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Team Building & Retreats tips
Published on
June 18, 2025
21 Best Team-Building Activities to Boost Morale in 2025
A highly engaged workforce can increase profitability by 23%, as stated by Gallup in a recent study. When team members establish meaningful workplace relationships, 29% are more likely to stay with their company for the next year, and 43% intend to remain with their current employer for their entire career.
These stats don't lie: improved collaboration and job satisfaction are linked to structured team-building activities that boost morale and strengthen team bonds. Yet despite this overwhelming evidence, many companies still struggle to keep employees motivated, which costs companies up to $438 billion annually in lost productivity, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025.
In 2025, it's likely your team members aren’t just going through the motions but are actively disengaging. Remote work and a high-pressure environment have created invisible barriers between team members, while office politics have replaced genuine team bonding. That “fun office activity” or quick team lunch you organized last quarter? It barely scratched the surface of what your people need to strengthen relationships and improve morale.
At TeamOut, with our experience in organizing over 1,000 corporate events, we know that effective team building lies in intentional activities that address the real psychological needs driving human connection, motivation, and well-being in your workplace. The right team-building games and fun virtual exercises can enhance teamwork and help employees feel appreciated.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll discover 21 research-backed team-building activities to boost morale and strengthen bonds across your entire team. You’ll get complete implementation frameworks, group size advice, and materials required. Whether you’re managing a team of 5 or coordinating team-building events for 500+ employees, you’ll walk away with everything you need to strengthen morale and create lasting cultural change in your organization.
Why Team Building Works for Your Organization: The Science Behind Workplace Connection
Let me share something that might surprise you: the most successful team-building initiatives aren't the ones with the biggest budgets or fanciest venues. They're the ones that understand the neuroscience of human connection—something you can leverage regardless of your budget.
According to the New Science of Team Building by the Global Institute of Organizational Coaching, when you build strong social connections in your teams, you're more likely to achieve high performance. Furthermore, patterns of communication were found to be the most important predictor of a team’s success. When your team members feel genuinely connected to their colleagues, their brains release oxytocin—the same hormone associated with trust and bonding.
The Business Case That Matters to Your Leadership
When you create highly engaged teams, you'll see 23% higher profitability, 18% higher productivity, and 12% better customer metrics, according to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report. But here's what you might be missing: engagement isn't just about satisfaction surveys or ping-pong tables in your break room.
True engagement happens when your people feel:
Psychologically safe to share ideas and take risks with you
Genuinely connected to their teammates as humans, not just colleagues
Aligned with a purpose beyond individual tasks
Valued for their unique contributions to your team's success
When you implement team-building activities correctly, you create the conditions for all four of these elements to flourish in your workplace. The key is moving beyond surface-level activities to experiences that build genuine trust and understanding among your team members.
What Makes Your Team Building Effective vs. Ineffective
After facilitating hundreds of team-building activities to boost morale, we've identified the key factors that separate truly morale-boosting experiences from time-wasting exercises. Here's what you must consider to boost employee morale and keep your entire team engaged:
Your team building will be effective when you:
Use team-building activities that address real workplace challenges and team dynamics, helping team members learn and strengthen workplace relationships.
Create opportunities for personal sharing among group members, so employees feel connected and valued.
Include reflection and application planning, ensuring team-building exercises translate into improved communication skills and professional development.
Build on psychological safety principles, so every team member feels safe to participate in fun team-building games and activities to boost morale. According to Forbes, harnessing the power of psychological safety leads to a 76% enhanced engagement.
Connect activities to your broader organizational goals, ensuring that employee engagement and team morale align with company values.
Your team building will be ineffective when you:
Make activities feel forced or artificial, causing teams to disengage rather than motivate employees.
Ignore actual team tensions or challenges, missing the chance for activities like office trivia, board games, or creative-thinking exercises that encourage teamwork and improve morale.
Lack of follow-up or integration with daily work, so team-building games don’t have a lasting impact on employee morale or well-being.
Focus on competition rather than collaboration, which can undermine your efforts to engage employees and strengthen workplace relationships.
Treat symptoms rather than root causes, so morale boosting efforts don’t address what employees feel or need to stay motivated.
The activities in this guide are specifically designed around these effectiveness principles, ensuring your investment of time and resources creates a lasting impact for your team.
