5 EOY Team Building Strategies That Leave No One Behind

Make your work party awesome not awkward

The end of the year is coming up and we all know what that means: banana daiquiris in the office while Kylie breaks her heel as she tries to do the “Gitup” for the eleventieth time. End of year drinks are a tradition, especially in Australia, where drinking culture is sponsored by the local government. But is it really the best way to wrap up a year of hard work and have fun with the entire office?

No. Simply put getting drunk on the company’s dollar may sound fun but it can only go so far. We have some simple strategies you can keep in mind for planning your End of Year party. These will allow the whole office to be involved, and won’t include any deep regrets.

1. Day over Night 

Choose a date toward the end of the year and schedule it in for the EOY event. Don’t say party as you might deter those employees who don’t want to drink to have fun. Make it an EVENT. Make it during the day, and during work hours so no one has to make any additional plans to be involved. 

2. Play not Pay

These do not have to be cringy, or eye rolling. If you want to operate on a budget then simply google “fun team games” or check out this link to 20 Office Scavenger Hunt ideas. Make the event about interacting, learning new facts about each other, and having fun. If each player or team is awarded points for playing the game then award the team with the most points at the end a special prize (hamper, chocolates, etc)

3. Ask 

A bit of a no-brainer but if you’re stumped what to do for the end of year event then simply send out an email asking for ideas. This will help everyone feel like they are part of their own event and begin the feelings of being included.

4. Provide

If you have a budget for an end of year celebration then spend it all on providing your team with a good time. Buy some outrageous costume elements, have enough food delivered so no one goes hungry or, here’s and idea, buy some board games and host a board game tournament.

5. Consider Team Building

Companies are transferring to team building exercises over drinking parties these days. Team building activities are inclusive by nature, they establish and maintain a level playing field, there’s an external voice moderating the activity and most importantly: no one IN the organisation has to organise anything.

By spending the budget on a team building event you ensure that everyone (including you) gets to play, learn, and bond all without the headache (from the stress or the daiquiris).

The Long and Short

At the end of the day team building activities are going to trump work drinks every time.

Team building is inclusive, it creates a level playing field allowing all players to feel involved, and takes the stress off the organisation to do the heavy lifting. If you’re interested in creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace then check out more of our blog posts on the issue as this is something deeply close to our own values and strategies here at Banana Life.

Thanks for reading and have an awesome end of year celebration!

-The Banana Life Team