Reinvigorate Your Workplace with These Corporate Team Activities

We totally get it, corporate life can often feel like a whirlwind, leaving little room for genuine connections and support within the workplace. But fear not, because we've got just the solution for you—team building activities! We understand that creating a strong team environment in a corporate setting in 2024 isn't always a walk in the park, especially with the increasing trend of hybrid working. And many people cringe at the thought of ice-breakers employee team-building exercises. Gone are the days of expensive weekend retreats and orienteering adventures in far-flung places just to feel "more connected" with your colleagues. We believe in keeping things simple, engaging, and most importantly, fun!

If this all sounds a little too familiar, don't worry—we've assembled a list of relaxed corporate event ideas and team building ideas for your next work outing. From cooking classes to paint and sip, we're here to help ensure your employees unwind from the office stress while also growing closer as a "work family". There’s no “i” in team, but there is one in “Good idea, let’s all do that!”

Corporate entertainment that will keep bellies full and spirits high

Nearly everyone has memories of learning to cook with a loved one, standing out by the BBQ on Christmas while the sausages sizzle or going over to a grandparent’s house for them to feed you until you burst. One way or another, food means something different to everyone, but it all holds a special place in our hearts and stomachs. Bringing people together through cooking is a surefire way to strengthen relationships within your team, and for your colleagues to learn more about each other. Nothing brings people together like food, and a casual cooking class is both a safe bet and a unique office bonding exercise. 

Pizza-making is one of our most popular team building activities that’s suitable for a company-wide event. Although distinctly Italian, pizza is universal and ridiculously fun to make. Learn the techniques for creating a primo dough, topping it off with fresh ingredients, and then savouring the fruits of your labour all with a drop of vino and some quality company. Most of our classes cater to all dietary requirements and private bookings ensure your team gets the attention they need.

If pizza-making isn’t adventurous enough and the office needs a challenge, fret not, we’ve got you adventure-seekers covered. Ramen expert Yoshiko Takeuchi will run your team through the intricacies of creating the perfect bowl of noodles that doubles as a superfood. Takeuchi’s classes are vegan-friendly (with the exception of her advanced cooking class), and if ramen is diving too far into the deep end, she also teaches a Japanese Cooking Class for Beginners that covers the classics. Think tantalizing teriyaki, warming miso soup, and of course, how to nail the perfect bowl of rice. With classes like this, you’ll have your workplace finding their ikigai in no time.

With all these savoury options, it would be remiss of us not to include something for all the chocolate lovers out there. Discover the history of chocolate, the process of making it, and the subsequent and excessive consumption of it with our Chocolate Truffle Workshops! A trained chocolatier (think Willy Wonka) will take you through the magical world of chocolate creation and put you to work on making your own selection of delectable truffles. Not only is the class BYO, but it can also come to you! Nothing unites a group of people like a spontaneous trip to a chocolate factory. But this is a company event (we are talking about team building activities after all) so I’m afraid you’ll have to leave your Grandpa Joe at home.

A sure-fire winner for an end of year company event

The ol’ Paint and Sip class has become a classic group outing in the last decade, especially for those seeking out fun team building activities, and for good reason. Nothing combines artistic laissez-faire and a sense of accomplishment like learning to paint while knocking back a few wines with the work gang. Get your creative juices flowing as you and your team learn the finer aspects of painting all while swirling a glass of your favourite red. With classes all over Sydney that cater to beginners who’ve never picked up a brush, through to freeform expressionism that lets your artistic mind run rampant, we have a range of paint and sip options for your corporate team. Perfect as a unifying replacement to the standard Friday night drinks, or a cultured pre-drinks situation before the staff continues the evening, debating over whose brushstrokes were worthy of buying the next round. 

Cocktail making is a long and honourable tradition, and although most people enjoy the finished product, few learn the skills necessary to become a true mixologist. With our selection of cocktail making courses, your entire team can learn the ins and outs of perfecting their favourite cocktails, all while reaping the rewards of their collective efforts. Mobile cocktail making classes can even come directly to you! Events on Fire runs a mobile cocktail class that caters for 15-500 people, and can come straight to your office! Each participant will create two cocktails so you can give the company exactly what it needs to relax with a drink. Want to combine the best of both worlds? Our Cocktail and Dumpling Making class in Potts Point is perfect for beginners of either discipline who want to establish bragging rights on their ability to multitask.

Need craftier ideas for company team building activities?

Need to make the office greener but don’t know where to start? Get the team together and organise one of our DIY Terrarium Making workshops. Perfect for group bookings, building a terrarium is a great way to unwind and shake off the office blues with your colleagues. Terrarium making has a real meditative aspect to it and is proven to reduce stress and lower blood pressure, whilst also sharpening mental focus. Each terrarium is unique to the individual, making it ideal for teams to create together while also being able to add their own unique style and flair to their creations. Many of our DIY Terrarium workshops are situated out at Bondi, so reinvigorate the team with some fresh coastal air and some plant-based group meditation.  

Got some office mud-slinging? Nip it in the bud with some office clay-throwing! Nothing is more synonymous with pottery than wheel-throwing (you know that scene from Ghost?) and with our Intro to Pottery Wheel Throwing there’ll be no more debates on who used which coffee mug in the office. This gets messy, however, and it’s probably best to let everyone know in advance so they don’t ruin their best set of brogues. Everything made gets to be kept, and the pottery workshop will throw it in the kiln and glaze it for you, included in the cost of the class. With a team exercise like this, the only thing getting fired will be the clay you all bonded over.  

Team building activities to unwind, destress and get remotivated?

It is easy to get into the “all work and no play” mode while at the office, but sometimes we need to take a step back and take care of our own mental health and wellbeing. Research shows that spending time doing creative activities can do wonders for the mental health of your team, so show your crew that you care and plan a creative experience for your next corporate team-building event! 

Indulge in something different at our Mandala art class for beginners, available for up to 200 guests. In this calming class, you’ll practice the art of drawing Mandalas which allows you to slow down and be in the moment as you let your hand flow over the page. Looking for something else? Try out a Beginner's Kintsugi Workshop, which is the art of mending broken pottery with gold! This 15th-century Japanese art form celebrates imperfection, revealing how many of the objects we consider to be “broken” actually hold their own unique form of beauty, if only we allow them to. Explore this cultural art form with your team and they’ll walk away with their own Japanese-style creation. As far as team building activities go, it doesn’t get more unique than this!