Small Group Activities: Building Deep Connections in Your Team (5-10 People)
Small group activities excel at creating intimate environments where your team members can form deeper connections and practice essential collaboration skills. These exercises work particularly well for departments, project teams, or leadership groups that need to strengthen their working relationships.
1. The Marshmallow Challenge
The Marshmallow Challenge is a team-building activity where groups work together to construct the tallest freestanding tower using only marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. It's an excellent indoor team-bonding exercise that successfully boosts morale and team cohesion.
Step-by-Step:
Divide your group into teams of 4 people maximum
Give each team identical materials
Present the challenge: Build the tallest freestanding structure with the marshmallow on top
Set your timer for 18 minutes
Measure all structures and declare a winner
Lead a debrief discussion: Ask your teams about collaboration strategies, leadership emergence, and problem-solving approaches
Group Size: 4-6 participants Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: 20 sticks of spaghetti, 1 marshmallow, 1 yard of string, 1 yard of tape per team
What Your Team Will Gain: Participants will learn to combine individual strengths toward common objectives while practicing prototyping and iterative thinking. These skills are directly applicable to your workplace projects.
2. Whodunit Personal Discovery
In this team-building activity, each participant writes about a personal experience on a piece of paper, anonymously. The mediator will read all the papers, one by one, and employees must guess which story belongs to whom.
Step-by-Step:
Have each person write one interesting personal experience they've had
Ask them to fold papers and place them in your container
Take turns drawing papers and reading aloud
Have your group guess which colleague matches each experience
Reveal answers, allow brief storytelling, and discuss what surprised your people about their colleagues
Group Size: 5-10 participants Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: Paper, pens, a container for collecting responses
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity humanizes your coworkers beyond professional roles, reveals shared interests, and creates conversation starters for future interactions in your workplace.
TeamOut Advice: If your people struggle with "interesting" experiences, provide prompts like "a place you've traveled," "a skill you have outside work," or "something you're proud of accomplishing."
3. Collaborative Problem-Solving: The Egg Drop Challenge
The Egg Drop Challenge is a crowd-pleaser designed to boost employee morale. Teams must work together to protect an egg and proceed to drop it from a 6-foot height. This exercise encourages teamwork and is a fun way to discover leadership skills within the team.
Step-by-Step:
Present the challenge to your teams
Provide identical materials to each team
Allow 20 minutes for design and construction
Test all structures simultaneously
Examine successful and failed designs with your group
Lead a debrief on decision-making processes, role distribution, and creative problem-solving approaches
Group Size: 5-8 participants Duration: 30-45 minutes Materials Required: Raw eggs, various building materials (straws, tape, cotton balls, newspaper, balloons)
What Your Team Will Gain: Your participants will practice collaborative decision-making under pressure while learning to leverage diverse perspectives and skills within your group.
4. Frostbite Survival Simulation
Frostbite is a team-building exercise where team members must collaborate to survive an arctic scenario, boosting employee morale and communication skills. This morale-boosting challenge encourages employees to trust each other and improve team dynamics.
Step-by-Step:
Set the scenario: Your team is stranded in the Arctic and must build a shelter
Have your team elect a leader who will guide them
Blindfold all team members except the leader
The leader cannot touch materials due to "frostbite" but must give verbal instructions
Your blindfolded team members must build the shelter using only verbal guidance
Debrief on communication clarity and leadership under constraints
Group Size: 5-6 participants Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: Various building materials, blindfolds
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity teaches supervisory abilities, instruction-taking skills, and the importance of clear communication.
Medium Group Activities: Enhancing Collaboration Across Your Organization (8-20 People)
Medium-sized group activities allow for more complex dynamics while maintaining manageable interaction levels. These exercises work well for your cross-departmental teams or larger project groups seeking to improve communication and trust.
5. Human Knot Challenge
The Human Knot is a fun team-building game where team members untangle themselves without letting go, encouraging teamwork and creative thinking. This activity is a fun way to boost morale and strengthen workplace relationships.
Step-by-Step:
Have your group stand in a circle
Ask each person to reach across and grab the right hand of someone opposite them
Then have them grab the left hand of a different person (not adjacent to them)
Challenge your group to untangle the knot without releasing hands
Encourage communication and careful coordination
Celebrate when your team forms a perfect circle
Group Size: 8-16 participants Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: None
What Your Team Will Gain: This physical activity builds collaboration through communication and careful instruction while creating a memorable shared achievement for your group.
