These Team Bonding Ideas Will Surprise and Delight Your Company
Justworks gave our customers money to spend on team bonding activities — and the results were surprising.
Justworks is a technology company that levels the playing field for all small businesses. Through our software and as a partner, we help our customers take care of their teams, streamline their operations, and navigate the complex aspects of managing a workforce with confidence.
If someone handed you $150 to spend on your team, what would you do with it?
Team bonding is an essential part of company success, and Justworks understands the importance of happy employees. We know that it boosts team morale and productivity, decreases sick days, and increases overall employee engagement.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the exciting activities our customers took part in. But first, here’s a little taste of some of the cards they got for inspiration.
Psst...Want to download the entire Cards for Camaraderie deck and get all 42 ideas? It’s all yours here.
Creative Team Bonding Ideas
Airboating in the Swamp
“Our team is distributed, and we bring everyone together for an intense week of working and bonding several times each year. Most recently, we got everyone together in central Florida. We wanted to do something that would be unique and memorable, so we decided to take everyone on an airboat tour through the swamps and cypress groves. It was an amazing week overall, but in a survey afterwards, everyone agreed that the airboat tour was the highlight.”
~ Jeff Adams, Cobalt Speech
Cards for Camaraderie
Need team bonding ideas? Get Cards for Camaraderie.
Rounding Out the Library
“This was great for our team to suggest books they are excited about reading and to add those books to our company library. Now team members can borrow books to enjoy during a break from work, or to read on their commute. It was a terrific opportunity to increase awareness of our office library and to get the team talking about the books that are exciting them!”
~ Malina Leslie, ROLI
Chilling in the Backyard
“The pulseData team took you up on your ‘fun budget’ offer and had an AWESOME time! The Cards for Camaraderie are terrific and were just the inspiration we needed. Our 10-person team (every. single. one of us) got together in my backyard in Brooklyn on a Friday night [...] played Codenames, grilled burgers, roasted s’mores, and had an incredible bonding experience.”
~ Jaime Haak, pulseData
Gathering at the Pub
“Our team all got together to see off Brianne, who was leaving us for the promised land (also known as Canada)! She was our very first employee ever. We decided to get back to our roots — a pub called Churchills that we frequented when we worked in NoMad. We regaled new employees with old stories and made some new stories while we were at it.”
~ Roy Yang, Giant Machines
Bowling for the First Time
“The Giant Otter team has been working hard toward some big milestones, and the [Cards for Camaraderie] budget gave us just the nudge we needed to get out of the office. We headed down the street for some bowling, beers, and pizza. It was Sarah's first time candlepin bowling. She won!”
~ Jeff Orkin, Giant Otter
Adorning the Office with Plants
“Even though Atrox is a small business, we all got together and went through each card! We wanted to play it this way, since it allowed a lot of dialogue and expression….needless to say, we discovered who were the ‘drinkers" and ‘daredevils’. [...] With all the sharing and ideas that we had bouncing around, we pulled several cards that we are planning to do in the months to come.”
~ Victoria Hellyer, Atrox Capital
Rolling Out the Drink Trolley
“We try to organize fun stuff for the team once a month, but the initial push to get started—much less come up with a good idea—is the hardest part. With Cards for Camaraderie, we voted on a fun team idea in about five minutes and had the team bonding over some (admittedly too strong) cocktails by the end of the week. I'm infamously miserly about office expenses, so the $150 of free funds towards team events didn't hurt either. Now I'm looking forward to picking our next card!”
~ Ben Kurland, BillFixers
Working at a Coffee Shop
"We absolutely loved the Cards for Camaraderie! They're such great ideas, we've already pulled out all the ones that our company will enjoy (quite a stack!), and we will be tackling it one by one. We took [Justworks'] idea of the team coffee shop work and breakfast, and everyone loved the change of scenery and had a great time!"
~ Teresa Lee, Agility
Dressing Up Together
“On a normal work day, the Ellevate Network team gains inspiration from the #FemaleRoleModels in media, history, business, and our everyday lives. On Halloween, we take it a step further! As a team, we've dressed up as Rosie the Riveter, Wonder Woman, and this year as Princess Leia.”
Hundreds More Ways to Keep Employees Happy
Looking for even more resources on employee happiness? We’ve got some blog posts for that.
Increasing Employee Happiness
Measuring Employee Satisfaction
Team Bonding Onsite and Offsite
Boosting Employee Morale
Giving Awards and Recognition
Learn more with Justworks’ Resources
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