Effective team building has a positive impact on employees having difficulty working together.

Recent statistics show that 70 percent of U.S. workers are not engaged at work. Furthermore, employees with a low engagement level are more likely to leave the company. 

Organizations around the world use team building activities to bring their employees together. They do so to help them learn teamwork, boost their collective creativity, and teach them problem-solving as a team.

As the most important investment, team building encourages communication and builds trust. When it comes to team bonding ideas, you must think out of the box.

By doing so, you’ll create a competitive culture and cooperative cohesion among employees.

Here are five out of the box team outing ideas that your employees will love!

1. Ditch the Company Picnic, Try an Escape Room Adventure

The company picnic has for a long time been one of the fun group activities for employers and employees alike. Problem is, it’s within the comfort zone of the employees. Today, companies need to take their staff out of their comfort zone.

To do so, they need to come up with unique team outing ideas that encourage people to come together.

Thrusting your employees into a thrilling situation like an escape room adventure can foster long-lasting relationships. Some of the scenarios they can try include:

  • Runaway Train
  • Do Not Disturb
  • Mystery Mansion
  • The Kidnapping
  • Museum Heist
  • Operation: Casino
  • Island Escape

2. Take Part in Informal Race Events

What better way to bring employees together than participating in informal racing events?

We’re not talking about the New York Marathon or another major racing event, but informal race events like sailboat racing and running. These activities are fun and foster better working relationships. 

3. Give NASCAR a Try

Why splurge on expensive trips and while you can enjoy the thrill of a car traveling more than 140 miles per hour? Thanks to NASCAR Racing Experience, your employees can take the wheel and drive in a NASCAR.

To make the experience thrilling, you can team up and compete against each other by beating the clock. The team with the fastest lap gets the best hotel suite and first class spa treatment.

4. Navigate a Wild Environment

Want to boost creativity and problem-solving skills among your staff?

Bushcraft is a set of activities that involves surviving in the wilderness with minimal use of technology. Activities may include starting a fire, building a shelter, and navigating a wild environment.

As one of the best team outing ideas, this type of activity is not only practical but fun and challenging.

Employees combine their brains and strength to succeed. In turn, this improves collaboration between them, which extends to the office.

5. Volunteer at the Local Animal Shelter

Teamwork and collaboration in the office stimulate innovation and creativity. And yet, it’s one of the most underutilized tools in the 21st century. A lot of employees opt to remain in their little nooks of expertise and never collaborate.

This is not what drives success.

Based on recent statistics, 39 percent of employees believe fellow workers don’t collaborate enough. About 75 percent of workers rate teamwork and collaboration as important. To change this, volunteer at the local animal shelter.

As one of the group activities for adults, volunteers get to care for cats, rabbits, and dogs. They can educate the community about the important work local animal shelters do.

Keep the Excitement Going with These Team Outing Ideas

Team building activities have turned out to be quarterly or annual events only. This does not create opportunities for employees to interact and connect outside office presentations and meetings. To improve teamwork and collaboration, try the events highlighted above.

Want more tips on team outing ideas? Check out our other blog posts for more information!