Team building on a budget

Building team spirit doesn’t have to put a hole in your HR budget. By choosing ideas that are clever, rather than expensive, you can cost-effectively improve communication, trust and collaboration within your work culture.

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Further down we’ll give you a list of ideas, but first let’s look at why team building exercises should be a regular occurrence.  

Why bother with team building?

Team-building activities are great for opening up communication lines, so that your people can share their ideas, tips and concerns more comfortably. They’re also fantastic for building trust between employees, which goes a long way to creating a collaborative environment. And let’s not forget how much team building initiatives can lift morale.

Doing something enjoyable and meaningful together can make work more satisfying and reduce stress, leading to a more motivated and positive team. Last, but not least, team-building helps to break down barriers and promote inclusivity. When people do fun things together, they feel more comfortable with each other.

15 cost-effective team building ideas

  1. Potluck lunches: Host a potluck lunch once a month, where each team member brings a dish. This not only saves money but also gives everyone a chance to share their favourite recipes and enjoy a meal together.
  2. Outdoor picnics: Find a local park for an extended-lunchtime team picnic on a sunny day. Simple outdoor games like frisbee, dodgeball, paper-plane flying, or scavenger hunts can get everyone laughing together.
  3. Volunteering: Choose a local charity or community organisation and spend a day volunteering as a team. Possibilities include helping out at opp shops, animal shelters, food banks and tree planting programmes. This type of team building encourages camaraderie while giving back to the community.
  4. Skill-sharing workshops: Encourage team members to share unique skills or hobbies through informal workshops. As a regular event, this type of team building promotes appreciation for each other’s talents.
  5. Book & screen club: Start a book and movie club where team members talk about what they’re reading and watching. Hold meetings at lunch time, so that they can eat and chat at the same time.
  6. DIY workshops: Set up a DIY workshop where team members create something together, such as painting, baking or building. This hands-on activity can be both enjoyable and budget-friendly.
  7. Walking meetings: Replace traditional meetings with walking meetings to a local beauty spot. It’s good for fitness, plus it encourages informal discussions and effective on-the-fly problem solving.
  8. Office Olympics: Organise an Office Olympics event with fun, low-cost games such as chair races, paper toss and pencil balancing. This can add a playful element to the workday and put everyone in a good mood.
  9. Lunch and learn: Host lunch sessions where team members present on a topic of their choice. To ensure participation, it’s best to provide food and drink for the session.
  10. Themed dress-up days: Introduce themed dress-up days where employees come dressed according to a specific theme. This can be a fun, inexpensive way to bring the team together and spark conversations.
  11. Formal Fridays: The polar opposite of Casual Fridays. Everyone comes dressed to the nines. This idea can be combined with a shared lunch.
  12. Group idea generation: When your organisation or business needs new ideas for stimulating sales or solving problems, gather the whole team together for an ideation session. Begin with a presentation to explain the challenge or opportunity, and then gather capture ideas with a whiteboard.
  13. Story creation activity: As a warmup to a meeting or training workshop, begin a collaborative story where each team member contributes one sentence at a time. This activity enhances creativity and strengthens listening skills. It’s also huge fun.
  14. Scenario simulation: Conduct role-playing activities that mimic actual work situations. This method helps to identify new approaches and improve communication skills.
  15. Two truths and a lie: session: Around the work lunch table or at a restaurant, each employee shares three statements about themselves—two truths and one lie. The rest of the team then guesses which statement is the lie. This is a fun and informal way for people to reveal interesting facts about themselves and learn more about their colleagues.

Check out an employee benefits programme that everyone can share.

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