While UK-based team building activities share similarities with those you find in other parts of the world, there are sometimes small but often significant differences that you need to be aware of if you plan to host a UK-based event.
It’s known that British attendees respond to dry humour, shared experiences, and socialising more than they do to formal and stuffy team building sessions.
Indeed, UK teams like to collaborate more than they like to compete, and overly theatrical or rigidly formal exercises tend to miss the mark.
As such, a truly unique corporate team building in the UK needs to have a good pinch of humour and put collaboration front and centre.
Our list below features seven unique and corporate team building ideas that will appeal to any UK-based team.
Main takeaways: Why team building activities are so important
- When done right, team building exercises bring colleagues together, establish trust, boostLEGO Boost is a (now discontinued) interactive robotics set ... More inter-group communication and strengthen relationships, all of which often carry over into the workplace after the event.
- Teams discover new ways of collaborating with colleagues, solving problems and supporting each other that they can’t in a work setting.
- Team building experiences encourage genuine interactions, rather than forced participation, which can feed into how employees address tasks and challenges in the office.
- Team building is recognised as bringing real and lasting results, boosting staff morale and making for a more positive workplace culture.
7 of the most unique corporate team building activities to try
1. The office quiz format
Trivia quizzes are fine as a team building exercise, but to make them last long in the memory for UK participants, choose one that takes its inspiration from a beloved UK TV show like The Chase, Pointless, Would I Lie to You?, or Catchphrase.
This will encourage people to collaborate and compete in a friendly way, with plenty of laughs thrown in for good measure – and because the formats are familiar from TV, you are likely to get immediate participant buy-in.
2. The classic sitcom
TV-themed team building activities offer a fun twist on traditional corporate events by recreating the excitement of popular television shows.
Inspired by classic TV shows, cooking shows, or even business-themed TV challenges like The Apprentice or Dragon’s Den, these formats help participants feel comfortable from the get-go and encourage teamwork, problem-solving, and plenty of laughter.
3. Modified icebreakers
Icebreakers have been a fixture of team building exercises for years, but they often create an uncomfortable ‘forced fun’ feel.
A modified icebreaker can make invitees feel more at ease and is ideal if you have attendees who want to take part remotely as well as in person, encouraging meaningful conversations and interactions rather than simply serving as a box-ticking exercise.
4. A unique LEGO experience
LEGO is familiar to many people from childhood, and team building events featuring LEGO blocks are a great way of bringing colleagues together and getting them to think both creatively and collaboratively.
Whether it’s building a tower or bridge, a guessing game, a puzzle, or a more technical exercise or challenge featuring LEGO bricks, a brick-based event is a unique way of bringing colleagues together.
5. External corporate team building experiences
External facilitators bring new ideas, expert delivery, and an impartial perspective, and they are often the only option if you want to host a large event that features a setup that requires professional experience and know-how to bring to life.
By going with an external provider, you can host sprawling immersive game show experiences inspired by shows like The Cube, Taskmaster, Family Fortunes or The Generation Game.
6. A fun cooking class
By working together to prepare a delicious meal, members can learn new culinary skills in a relaxed, hands-on event.
A food-focused event calls on a team’s communication and creativity, and once the dishes are prepared, the food offers a great focal point around which participants can come together for the debrief.
7. An evening of escape rooms
What’s more fun than an escape room? A series of escape rooms – that’s what.
A collection of rooms provides a unique experience as they can be daisy-chained together to introduce a sense of progress and momentum to proceedings.
Don’t just call your team building unique. Ensure that it actually is
It’s easy to pay lip service to unique corporate team building, but ensuring the events and activities are truly one-of-a-kind can be challenging.
Before you plan a team building event, you need to know what you want to achieve and, just as importantly, what will resonate with the individuals you expect to participate.
A unique event is one that is laser-focused on your goals and the needs of attendees, with activities and exercises tailored to them.
Conclusion
When it comes to team building exercises, your options nowadays are only limited by your imagination.
But remember to avoid the easy option and go for something unique.
The lessons learnt from a unique event live long in the memory and feed into team morale and relationships once everyone has returned to the office.
Contact us to learn more about corporate team building activities, and how to make the right choice on the best possible activity for your team.