10 Best Christmas Team Building Activities
Traditional Christmas team building can promote camaraderie, boost employee engagement, and celebrate achievements. In this article, you will find a list of unique team-building ideas for in-office and remote employees, and recommendations to plan the event successfully.
As the holiday season approaches, companies start planning annual team buildings. Christmas team building helps celebrate this year’s achievements, reward great performance, and bring the team together while getting everyone into the holiday spirit.
While a traditional office potluck and Secret Santa are considered classic, there are many more activities you can try this year. In this article, we have covered everything you need to organize a memorable team-building event, from creative activities to tips for planning the event and making everyone feel appreciated.
Why organize Christmas team building this year?
A good Christmas team building can do more than celebrating the holiday season. It can bring the team together, help retain top talent, and even prevent workplace conflicts. Here are the main advantages of running a team building in your office:
- Encourage employee bonding. Team building events improve workplace relationships and help create a sense of unity. Strong workplace relationships translate into improved performance and also increase employee well-being, making them happier at work.
- Reward success and hard work. Rewarding staff and making them feel appreciated for their input can boost motivation. Plus, it helps retain employees – according to one study, if people don’t feel recognized, they are twice as likely to quit the next year.
- Foster communication and collaboration. Team building helps improve communication and collaboration between the group members, which inspires them to work together productively and minimize misunderstandings and conflicts.
In 2024, many companies prefer purposeful celebrations over traditional potluck meals and festive dinners. While the Christmas holiday in the office is a great place to spend time with your coworkers informally, well-planned activities bring the team closer and foster a positive environment.
Planning your Christmas team building
Consider the budget
Determine the available funds before planning the Christmas team building. Otherwise, people will be disappointed if you promise them a huge Christmas celebration, and then find out that the company’s budget is limited.
When allocating a budget, consider such expenses as booking a venue, transportation, food and beverages, games and activities, entertainment, and more. If it’s been a good year for the company, you can outsource your team building to an event planning company. However, it is possible to organize a cost-effective event that will bond your employees in your office.
Choose the type of a team building event
The games and activities you choose will depend on the purpose of your team-building event. Pick one that aligns with your team’s current challenges and the company’s goals.
Team building event types
- Activity-based team building involves physical activities and working together to achieve a common goal. It works great to pull the team outside of their comfort zone.
- Communication-based team building is perfect for a team with many new members. In it, coworkers know each other better and build personal bonds.
- Skill-based team building – in it, the team has fun together and also develops soft skills essential for the job (such as negotiation or conflict management).
- Personality assessment team building – this team building involves carrying out tests to understand the personality type of everyone on the team and build productive cooperation.
- Creative team building allows the team to innovate and create something new together, such as brainstorming sessions and art workshops.
Ask about employee preferences
To choose a team building that suits everyone’s preferences and expectations, run a quick survey via Google Forms or Survey Monkey. Ask your employees about their preferred location, team building style, theme, and other details. Offer varying activities that will suit employees of different ages and backgrounds, and will be comfortable for different personality types.
Before you organize a team building based on active communication, public speaking, or much physical activity, ask if your team is comfortable with these activities, otherwise they can be disappointed.
Send invitations
Prepare formal invitations so that you know how many employees will attend the event. Include the time, date, location, and the activities planned for team building.
Dear Team,
Join us for a special evening of festive fun and celebration as we host our annual Christmas team building! Take part in the activities that promote teamwork, communication, and creativity, and celebrate this year’s achievements.
The team building includes an icebreaker session, group challenges and competitions, and an employee award ceremony.
Date: December 19th
Time: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Dress Code: Informal
Please RSVP by December 12th so we can make arrangements for the group.
[Your Name]
HR Team
Schedule for everyone
When picking the day and time of your Christmas team building, make sure it is convenient for most employees. Ask if they are comfortable attending the event on the day off or at the end of the workday, and consider flexible schedules for those in your team who need to work the next day.
Choose the location
If you run a team-building event outside the office, book the venue early as the best locations are booked months ahead. Make sure that the venue type is good for the activities you’ve planned. If the event is late in the evening, think about transportation options for employees, such as shuttles or compensation for a taxi.
