Smells like team spirit? Office bonding activities can get weird, but I still believe in them

It begins, as always, with a Slack notification on #general.

“Hey, team! We’re planning a fun bonding activity next Friday. Please RSVP for a friendly game of pickleball!”

Cue the internal monologue:

"What in the world is pickleball? Do I have to go? Is this during work hours? If I don’t go, will this affect my career trajectory? Or worse, will my colleagues be watching me miss every shot, jeering silently?"

Workplace bonding activities are a strange social construct. We’re told they’re “fun” and “great for team morale”, yet there’s always that undercurrent of “we are still at work and we still have to be mindful of boundaries”. 

In my own company, we appoint our welfare committee at the start of every year and part of what they do is to organise monthly team bonding sessions.

And organising an event where everyone feels included – introverts, extroverts, sporty and unsporty alike – is a logistical minefield.

Practicalities aside, there are other concerns. I’m not saying I was personally targeted in last year’s office paintball, but let’s just say some of those shots felt … deliberate. (It’s fine, though, I can take a hit.) 

DO TEAM BONDING ACTIVITIES REALLY WORK?

Some business owners I know think team bonding activities are a complete waste of money: “Why am I paying for my workers to hurl frisbees at each other when they could be, you know, working?”

True team camaraderie, they argue, is built through working together on shared professional goals, not by sweating it out in a company-organised spin class.

On the other hand, I find spending quality time with the team outside of work to be rather fulfilling. Outside the workplace, the dynamic shifts. Conversations between the same co-workers just feel different.

And this can improve collaboration back at work – if done right.

The real challenge? Making it feel natural instead of a forced corporate playdate.

HOW TO ORGANISE TEAM BONDING SESSIONS

Not all team bonding activities are created equal. Some are genuinely fun, others feel like a social obligation wrapped in a human resource email. 

After a decade of organising (or approving) team-bonding activities, here is what I’ve learnt about the good, the suspicious, and the downright bad.

THE GOOD

1. Low-pressure, high-participation activities. Casual team lunches, creative workshops or game nights where participation isn’t a performance test.

2. Camaraderie-building activities. Escape rooms, cooking classes, or even volunteering together foster collaboration in a non-threatening manner. 

3. Opt-in, not forced fun. Consider offering a range of options so that people may choose what suits them. Not everyone wants to run a half-marathon in the name of team spirit.

THE SUSPICIOUS

Overly competitive activities. Paintball, dodgeball or anything where office hierarchies may play out in real-time. The begrudged intern taking aim at an oblivious supervisor is not the kind of corporate “headshot” we want on our hands. 

Karaoke. Wait, you don’t enjoy listening to your 54-year-old procurement officer trying to hit that high note on Let It Go from the animated film Frozen? Unless your team happens to all be musically gifted, this is less of a bonding activity and more of a prolonged hostage situation.

Anything too physically demanding. When that one guy who is way too into CrossFit comes perilously close to flipping a tyre onto your ankle, the party’s over. 

THE I-CAN’T-EVEN

Anything involving "mandatory fun". If people feel like they’re being “voluntold” to participate, it defeats the purpose.

Any activity with sexual suggestiveness. That face-to-face pass-the-paper game will likely lead to you having a face-to-face with a human resource personnel. 

Alcohol-fuelled bonding sessions (without limits). This might lead to highly, uh, spirited conversations. Personally do not recommend. 

HOW TO SURVIVE TEAM BONDING SESSIONS

If you’re taking part in a team bonding event (voluntarily or not), here are a few ground rules.

1. Don’t be that guy. No hyper-aggressive competitiveness. It’s a casual game of pickleball, not the Olympics. 

2. Know when to dial it back. If someone clearly doesn’t want to participate, let them be. Inclusiveness is one thing; peer pressure is another.

3. Keep work drama out of it. Now is not the time to settle an office rivalry or get back at your boss by peppering him with unfriendly fire. (Again, I said I’m fine.)

At its best, team bonding builds trust, eases workplace tension and makes collaboration smoother. At its worst, it’s a forced exercise in corporate cheerfulness.

The difference? Intent, and a little bit of wisdom in execution.

Bonding shouldn’t feel like an obligation or a test of loyalty. It works best when people want to be there, not because they have to. 

So, plan wisely, read the room and remember: Real team rapport isn’t built in a single afternoon of fun. It grows in the day-to-day moments that make work feel a little less like work.

Kelvin Kao is the co-owner of a creative agency and a cafe.