Team Staycation: 5 Creative Team Building Activities
What’s better than trust falls and awkward team building activities?
Pretty much anything else! I felt like we were long over for a team retreat since our team has grown so last month, I hosted our first annual team retreat! I thought it would be a fun opportunity to get to know each other outside of the shop, think grown up version of a sleepover and with crafty themed activities, oh and of course food and snacks!
It really doesn’t seem like that long ago that I was the lone employee and worked every day by myself before slowly adding one person, to now (as of the date of this blog post publication) a team of 4 (including me). Our team feels like so much more than just employees or retail associates, these women feel like a part of the shop beyond just work. They keep the shop running day-to-day as well as ensure every single person walking through our door gets the very best experience! I firmly believe in investing in the people who invest in you, or in this case your small business. This getaway was a small way to treat them to a mini vacation!
I found a cute rental house near the shop and took this as an opportunity for some team building exercises and a much needed “get-away” for relaxing and self-care. From single word activities to paragraph scenarios and even painting, it was really great to discover similarities and cohesiveness within our individual personalities.
Top 5 creative ways to connect as a team + small business:
Team Building Activity #1: Word Clouds
Take it up a notch: Instead of using a generator online, you can design it using handlettered fonts to create an art piece for all the participants!
Team Building Activity #2: Your Best Day Ever
Team Building Activity #3: Draw-Your-Team
Team Building Activity #4: Group Abstract Painting
Team Building Activity #5: Clay Play!
Tip: Simple shapes are easy and fun - use toothpicks, skewers and any other every day tools.
These exercises (besides having fun and getting crafty) was to show that we can have our own ideas and interests but also bring them together to make something just as great. We all produce things differently but that’s why each person has something to offer to the team and each other. And of course, there was a lot of laughter and conversations that helped us all get to know each other better.
A few other fun extras:
I got everyone matching sweatpants as well as matching gel nail clings + face masks - naturally I forgot to snap a photo of all of us in our cozy sweats!
In addition to spending time at the rental for our team building activities, we also ventured around town together and ate some delicious food from a few locally owned spots in Austin:
I’m so glad we got to take this little trip together and have a day where we were able to hang out and do things aside from work. Because we’re a small team, it’s so important to me that we are always functioning together and checking in with one another on how things are going. This trip was a great way to connect with each other personally while also sharing our goals for the shop. It was also a great way to show the girls some of my favorite food places as well as to our first ever shop location off of 6th street (a couple of the girls on our team joined after we had moved)!
So, in case you are looking for some fun alternatives to team building or just want to check out a few new local spots, I hope you enjoyed this post!