A How-To Guide on Planning an Engaging Team-Building Event

We’ve previously discussed the benefits of participating in regular team team-building events. We know that research continues to show that camaraderie promotes group loyalty and increases employees' dedication to their work. It’s been shown that team-building events are also an effective way to keep employees engaged, and we know, that it is one of the best ways of getting teams to collaborate and build stronger bonds with each other. 

With all that knowledge we want to ensure that we can plan and execute an effective event. So let’s take a closer look at organising a successful and engaging team-building event that achieves desired outcomes.



Below are a few ways in which you can achieve just that:

Set specific goals - Identifying a clear objective or purpose for your team-building activity will help to ensure that it is both fun and effective. Even the ‘just for fun’ events generally will have a purpose, even if that is just to connect and socialise with team members. Think about what areas you want to focus on with your team as this will help to act as a basic guideline of how the entire event will come together.

Create a team - Organising an event for multiple people can sometimes be quite a challenge. The task may call for additional support, so ask for help early and delegate various tasks to ensure that you can execute a well-planned event. Having people around you to help can also act as a sounding board when it comes to making decisions on the event as well.

Establish a budget - If it is not you who organising the finances, then speak to who does. You want to have a clear idea as to what funds you are working with in order to then create your budget. When asking the question find out how much is willing to be allocated and what the expectations are with that budget. If you aren’t able to get a clear idea of a figure, look at what previous team-building events have cost the company and work to match that. Try and be as realistic as possible when it comes to the budget, however, leave a little extra for any unforeseen or unexpected expenses. 

Pick a date - As a general rule, we would advise you to try and keep team-building activities within working hours. This will result in a better attendance rate as the staff are more willing to participate when they are not having to use up their spare time for work-related activities. Also ensure that you plan well in advance so team members can block it in their calendar and dedicate time specifically for the event.

Decide on duration - This is where the outcomes, as well as the budget, start to come into play. Typically we see most team-building events to be a half-day to a full day in duration. You’ll want to ensure you consider breaks if the duration is for an extended period of time in order for the participants to stay attentive and interested. During a full-day event, there are often opportunities to incorporate a variety of activities which can be effective when trying to engage a group of people with varying personalities.

Select your activities - This can often be one of the most challenging parts of the planning process. This is simply due to the enormous amount of options you have to choose from. If you’re needing help narrowing it down, check out our post on the top 15 team-building activities for 2022. However, when you are deciding you want to ensure that the activity (or activities) chosen align with the goal you have set out to achieve. Look at what the activities focus on and then decide if that will help you to achieve your overall goal. It may even be worthwhile in surveying the group in a group email if you’re wanting their involvement in the process. Allowing the team to have their input into the team-building event could help to increase buy-in to the activities and increase overall participation as well.



Choose your location - It is imperative that the event occurs in a different space from where the participants usually perform their daily work. This allows each individual to switch off from the usual tasks and focus on the event itself. When choosing a location ensure that the venue or the area you are looking at can accommodate the activities you have planned and that it fits within your allocated budget. The location isn’t what the event is all about, as long as the activity and the exercises are able to be performed, that is what we are looking for. If you are looking to hire a venue, try and get a rough idea of numbers first so you know what size venue to look for. Finally, if possible, get the team outdoors, as this can be a lot of fun! Generally, we are spending so much time indoors in the office that we aren’t spending nearly enough time getting some fresh air and Vitamin D.

Coordinate logistics - As we’ve said there is a lot to think about when planning the event so having a checklist for when it comes to logistics may be useful. These details can then be outlined to the staff invited. Your checklist could include;

• Transportation - Is everyone required to meet at the location, or will the company organise transportation from the office?
  
  
• Food and Drinks - Is this provided? Do the participants need to provide their own food and drink?
  
  
• Liability Waivers - Particularly when involving third party businesses to run activities/games there may be waivers that participants need to sign. Does this need to occur before the day of the event?
  
  
• Accommodation - Will the event be occurring over multiple days? Is there accommodation organised through the company?
  
  
• What to bring - Is the event outdoors? Is there physical activity involved? These kinds of things will dictate the clothing and footwear people will need to bring.
  
  
• Event day agenda - Creating an event day agenda can be a good idea to ensure that the day has a structure and keeps within certain time constraints. The agenda should have clear timings for each activity and/or game you are set to participate in throughout the day. Also ensure to add any travel time, smaller breaks as well as the main breaks for meals etc into the agenda as well. Once finalised, this could be passed on to the employees ahead of time or on the day of, for them to get a clear understanding as to what the day is set to involve. Sending out the agenda ahead of the event day itself does have its benefits, as it helps to build anticipation and excitement over the activities to come!
  
  
• Communicate - As we mentioned previously, ensure the event is communicated to the participants with plenty of notice. Give them as much information as you can so they can be prepared for the day. You may want to leave out some of the finer details to add a bit of a surprise to the day. However, date, time, location, duration, and anything that they may need to organise ahead of time all need to be relayed to staff well in advance. If you require an RSVP ensure that it is clear in your communication when this is expected to be received. Once you know the final numbers in attendance this is where you can communicate the finer details to the participants. The logistics checklist we spoke about earlier needs to be conveyed to the team so that they are fully prepared on the day of the event.
  
  
• Provide incentives - If the benefits to the individual aren’t clear, then they may ask themselves, ‘what’s in it for me?’ To avoid employees going down that rabbit hole, it can be beneficial when sending out communications to be clear on what the desired outcomes from the group are and what personal or professional development aspect you are to be focussing on. If you do find that you are lacking in people wanting to get involved you can incentivize them further. This could be with the provision of food and drinks, goodie bags to take home, vouchers etc. Ideally, we aren’t motivating the staff to attend team-building events purely on the provision of them receiving materialistic things, however, it can add value in the mind of the employee.
  
  
• Gather feedback - Once the event concludes it's important to gather feedback from all involved. Start with your planning team and get their thoughts on how the process went from an organisational perspective. You’ll also want to get feedback from all the participants, you could send out a feedback form or a short form survey to each participant upon completion of the event. People may want to remain anonymous so allow for that, and sometimes people may not want to type out lengthy answers so using online survey tools to create easy number-based responses where participants can rank their scores may be an easy way of still getting the information required.
  
  
• Track results - When it all comes down to it, you decided for your team to participate in a team-building event because you had a specific goal you wanted to achieve. It is important that once the event is all said and done we reflect on if the event achieved this outcome or not. You might be able to find some answers, by using the previously mentioned survey, or by observing how the team is now working together day-to-day. To see long-term outcomes and to keep employees engaged, team-building events are most effective when utilised regularly.

Considering the above checklist when planning any team-building event can make reaching your desired outcomes much more achievable. Planning these events can often involve a lot of time and energy to ensure they go off without a hitch, so if you’re looking for a helping hand, we are here to be just that. Our team has dedicated specialists on hand to give you advice and guide you on what activities and events may be suitable for you and your team. Furthermore, once the event is decided upon, we handle the logistics of bringing it all together, you just need to bring your team and an open mind and be ready to enjoy the activities!