19 Fun Work Social Event Ideas to Promote Company Culture and Collaboration

Thinking of work social event ideas can be a real headache. Do you do something really out there? Or do you play it safe?

There’s a fine balance between finding something the whole team enjoys and something that fits your budget and aligns with your business goals.

The best work social event ideas combine team building and a fun activity to bring employees closer together. This ultimately leads to higher productivity levels, a more positive company culture, and a team that’s generally happier. After all, who doesn’t want to swap their desk for a day of fun once in a while?

The Power of Work Social Events

Work social event ideas are getting increasingly creative—especially since a large chunk of the population now works remotely. According to research by Travel Perk, over a quarter of companies like to get together once a month to see each other in person. Work social events are the perfect opportunity to meet up, collaborate, and create a sense of community, regardless of how scattered your team is.

Collaborating in this way comes with a huge amount of benefits. 75% of staff say teamwork and collaboration are crucial to success, while 33% of employees believe that fostering a collaborative culture leads to increased loyalty. In fact, over 50% of employees have stayed at a company because they felt like part of a team.

A team back from a weekend of activities. Source. 

But here’s the thing: Only 33% of companies hold simple team-building activities for their staff. If you get ahead of the game and plan regular work social events, you and your company can benefit from:

• Increased loyalty
• Lower staff turnover
• Higher productivity levels
• Happier teams
• A positive company culture
• Better quality candidates

So where do you start? Here are some work social event ideas to consider.

Bring Everyone Together: 19 Ideas for Work Social Events

1. Trivia Quiz

Create teams or get your staff to create their own teams and come together for a trivia quiz. You can choose the topics or go for a general knowledge quiz and, if you’re feeling particularly fancy, you can get in a professional quizmaster for the event.

Pair the fun and games with drinks, food, and music to create a memorable evening.

Take some inspiration from Eventbrite for unique trivia night ideas.

2. Scavenger hunt

Scavenger hunts are great work social event ideas because they can be as active or as thought-provoking as you want. Pair staff together and plan a citywide hunt that sees them scoring points for visiting landmarks, collecting clues, and tackling challenges.

If you want to do something on a smaller scale, you can always host your scavenger hunt in the office.

Here’s a sample desk-based scavenger hunt by Team Building. 

3. An Award Ceremony

Invite your employees to get dressed up and attend a company awards ceremony. Put on a feast, serve delicious drinks, and give out awards for different categories. You can make the event a serious one to show your appreciation to staff members, or you can make it fun with silly award categories that’ll make people laugh.

And while you’re at it, why not use Everwall to collect and curate the social media conversations from the awards night?

4. Wellness or Spa Package

Give your team a little R&R with a wellness package. Send them to a spa for the day where they can be pampered and relax with a massage, treatments, and a sauna. This is a great way to help employees unwind while still encouraging them to socialize together outside of the work environment.

Many spas offer a corporate wellness package, like this one at the Bella Reina.

5. Sports Day

Take employees on a trip down memory lane by hosting a traditional school sports day. Have employees sign up for different events and compete against each other to win a trophy. You can put on track races or think outside the box and include some fun activities like an egg and spoon race or a three-legged race where pairs are tied together.

6. Themed Parties

The most popular type of work social event ideas are team lunches and dinners—no surprise, really, as they’re relatively risk-free and provide a good opportunity for employees to mix and mingle.

Make your parties a bit different with a theme (Hawaiian beach or Roman toga party, anyone?) that informs the food, drinks, and activities. You can sprinkle your parties with fun icebreaker games, bonding exercises, and team discussions for extra collaboration.

7. Talent Show

Let employees take to the stage and show you what they’re made of. The classic talent show is a fun way to get employees to let loose and share a bit of themselves with their fellow team members. Open the floor to singers, dancers, magicians, and other weird and wonderful talents—it’ll be a laugh at the very least.

8. Games Night

Gather together staff members and go head-to-head on a classic games night. You can include traditional board games, vintage computer games, or parlor games like Charades. Group employees together to form teams for an extra bonding element, or have each employee battle it out on their own. Create a healthy sense of competition with a leaderboard and award prizes throughout the night.

9. Countryside Walk

Encourage your team to get out in the fresh air with a wholesome countryside walk. You can hire a bus to take them to a favorite hiking spot or pack a picnic and explore nature at your own pace. If you want to jazz it up, you can stop off at a brewery or a vineyard for some food and drinks along the way.

10. Food Tour

Take employees to the best food spots in your city or a neighboring city. Stop off at each venue to try a specialty dish or do a blind tasting session and get staff to guess the flavors. This can be a fun way to treat your team with delicious food and offer a bonding experience as they explore together.

11. City Walking Tour

Similarly to a food tour, you can take staff on a walking tour of your city. Take them to popular landmarks, stop off at exciting venues, and provide some commentary on the history or culture of the place.

While this is great for getting remote workers together, it can also be a nice way to get local employees to see their city in a new light.

12. Tasting Menu Evening

Hire a chef for the evening and delight your employees with a multi-course tasting menu. Introduce them to new flavors and delicious treats while encouraging them to mingle with their fellow workers. You can combine this with a games night or a talent show if you want to add an extra layer of fun.

13. Speakers and Seminars

Give employees the chance to learn from industry experts by inviting well-known speakers to give workshops or seminars. The topics can be anything, from work-related subjects to something wildly different but equally as interesting. Maybe you get a local zoologist in to talk about penguins, or maybe you invite local doctorate students to share their current projects with your team.

14. Arts and Crafts Evenings

Get the old creative juices flowing with some arty evening activities. Put on a painting workshop, offer an introduction to crochet, or take your employees out to learn how to make their own pottery. Nurturing creativity in this way will help team members bring new and exciting ideas to their work while also providing them with new skills.

15. Live Music

Invite a local band to play their latest set for your employees. You can make it the main event or have live music playing in the background at a staff dinner or games night. The live element is a fun addition and a great way to introduce staff to local musical talent.

16. Show and Tell

Do an adult take on show and tell and invite employees to share insights into their work or side projects. It’s a great chance for your team to get to know each other better and share a bit about their lives outside of work.

17. Hire a Yacht

Go all out and hire a yacht for the afternoon. Employees can enjoy drinks and nibbles against a beautiful backdrop and unwind from the daily stresses of work. This is particularly great for bringing remote teams together in different destinations.

18. Office Bake Off

Encourage employees to put their baking gloves on and come up with some deliciously sweet creations. You can set a theme, like a special type of cake or bread, or let team members go out on their own and see what they create. Once the goods have been baked, you can do a taster session and give out awards to the best baker.

19. Forest Retreat

Get employees out into nature with a relaxing forest retreat. As well as walks in the countryside, you can put on evening bonfires, forest activities, and team-building exercises to bring everyone together.

Which Work Social Event Ideas Will You Try?

The type of work social event ideas you choose will depend on your company, your budget, and your employees. Try experimenting with a few of these ideas and see what works best—but, most importantly, make a concerted effort to put on regular work social events to give employees the chance to catch up and bond outside the office (or Zoom).