5 Outdoor Activities for Employee Bonding

You spend a lot of time in the office with your team, and over the months and years you work together, everyone gets to know each other well. As a company, you reach new professional goals, celebrate the life milestones of coworkers, and tackle new challenges as a team. It’s possible to make even stronger bonds by integrating outdoor activities into your work schedule. Getting outside of the office to focus on a cause beyond the cubicles can bring out new strengths in your staff members and revitalize their dedication to your company. Check out these five great outdoor activities that can nurture employee bonding.

1. Represent Your Company at Local Fairs

Represent your company in the community by renting space at a local fair. Volunteer to help supervise games or simply promote your business's services or products in the area. Not only will you make real connections, but you can also give out promotional items that will help people recall your company’s name long after the event has passed.

These items, such as pens, notepads, and water bottles are highly useful and change hands often. They also can serve as a form of business card when you take the extra step to print your company name and logo on them. Keep the selection of items fun and useful for maximum impact.

2. Volunteer in Your Community

Appear as a team in custom business shirts to represent your company as you do community outreach. Volunteer to do a wide range of services your community and neighbors need such as roadside trash pickup, volunteer hours at a food bank, and more. As you do good works in your town or city, people will notice that you’re more than just a business, you’re also part of the community. Serving in a capacity beyond making money helps your employees bond in a deeper way than the nine to five routine. Look online to find out what are the biggest needs in your area. Check with your employees to see who would be on board to lend a hand and create an outreach team.

3. Participate in Team-Building Events

When the weather is warm and pleasant, take your employees out for a day of team-building fun. Whether you make it a day retreat at a team-building center or hire a company to run the in-house activities for you, a team-building retreat makes a delightful break from the norm. Set up scenarios in which your employees can solve problems or complete obstacle courses, using different skills than they would typically do in the office.

For example, you might find that your IT guy also has a sense of adventure when he becomes the first to go down a zipline course. Because these can be extremely active events, be sure to keep everyone in your team dressed lightly in casual wear like a women’s or men’s short sleeve active polo shirt or other types of comfortable custom clothing.

4. Host an Outdoor Luncheon

Even if there isn’t a lot of free time to host extra outdoor events during the week or weekend, you can still find time during the workday to change the pace. Use lunch hour to schedule a special outdoor luncheon on a pleasant day. Treat your employees to catering from a favorite restaurant and take some extra care to decorate the event with rented tablecloths and other relevant decorations. You can also make this event do double-duty as a time to celebrate a birthday, work anniversary, retirement, or the outstanding achievement of an employee.

5. Organize a Scavenger Hunt

Put a little friendly competition into your employee’s lives with a company-themed scavenger hunt and watch the fun begin! Organize a company-themed scavenger hunt. The theme for your scavenger hunt can be company-related or something fun based on a holiday or special occasion. Include some swag like custom company mugs in the hunt that people can keep after they find them. A scavenger hunt is an inviting break to the workday and helps everyone connect through a competitive outdoor activity. Scavenger hunts can also be team activities. To switch things up, have people from different departments work together and get to know people better.

These five examples of outdoor activities are sure to bring your employees together by changing the pace of a regular workday. Try one to help boost morale and camaraderie.