6. Office Scavenger Hunt
An Office Scavenger Hunt is a classic team-building activity where employees work in teams to find hidden items, boosting employee engagement and team morale. Scavenger hunts encourage collaboration and get the entire office moving.
Step-by-Step:
Create a list of hidden facts and questions about your office or company
Divide your group into teams
Have teams search for answers around your workplace
Include both physical items and company knowledge questions
Set a time limit and reconvene to share findings
Discuss what your teams learned about your workplace
Group Size: 8-16 participants Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: Pre-prepared list of items/facts to find
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity helps your seasoned and new workers explore your company together while building familiarity with your work environment and company culture.
7. Silent Birthday Lineup
Team members arrange themselves by birthday without speaking, using only non-verbal communication. This game encourages collaboration, creative thinking, and helps improve morale in a fun way.
Step-by-Step:
Have your team stand side-by-side in a line
Challenge them to rearrange themselves by birthday (month and day) without speaking
Your team must use only signs, symbols, and non-verbal communication
Time the activity and celebrate successful completion
Debrief on non-verbal communication strategies your team developed
Group Size: 8-15 participants Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: None
What Your Team Will Gain: This exercise reveals how well your teammates can coordinate on non-verbal tasks and adapt to communication constraints.
8. Perfect Square Challenge
Blindfolded team members must form a perfect square using only verbal instructions, building activities to boost trust and communication skills. This team-building activity encourages employees to coordinate and boosts morale.
Step-by-Step:
Have your team form a circle around the rope while blindfolded
Challenge them to form a perfect square using only verbal instructions
Allow multiple attempts if needed
Remove the blindfolds to see the result
Discuss communication strategies and coordination challenges
Group Size: 6-12 participants Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: Long rope, blindfolds
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity provides practice on effective interaction among your partners when traditional communication methods are restricted.
9. Gutterball Collaboration Challenge
Each team member uses a “gutter” to move a ball across the room without stopping, navigating obstacles together. This fun team-building game encourages collaboration, quick adaptation, and boosts employee morale.
Step-by-Step:
Give each team member a half-pipe "gutter"
Challenge your team to move a ball from one end of the room to another
The ball cannot touch the ground and cannot stop moving
Add obstacles throughout the course
Debrief on teamwork, coordination, and adaptation strategies
Group Size: 8-20 participants Duration: 30-60 minutes Materials Required: PVC pipes or pool noodles cut in half, a small ball
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity builds collaboration skills while requiring your team to adapt strategies and work together to overcome unexpected barriers.
Large Group Activities: Uniting Your Entire Organization (20+ People)
Large group activities excel at bringing together diverse departments or your entire organization, creating shared experiences that transcend traditional workplace hierarchies and departmental boundaries.
10. What Do We Have in Common?
Small groups of team members share and discover 5–10 things in common, going beyond work topics. This activity encourages employees to connect, improving team morale and strengthening workplace relationships.
Step-by-Step:
Divide your large group into smaller units of 6-8 people
Challenge each unit to find 5-10 things they share in common
Allow 20 minutes for discovery and discussion
Have each group share their most interesting commonalities
Discuss how these connections can strengthen your workplace relationships
Group Size: 20-50 participants Duration: 40-60 minutes Materials Required: Paper, pens, a timer
What Your Team Will Gain: This exercise encourages interactions between your departments that rarely interact, helping improve relations across your entire organization through shared experiences and interests.
11. Murder Mystery Team Challenge
Employees work together to solve a fictional crime, boosting employee engagement and creative thinking. This morale-boosting activity is an excellent way to encourage teamwork.
Step-by-Step:
Assign characters and distribute background information to your participants
Present the mystery scenario to your entire group
Have your teams work together to examine clues
Encourage collaboration to uncover the story behind the crime
Allow teams to present their solutions
Group Size: 8-50 participants Duration: 45-60 minutes Materials Required: Pre-designed mystery scenario, clues, character assignments
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity encourages creative problem-solving as your players must piece together information, share insights, and make deductions as a group.
