Carlisle Sports Emporium Blog

Tips for Planning a Fun and Productive Holiday Team-Building Event

With the holidays right around the corner, what better time to bring your team together than now? Holiday team-building events that are fun and productive not only help you close the year on a positive note, but they also help to start the new year on one. How do you go about planning team-building activities that hit a home run, though?

Find out with our 10 tips for planning awesome team-building activities for the holidays:

  1. Focus on a Single GoalYour team-building event’s foundation is crucial. That’s why it’s essential to narrow your event’s purpose to a single goal. Focusing on too many leaves your event inflated and ineffective as you’re overwhelming your teams with information — and right before the holidays, too. Keep it simple and tackle one goal at a time.
  2. Hold the Event OffsiteOffsite team-building activities for workplaces are more effective than ones held at your company. When you host events onsite, participants tend to feel more like employees, which can limit them in opening their mind to new ideas. Another risk of an onsite team-building event is interruptions from the rest of the workplace, especially during the hubbub of holiday parties from other departments or floors.
  3. Ask Teams What They WantLow participation numbers can deflate any team-building activity. One way to encourage attendance is by asking people what they want to do. Come up with a few offsite team-building ideas and run them by your team. If they aren’t crazy about an idea, like creating Ugly Christmas Sweaters, ask why. Do the same for ideas that do excite them, like a holiday round of laser tag. Their answers will help you plan not only this event, but future ones, too.
  4. Choose an Appropriate ActivityA team-building event tip that coincides with talking to your team is finding an activity that’s suitable. An event at a winery or brewery, for instance, may not appeal to everyone if some participants refrain from alcohol. Planning an activity that’s more Christmas-orientated can also leave team members alienated if they celebrate another holiday, like Hanukkah. Think about your team’s age range, as well as their preferences, when brainstorming activity ideas.
  5. Create Small Team SizesJust like keeping your goal simple, you want to do the same with your team sizes. While planning team-building activities, divide your groups into six to 10 people at most — for additional fun, ask them to come up with a winter-themed team name. With these group sizes, you should have enough people for all the necessary activity roles. What’s the risk of too many in a group? It makes it easy for people to check out of the event and hit the eggnog.
  6. Provide PrizesYou don’t have to give away cars like Oprah or a total vacation package when it comes to a prize bag. Just bring some small prizes, like $25 gift cards or even some self-help books that coordinate with your team-building event’s mission. You could even give out gifts that have more of a winter feel, like hot cocoa, gloves, hats or ice scrapers. With prizes, you’ll warm team members up to following through and attending your offsite event this season.
  7. Encourage ParticipationWhile you’re coming up with offsite team-building ideas, think about how you’ll keep your teams informed, excited and reminded about your event. Create posters, send out automatic reminder emails, dress up a bulletin board or even host a meeting to keep participants involved and excited. Since it’s during the holidays, you may have some competition when it comes to announcements, so make your messages stand out from the sea of red and green.
  8. Take Photos or VideosPhotos and videos are an awesome way to remind teams about what they learned and what they accomplished. So, remember to bring a camera — or your phone — to go around and take photos and videos throughout the day to share later. You could even bring some quirky winter props like light-up holiday necklaces, reindeer headbands or carrot noses to add some more merriment. And if your team isn’t keen on posing with props, don’t sweat it.
  9. Set Post-Event GoalsBring your team-building event full circle by setting post-event goals, either before or after the holidays. Schedule some follow-up meetings for the new year to talk about the goals you set and how everyone’s now working to meet them. It’s also the perfect time for participants to ask questions or even get a refresher on the goals they began working toward before the holidays.
  10. Get FeedbackDuring your follow-up meetings, you can also get feedback on your event. Consider sending out a survey that guarantees anonymity, and then use those responses in planning your next team-building activity. Did your team enjoy an event during the holidays? Why or why not? It’s a great question to ask as you move forward. You can even ask what they’d like to see next year.

Plan Your Next Holiday Team-Building Event at the Place to Play

Want to plan an exciting team-building event this holiday season? How about one with batting cages, laser tag, go-karts and so much more? At Carlisle Sports Emporium, we not only provide team-building activities that keep participants on their toes, but we also offer dining and catering, as well as the experience that comes with hosting numerous team-building events both during and after the holidays.

Learn more about planning a corporate team event with us this season or contact us for more information!

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