibly powerful and gives large groups of 100+ a common footing to open up dialogues between each other. They all have a memory that gets them to smile and laugh with one another and draw from in the future.

For more tips for team building events and event trends to look out for in 2022, check out this article from Evendo: 10 event trends to look out for in 2022.

If you have any questions about our tips for team building events or if you’re interested in bringing the powerful programs of Odyssey Teams to your next event, please contact us at (800) 342-1650 or send us a quick email.