12. Memory Wall Creation
Team members share positive memories on a wall or board, celebrating group achievements. This team-building activity boosts employee morale and creates a positive work environment.
Step-by-Step:
Provide sticky notes and markers to your team
Ask your group to write down special moments, accomplishments, or shared experiences from your workplace
Have everyone post their memories on the wall space
Allow time for your team to read and discuss the memories
Group Size: 8-20 participants Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: Large whiteboard or wall space, sticky notes, markers
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity encourages your team to document significant events and appreciate your growth while identifying key factors that have shaped your team's identity and success.
Creative Innovation Challenges for Your Team
Creative challenges foster innovation and strategic thinking while requiring your teams to collaborate under certain constraints. These activities particularly excel at revealing individual strengths and encouraging problem-solving approaches in your workplace.
13. Paper Tower Innovation Challenge
Groups compete to build the tallest paper tower, encouraging creative thinking and teamwork. This fun office game is a great way to boost morale and motivate employees.
Step-by-Step:
Give each of your teams an equal number of sheets and tape
Challenge them to build the tallest freestanding paper tower
Set limitations on materials to require strategic decisions from your teams
Allow 20 minutes for construction
Measure all towers and celebrate creative approaches
Group Size: 4-8 participants per team Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: Paper sheets, tape (limited quantity per team)
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity encourages creativity and teamwork while promoting improvisation as your teams adjust their plans throughout the process.
14. Build a Boat Team Challenge
In this activity, teams use everyday materials to build and float a boat, promoting collaboration and problem-solving. This challenge boosts morale and helps improve communication skills and team engagement.
Step-by-Step:
Provide limited materials to each of your teams
Challenge them to design and build a boat that can hold one team member
Set a time limit for construction
Test boats in water (pool, lake, or large container)
Celebrate successful designs and creative problem-solving
Group Size: 5-10 participants per team Duration: 45-60 minutes Materials Required: Cardboard, tape, plastic sheets, and other waterproof materials
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity fosters teamwork under pressure while giving participants opportunities to understand each other's working styles and problem-solving approaches.
15. Chain Reaction Engineering Challenge
Gather your crew and create a Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction with everyday objects, celebrating creativity and teamwork. This team-building game enhances collaboration and boosts employee morale.
Step-by-Step:
Provide your teams with everyday objects
Challenge them to create a complex chain reaction machine (Rube Goldberg style)
The goal is to make one action trigger the next, leading to a final event
Allow time for planning, building, and testing
Have each team demonstrate its chain reaction
Group Size: 6-12 participants per team Duration: 45-60 minutes Materials Required: Everyday objects (dominoes, books, balls, ramps, etc.)
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity fosters innovation, teamwork, and improvisation as your teams adjust their designs to ensure the entire chain works perfectly.
16. Collaborative Mural Project
The entire team contributes to a mural that represents company values, strengthening workplace relationships. This activity encourages employees to express themselves and boosts team morale.
Step-by-Step:
Provide your team with a large canvas and art supplies
Create a mural reflecting your team's values or goals
Ensure each team member contributes to the final piece
Allow time for your team to step back and discuss their creation
Display the finished mural in your workspace
Group Size: 6-10 participants per team Duration: 60 minutes
Materials Required: Large canvas or poster board, various art supplies (paints, markers, colored pencils, magazines for collage)
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity allows your teams to explore each other's creative sides while practicing improvisation as they adapt their mural design through collaborative input.
Strategic Problem-Solving Activities for Your Workplace
Problem-solving activities challenge your teams to think critically and work together to overcome complex obstacles. These exercises develop analytical thinking while strengthening collaborative decision-making processes in your organization.
17. Bridge Building Challenge
In this challenge, teams design and build a bridge with limited materials, testing its strength together. This team-building exercise enhances teamwork and develops communication skills.
Step-by-Step:
Divide your group into two teams
Challenge each team to construct half of a bridge using their materials
The two halves must connect in the middle to form a complete bridge
Add the constraint that groups cannot speak during construction
Test the bridge's stability
Debrief on non-verbal communication and coordination
Group Size: Two teams of 8-16 participants each Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials Required: Random building materials (straws, tape, paper, cardboard)
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity builds trust and improves collaboration while developing creativity and team bonding as your participants adapt to unexpected challenges.
