5 Work Social Event Ideas For Your Team

Thinking of work social event ideas can be challenging but corporate team-building events and social workdays out are an essential part of any company’s overall health. Taking a break from the office and getting your employees to interact with each other in a relaxed and fun environment is vital for employee engagement and productivity. A highly engaged team shows 21% greater profitability, so having a great employee engagement strategy is vital for your businesses success.

Here are our 5 work social events ideas for you team:

1) Cooking Class

Keep your taste buds happy with a team-building cooking class. Try a relaxed demonstration-style class and enjoy some funny moments and delicious food.

For our Cantabrians, Riverside Kitchen in the city centre is our recommendation!

2) Work Nature or Sports Day

Boost your team spirit by getting active and encouraging teamwork with a social work sports day! These are fantastic team-building events that enhance healthy competition. If you work in a traditional office, then your employees will spend the most part of their day sat at a desk in front of an office, so getting outside for the day will be an exciting thought for the whole office, even if they don’t like playing sports!

Go to your local park and play 5 a-side football or enter your team in a charity fun run. You could also just get in touch with nature on day walks, surf lessons, kayaking or stand up paddleboarding.

If you are in Christchurch the Godley Head Loop Track is an easy trail with amazing views!

3) Board Game Tournament

Fun, creative and challenging. One of our favourite work social events is an epic board game tournament. Everyone in the office will have a board game that they love, whether it’s a childhood classic such as Connect 4 or a modern twist with Monopoly Deal.

Ask each employee to bring in their game of choice and set up board game stations. Each department can participate, and you can even team up and make it a competition or even just play it together on a Friday afternoon. This is a great way to stimulate employees’ brains, encourage light competitiveness and get the whole team together!

4) Escape Rooms

A phenomenon that has only been around for the past few years but escape rooms have hurtled into the team-building limelight due to its creativity and mind-bending riddles. Probably one of our very best work social event ideas due to the variations available.

The aim of the game is to escape a themed room through solving riddles and challenges within a set time. You have to work together as a team and this social work event idea encourages creative thinking, co-worker relationships and time management.

Codebreakers in Christchurch have an amazing setup and staff. The EQ team recently went and had a blast escaping out of "the Lost Hut of Antarctica".

5) Office Bake-Off

Another favourite on our list of work social event ideas. Take some inspiration whether it's celebrating a birthday or supporting a charity. Get each member of staff to whip up a tasty treat and bring it into the office. Have a dedicated food table where each employee can place their delicious dish and enjoy some laughs.

Try to plan beforehand so you have a range of sweet and savoury treats available. If you want this to be an out-of-office event, then going to a park or open public field is always a great idea and you can tun the event into a picnic with games and bubbly.

Work social events are vital for employee satisfaction and will massively benefit your company. Your staff work hard for your business and they should be rewarded for this. Employees need to feel as if their hard work is appreciated, or else they will start to look elsewhere or there will be a negative vibe in the office.