According to some experts, team building is the greatest investment a business can make. However, as a small business in New York City, you most likely can’t dedicate a lot of money to this particular area of development. Luckily, you don’t have to because there are many affordable team building activities that your employees will definitely enjoy.
1. Making and eating pizza
What’s New York without pizza? Hopefully, no one will ever find out what will happen if all pizza was to suddenly disappear from NYC. Meanwhile, your team can enjoy the most pleasant of all team building activities, which is indulging in some pizzas and getting to know each other better.
Of course, to make it a true team building activity instead of just a night out, you need to add some challenge into it. In this case, the perfect choice is making the pizzas the team will later enjoy. Cooking classes are one of the most fun group activities you can find, especially when people need to work together to create their shared meal. Pizza is easy to make and your team can show off their creativity coming up with unique toppings. New York City offers a variety of pizza-making classes you can hijack for your team building night.
2. Game night
A game night is usually an experience reserved for friends, which is all the more reason to use it as a team building activity. But the game night you organize for your team should go beyond sitting at an office table and playing some basic games.
No, you need to make it into a special event, which means that you need to prepare a proper setting, refreshments, and prizes. You can use your office to cut down the costs so you’ll only need to find suitable furniture rental in NYC. Rent out the pieces that will allow you to turn your office into a comfortable lounge area because people need to enjoy themselves, so stiff-backed chairs aren’t allowed.
The type of refreshments served during your team building game night depends on your budget and the duration of the event. The games, on the other hand, should be picked very carefully. You should mix regular team-building games with board games. The former will help break the ice and get people to move and have fun. In the meantime, board games will help exercise their minds. Some of these games are great for developing and honing strategic-thinking skills.
3. Escape rooms
An escape room is not only a fantastic team building activity but also your chance to observe how well your employees perform under pressure. By breaking up your team into several smaller teams you’ll get a chance to see who of the employees falls into being a leader and how they work together in general.
There are many escape rooms in New York City, so you’ll be able to use this idea many times. But be sure to organize more of the versatile team building activities in between.
4. Art therapy
Creating art is therapy in itself and working on this with your colleagues while teasing each other and laughing makes the process even more beneficial. Much like you would with a pizza cooking class, you’ll need to find suitable premises and, possibly, an instructor.
Work together to create one piece of art and be sure to leave it in a place of pride in your office afterward. Painting is a good place to start and it can also help the more introverted of your employees come out of their shells.
5. Drama classes
Go to your local small theater and find out if they offer corporate drama classes. This type of team bonding activity presents a fantastic opportunity to help your employees grow personally and bond with their team at the same time.
This kind of drama class usually focuses on improvisation, which is a skill every person who wants to succeed in business needs to have. Improvising teaches people to think on their feet and adapt their plans quickly and with minimal losses. This class should also help your team understand each other better as they will observe their teammates and learn their strengths and weaknesses. This way, the next time one of your employees needs help, they will know exactly which of their colleagues will be most likely to succeed in dealing with that particular situation.
