It’s well known that raising team morale can have a big impact on productivity. The (sometimes) sizzling days of summer often swing this battle in your favour, with employees’ spirits being raised by long, lazy evenings and family BBQs. But when the colder months arrive, they often bring with them a downturn in mood that can slow down even the most resilient employees. At this point in the calendar, it’s important to take matters into your own hands to reignite the spark — whether they be corporate away days or winter team-building activities. Whichever option you choose, taking the time to give your workers a break is sure to keep them firing on all cylinders.
There’s plenty you can do to help your people forget the cold snap and have fun together. From cosy indoor games to energetic outdoor pursuits, we’ve rounded up our favourite winter team-building ideas to warm up the troops when it’s chilly out. There’s sure to be something that hits the target at your next business event.
6 Winter Team-Building Activities to Inspire You
There are a wide range of winter team-building activities at your disposal Our six suggestions cover a broad spectrum, with everything from easygoing escape rooms and virtual bingo, to more energetic experiences like scavenger hunts and team sports. Whatever you choose, remember to take into account your employees’ preferences and abilities to engineer an experience everyone can enjoy.
Winter Team Building Ideas for Indoors
It stands to reason that some teams’ favourite winter team-building ideas will take place inside. That’s fine, not everyone feels like braving the elements when the cold snap arrives. Plus, there are lots of things you can do that don’t require three layers, a hat, scarf, and gloves.
Our favourite indoor experiences include:
Escape Rooms
Escape rooms are a brilliant way for teams to solve problems together in a fun environment. The timed element works well to apply gentle pressure to proceedings, getting everyone to collaborate in order to make progress. Additionally, this winter team-building activity rewards different personalities, with vocal leaders and quiet thinkers alike getting a chance to shine. Who knows which of your colleagues will make a name for themselves as the unexpected puzzle perfectionist?!
As if all that wasn’t enough, it’s also relatively cheap, and can act as the ideal jumping off point for a packed evening of team socialising.
Virtually Brilliant Bingo
Do you find that live events don’t get the attendance rate they deserve? If so, it might be time to adapt by offering a hybrid live and virtual experience that homebodies can enjoy from the comfort of their own sofa. In practice, you can do this with any kind of game, from classics like the traditional pub quiz to cards and online casinos to the ever-popular virtual bingo.
All you need to get started is an engaging quiz master, online connectivity, and a range of prizes. You could hand out physical bingo cards ahead of the fun, but everything here can be done online, with a combination of apps and engaging content in between rounds to keep things ticking along seamlessly. This is a great way to sign off the end of another working year, as who doesn’t fancy a bounty of exciting prizes and happy memories?
Gingerbread Genius
OK, ‘genius’ might be a reach for some novices, but every workplace has a few budding Bake-Off enthusiasts. The way this one works is that your team members each receive a kit containing — you guessed it — gingerbread, as well as sugar and ample decorations. Using these basic materials, they’ll need to glue their biscuit pieces together in order to construct an edible winter scene. Best one wins!
How this pans out is completely up to event planners, as it’s highly adaptable. You could either get people to bring their entries into work for a night of awards, or split into teams and pitch everyone into the baking battle together. Whatever you do, make sure to nail the event theme by decorating your space with festive finery. Finally, don’t forget to provide prizes and refreshments to keep everyone brimming with seasonal cheer.
Outdoor Winter Team Building Activities
While some people see winter as a time to cosy up with a cup of hot chocolate, there are plenty of others who positively relish the crunch of frost underfoot. If your staff get giddy about making snowmen and supping steaming cups of mulled wine, we’ve compiled a few outdoor winter team-building ideas that they’re sure to enjoy.
Winter Olympics
Although this one is better outdoors, it could potentially be moved inside for some, if not all contests. However, there are so many sports you could do in the open air that it would be a shame to drop them. We’re talking sledding, ice skating, and obstacle courses. If it’s cold enough you might even be able to stage snowball dodgeball, snowman building, human curling, snowshoe races. The options are plentiful.
You could even provide event catering in the form of seasonal delicacies like hog roast, while hosting a closing ceremony and DJ for added entertainment. Ultimately, winter team-building activities are supposed to be pure fun, so let loose as much as your budget will allow.
Scavenger Hunts
As with escape rooms, the classic scavenger hunt is a test of teamwork, problem-solving, and collaboration. The basic idea is for your employees to form groups and, using a map, find hidden items — with each new reveal offering cryptic clues about the next location. Solving puzzles should get progressively harder, with a time limit of around 2 – 3 hours, giving everyone a chance to finish up and return to base to crown the winners.
If you choose the right venue this can be a genuinely engaging winter team building activity. To maximise its rich potential, try to find a location that’s both remote and stacked with amenities. We’re thinking hot drink stations, warming grub, a decent-sized room for dishing out awards, and the ever-important entertainment. This could include seasonal music, fire performers, photo booths, and whatever else takes your festive fancy.
Ice Sculpting Contests
Ice sculpting contests give participants a chance to unleash their creative impulses. Although it’s a tricky skill to acquire, you can provide inspiration by starting with a professional demonstration. Once your teams have witnessed the main techniques firsthand, they can step up and begin carving their own masterpieces.
This is yet another winter team-building idea that works best in an open space but could also function well indoors — if the room is cold enough. Safety is paramount, so ensure that there are plenty of helpers on hand to dispense advice along the way. Finally, you can reward the winning teams with prizes and take everyone somewhere warm afterwards, to sit back, compare notes, and enjoy each other’s company.
Build an Event Your Teams Will Love Today!
There are a huge number of options available to businesses that want to put smiles on faces during the cold season. Although we’ve listed our personal favourites, there’s no limit to what you can achieve with the right guidance. From building snow forts to skiing weekends, everything depends on your budget — and the event managers you choose to make your plans a reality.
ConnectIn Events has been planning team-focused occasions since we started back in 2009. Our friendly outfit has worked across a range of industries, staging awards shows, conferences, and a wide variety of elite corporate events. Our services cover the whole sphere of event management, from event design and entertainment to prop-sourcing and technical assistance.
This means we’re perfectly placed to provide any and all elements of winter team-building activities. We can help you to engage your employees in a fun setting, whatever the budget. There’s snow way you’ll regret it!
Just drop us a line to find out more about what we can do.
