Team building has moved on from simply booking an activity and hoping everyone enjoys it. The useful question is: what does the team need from the day? Sometimes the answer is straightforward — a social reset. Sometimes it is communication, graduate onboarding, collaboration, leadership development or getting a newly formed team working together faster.
Start with the outcome, not the activity
Before choosing a format, decide what success should look like. Event Square programmes generally fall into a few broad outcomes: team bonding, communication, collaborative decision-making, strategic thinking, leadership development, graduate onboarding and simply giving people a memorable shared experience.
Team building formats that work well
Social and accessible
For groups that mainly need to reconnect, simple formats often work best. Old School Sports Day, city treasure hunts and light competitive challenges are easy to understand and keep the focus on people rather than technology.
Problem-solving and collaboration
Programmes such as Big Picture, Bushmaster and structured team challenges are useful when the brief includes planning, communication, decision-making or team dynamics.
Graduate onboarding
Graduate cohorts often need a different balance: quick rapport, confidence, cross-team relationships and an introduction to how the organisation wants people to work together. Our Graduate Grow and Belbin Graduate Experience are built around that need.
Leadership and team development
When the objective is development rather than entertainment, the activity should create useful behaviour to discuss afterwards. The debrief matters as much as the challenge itself. Our leadership and experiential learning work can be designed around communication, conflict, strategic thinking, decision-making under pressure and team roles.
How long should a team-building event be?
There is no single answer. A focused 60–90 minute session can work well inside a conference. A half day gives enough time for a more substantial challenge and debrief. A full day is useful when team development is the main purpose of the programme.
Indoor or outdoor?
Both work. Outdoor programmes create more movement and change of environment. Indoor formats are useful for winter events, conferences and evening programmes. For Irish events it is sensible to have a weather plan rather than treating weather as an afterthought.
What to tell your team-building supplier
- Group size and age profile.
- Date and location.
- Available time.
- Whether the event is mainly social or developmental.
- Any accessibility or mobility considerations.
- What has worked — or failed — with the team before.
- Your approximate budget.
Planning a team event in Ireland?
Event Square delivers corporate team building, team development and entertainment throughout Ireland. Tell us what you need the day to achieve and we’ll recommend the formats that actually fit the brief.
