We all benefit from social interaction–especially those of us who work remotely or are on a team with multiple office locations. What better way to engage with colleagues than by going away on a workation? 

Here are 10 Activities to help promote team building and bonding, from Epoch’s recent off-site.

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TLDR: To encourage team building for better work culture, plan an engaging team off-site for your colleagues. Include a variety of activities involving food, games, and exploration. Epoch’s Top 10 suggested activities are:

1. Cooking Challenge
2. Two Truths, One Lie
3. Get Active & Explore
4. Movie Night
5. True Colors Quiz
6. Who Chose that Song?
7. Game Night
8. Team Member Presentations
9. Visit Local Shops & Restaurants
10. Trivia Night

1. Cooking Challenge 🍳

People have to eat, so leverage the opportunity to make something functional fun.

• Create a meal schedule. Decide how many meals need cooking. Maybe choose one meal per day for the challenge.
  
  
• Assign cooking teams. For a positive cooking experience, pair people who are less experienced in the kitchen with those who are comfortable.
  
  
• Make a menu. Each team can plan their meal and claim it on a schedule. To avoid repetition of meals, roll dice or pull names out of a hat for meal selection order.
  
  
• Get cooking. Set aside cooking time and make sure everyone has the time and ingredients required.
  
  
• E.A.T.™ Judge the meals by following E.A.T.™: Execution, Appearance, and Taste. Score each category out of ten using a simple score sheet or find one online.
  
  
• Score and celebrate. At the end of the week, tally the meal scores. Award the team with the best meal Winners of the Cooking Challenge.

2. Two Truths, One Lie ✌️☝️

Bypass small talk and play a get-to-know-you game. Two Truths, One Lie is the perfect way to hear each other’s stories as well as discover everyone’s sense of humor and fibbing abilities.

• Each player comes up with three stories about themselves–two true, one lie.
• Take turns telling the three stories in random order.
• The group goes around and declares what of the stories is a lie. Note down who guesses the most lies correctly.

Watch the game in action here.

3. Get Active & Explore 🌲

Being off-site means you’re in a new city or country. To make the most of the new destination, get out and explore. If you don’t know where to go, check out the local tourism website or simply use Google Maps for a digital lay of the land.

Our recent off-site was in Sechelt, British Columbia. We took advantage of beautiful hikes and walking trails on Canada’s west coast.

4. Movie Night 🎬

When all is said and done, watching a movie is a great way to relax after a long workday. And it can spur discussion.

Movies can be easily scheduled into the nightly routine. Consider setting a movie schedule with different themes for each day of the week: Monday documentary, Tuesday comedy, Wednesday classic, Thursday thriller, Friday fantasy–the list goes on.

Discover each other’s favorite movies by giving everyone a night to choose the film. Or pull titles from a hat on theme nights for a randomly selected surprise.

After the credits roll, discuss what you watched. Get into your favorite–or least favorite–characters, scenes, themes, costumes, or moments that moved you.

5. True Colors Quiz 🎨

The True Colors Quiz is a fun and easy way to reveal your team’s personality traits, based on Myers-Briggs types. Have each teammate take the quick quiz to reveal what color they are. See whose Orange, Blue, Green, or Gold and discuss the results as a group.

This tool reveals insights about personality–like key stressors and communication styles–that can help foster understanding in the workplace! Try the quiz yourself, here.

6. Who Chose That Song? 🎧

Taste in music says a lot about a person. Engage with people’s favorite songs by playing Who Chose That Song?

• Have a leader collect everyone’s songs on a Spotify playlist.
• Press shuffle and get the group to guess who submitted what song.
• See who guesses the most songs correctly.
  
  

To commemorate the trip, have the game leader save the Spotify playlist to share with the team.

7. Game Night 🎱

Dig into game night. Here are fool-proof, fun-proven board games to liven up the night.

• Cranium – creative combat, 4+ players.
• Cards Against Humanity – easy, edgy comedy, 3-20+ players.
• Codenames – make a match, 4-8 players.
• Anomia – fast-paced, word game, 3-6 players.
• Coup – last player standing, 2-6 players.

When booking your stay, consider amenities–like ping pong or pool tables! And bring along physical games–like croquet or football–if your team prefers sports over board games.

8. Team Member Presentations 🧠

Have each team member take the stage to present on a topic that’s important to them. 

Presentations are a great way to give company-wide updates and shed light on what everyone’s currently working on. Topics can focus on upcoming projects or departmental methodologies.

Alternatively, these presentations can be personalized and serve as a get-to-know-you opportunity on casual topics, like pets, family history, or hobbies.

9. Visit Local Shops & Restaurants 🛍

Another way to explore the destination is by supporting local shops and restaurants. 

Spend time at a local cafe or sample new cuisine. Check out tourist spots like monuments, galleries, or museums. And commemorate the trip with souvenirs from local shops.

10. Trivia Night 🎲

Question: What’s a great team activity?
Answer: Trivia!

Find a bar or restaurant that’s hosting trivia night and compete against locals with your team. If you’re in a sleepy town, host your own Trivial Pursuit night or create bespoke questions that your team will find engaging.

Conclusion

Sprinkle in plenty of non-work activities for your team off-site. Come together through laughs, games, conversation, and food–ultimately strengthening the bond between teammates for enhanced work culture.