Collect feedback
After the team building, ask the employees to share their feedback. Ask about their overall impression of the Christmas team building, the activities they liked most, and what can be improved. It will help you plan and organize better events next year. Also, pay attention to how the team communication and productivity increase, and if you don’t observe any changes, consider other types of team buildings and activities.
Ideas for Christmas team building in person
Office decoration contest
Why not add the element of competition to the traditional office decoration? You can set up a competition between departments and ask them to bring their decorations or buy them using the vouchers from the company.
Each team decorates its office space with garlands, ornaments, lights, and other décor, and a special committee determines the winner. If you have under 10 employees, have them compete in groups of 2 or 3.
Holiday Who Am I?
This game has gained popularity as it lets people use their critical thinking skills and have fun at the same time. Write names of Christmas-related characters on stickers and ask them to put stickers on their forehead without seeing what’s written on them. Then, people play in groups and give each other hints about the characters they see on their partner’s forehead.
Christmas-themed sports
Group sports are great for team building, as they get your employees to interact, have fun, and bond with each other. Choose the type of sports depending on your location and your team’s preferences, and reward the winning team with prizes to make the game more competitive!
Christmas sports ideas for team building
- Host a holiday-themed baseball or soccer tournament (i.e. Elves vs. Santas)
- Play snowballs in teams outdoors
- Play ice hockey
- Take a team hike
- Organize a ski trip
Annual award ceremony
The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect and recognize employee contributions. In addition to performance reviews, host a festive Christmas award ceremony. Prepare small incentives and rewards for all employees to make them feel appreciated. You can present both performance awards, such as Employee of the Year or Top Performer along with fun ones, for example, The Early Bird, Office Bestie, and Pop Culture Expert.
Cocktail-making class
Preparing cocktails in the office is a great way to celebrate the holiday season and foster teamwork. Depending on your budget and the number of participants, you can host the cocktail-making master class, play quizzes and games, and even feature a professional bartender.
Volunteering
Doing something good for others is a great way to celebrate the Christmas season. By volunteering for the local community service, you will make the team members feel better about themselves and form friendly connections with each other. The options are limitless: donate food or clothes, work for a food bank, or visit a local hospital.
If you have other activities planned, encourage everyone to donate to a charity of their choice.
Secret Santa exchange
Secret Santa is a holiday classic that can bring your team together and encourage them to know each other better. As your employees choose presents for each other, they learn about each other’s likes and interests. At the Christmas party, everyone unwraps a gift and guesses from whom it is, which is often accompanied by fun, laughter, and genuine emotions that lead to team bonding.
With our MySanta generator, you can quickly set up the exchange even if you have 50+ employees or remote teams. You can draw names in seconds, set exceptions, and create wishlists so that everyone can pick a great gift.
Online team-building activities
If your team is scattered across different locations, there are still ways to have fun together and help team bonding. Here are some activities you can do online.
Online Holiday Bingo
Christmas bingo is the traditional activity you can do with remote coworkers. Set the theme and create bingo cards that align with it. Encourage everyone to grab a cocktail, mulled wine, or hot tea, and explain the rules in case someone forgets them. Don’t forget to reward the winner with a prize!
Download a free bingo card for a remote game here.
Virtual yoga class or meditation
You can organize physical activities with remote teams, too. Host a virtual yoga class to let everyone burn calories and put aside the holiday stress while sharing the experience with coworkers. Virtual yoga or another exercise will be especially beneficial if your employees live in large cities.
If exercising together is not an option, try virtual meditation. It is a great way to achieve inner peace and calmness and discover the resources for productive work.
Virtual cooking class
Remote coworkers cannot have a Christmas dinner in the office. However, you can book a cooking class with a chef and encourage everyone to cook a healthy, delicious meal at home. Your employees will learn something new, plus, this activity helps recreate the atmosphere of teamwork even though everyone is located in different areas.
Whether your team building involves a lot of physical activity or is more of a sit-down meal with board games, the Secret Santa gift exchange will enhance any event and bring new emotions. You can exchange presents in person or even virtually, sharing the joy of giving and helping bring the team together as everyone chooses a personalized present for one coworker.