18. Puzzle Exchange Challenge
In the Puzzle Exchange Challenge, teams exchange puzzle pieces with others to complete their puzzles first, encouraging collaboration and negotiation. This fun office game boosts morale and strengthens team dynamics.
Step-by-Step:
Give each of your teams a puzzle to solve
Allow initial solving time (15 minutes)
Exchange part of each team's puzzle with another team
Teams collaborate and share information to complete their new, combined puzzle
Discuss collaboration strategies and information-sharing approaches
Group Size: 4-8 participants per team Duration: 30-45 minutes Materials Required: Different puzzles for each team
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity promotes creative problem-solving and resource-sharing while building trust and communication as your participants adapt to unexpected challenges.
19. Innovators' Auction Challenge
Groups invent products and pitch them in a fun auction, practicing communication skills and creative thinking. This morale-boosting activity encourages leadership skills and employee engagement.
Step-by-Step:
Give each of your teams an equal number of tokens
Auction off various materials that teams can use for an invention
Have your teams strategize on bidding for the best materials within their budget
After the auction, challenge teams to invent a new product or solution
Allow time for the creation and presentation of inventions
Group Size: 5-8 participants per team Duration: 30-40 minutes Materials Required: Play money/tokens, materials for auction, a timer
What Your Team Will Gain: This challenge helps your teams understand each other's strengths and strategic thinking abilities through successful improvisation during the auction and creation process.
20. Supply Chain Challenge
In this game, team members simulate a supply chain, managing resources to deliver products efficiently. This team-building exercise boosts morale, encourages teamwork, and helps employees work together under pressure.
Step-by-Step:
Create an obstacle course in your space
Teams create a mock supply chain using limited resources
Team members must transport goods (balls or small objects) through the course without touching the items directly
Add time pressure and obstacles to increase difficulty
Debrief on coordination, logistics, and problem-solving approaches
Group Size: 8-12 participants per team Duration: 45 minutes Materials Required: Small objects to transport, obstacles, various tools
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity tests coordination skills and requires improvisation to overcome unexpected challenges while providing insights into each other's logistics and problem-solving abilities.
21. Escape Room Design Challenge
Divide into groups and design and solve each other’s escape rooms, focusing on creative problem-solving and collaboration. This team-building game boosts employee engagement and team morale.
Step-by-Step:
Challenge your teams to design and create an escape room experience for other teams
Provide materials and allow planning time
Have teams build their escape rooms in separate spaces
Teams then attempt to solve each other's escape rooms
Debrief on creative problem-solving, collaboration, and user experience design
Group Size: 6-10 participants per team Duration: 60-90 minutes Materials Required: Various props, locks, puzzles, clues
What Your Team Will Gain: This activity develops strategic thinking, creativity, and collaboration while allowing your teams to experience both sides of problem-solving: facing challenges and overcoming them.
Transforming Your Workplace Culture Through Strategic Team Building
These 21 activities consist of a comprehensive team-building program that will transform your workplace culture. They are designed to address the real psychological and social needs of your team members, driving engagement, productivity, and retention in your organization.
Remember, the most successful team-building initiatives share three characteristics: they address real workplace challenges, they create opportunities for authentic connection, and they include systematic follow-up to ensure insights translate into behavior change.
Your next step is simple: choose one activity that addresses your team's most pressing need and schedule it within the next two weeks. Don't wait for the perfect moment or the ideal budget. Start building the connections your team needs to thrive.
At TeamOut, we've seen hundreds of companies transform their cultures through strategic team building. With a track record of organizing over 1,000 corporate events and a satisfaction rate of 95%, we can guarantee that professional facilitation accelerates results and ensures maximum impact from your investment.
If you're ready to take your team building to the next level and boost morale, our expert facilitators can help you design and implement a program tailored to your needs and challenges. We'll work with you to select the right activities, train your internal facilitators, and measure the impact on your business outcomes.
Ready to transform your workplace culture?Contact TeamOut today to discuss how we can help you. Because when your people feel genuinely connected to each other, everything else—productivity, innovation, retention, and results—follows naturally.
Thomas Mazimann, a French entrepreneur and former international kayaking athlete, transitioned from sports to tech after moving to the U.S. He co-founded TeamOut, revolutionizing team gatherings.
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