Team Building Transformed: Why Experiential Activities Boost Morale

For many, the idea of team building is enough to make them roll their eyes. They may picture trust falls gone wrong or endless icebreaker sessions that do nothing to actually break the ice. These activities can negatively impact morale — and that’s the last thing your crew needs.

To build a real team, you need to give your employees experiences. Discover how to improve employee morale with team building that people will actually look forward to below.

The Problem With Traditional Team Building

A traditional corporate team building activity often involves some variation of falling and/or revealing to the world that you played soccer in the sixth grade. Not exactly a recipe for a good time. This isn’t just because trust falls and icebreakers are trite. It’s because they require employees to perform for people they should be building relationships with. Forced fakeness often leads to poor morale across the team.

This isn’t a small problem, either. Employee disengagement was estimated to cost the global economy $438 billion in 2024. The solution isn’t to abandon team building. It’s to build a better team building activity.

What Is Experiential Team Building?

Experiential team building is an active approach that encourages problem-solving, personal expression and getting out of the office. Essentially, it’s a more relaxed approach that enables people to be themselves. It also allows for more unique team building activities. Some common examples include:

• Immersive games: Many experiential team builders will take their employees to an escape room, axe-throwing venue or a murder mystery event. These activities give people a chance to be themselves while also working together toward a common goal. Cooperation and problem-solving are essential here, which can help your team get to know each other better. They’re also a lot of fun!
• Learning experiences: Team building is all about learning to work together. How better to do that than to learn to do something else as a group? This puts everyone on an even playing field, making it easier to interact and be vulnerable. For example, your team could attend a cooking class or visit an axe-throwing venue. These activities can transform your team into a cohesive unit that genuinely enjoys being together.
• Volunteer projects: Teams can come together when they share a common sense of purpose. Volunteering in the community can give your team that purpose and show them they can do some good together. Oftentimes, the unity built in the community at large will translate back to the workplace.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it can help you get the ball rolling on experiential team building. It might spark some other ideas as well!

The Science of Shared Experience

Experiential team building activities break through management barriers by putting everyone on an even playing field. It’s a lot harder to see hierarchy when you’re all learning to toss an axe, for instance.

Collaborative experiential activities also promote authentic interdependence and support. This makes it easier for everyone involved to form genuine connections with one another. In traditional team building, the interdependence can feel staged and artificial, leading to purely transactional relationships.

Competitive experiential activities can encourage team building as well. For one, they’re a lot of fun. The stakes are low enough that people can play without worrying about their performance. This can quickly lead to inside jokes and relationships that last long after the activity ends. Competitive activities also allow for more personal expression, giving new folks a chance to get to know each other better.

The Benefits of Experiential Team Building

Experiential team building isn’t just an excuse to do something fun. Yes, it does tend to be more fun than the traditional approach, but it also helps your team operate at a higher level. It does this by:

• Improving communication: Experiential team building asks employees to coach one another, share information and coordinate strategy. In doing so, they learn how the others communicate and where their strengths lie. This makes it easier for everyone to communicate in other contexts.
• Increasing morale and job satisfaction: Experiential team building can help create a fun, collaborative and safe workplace for all employees. It provides them with a platform to build strong connections and confidence in themselves. This, in turn, can improve well-being, morale and job satisfaction.
• Strengthening team bonds: Workplace friendships make employees happier and can even improve business outcomes. Experiential team building gives employees the chance to form these friendships outside of the office. This helps them relax and open up to each other in ways they may not be able to in a professional setting.
• Enhancing problem-solving skills: Collaborative experiential activities encourage employees to come together to solve problems. If they’re doing an escape room, for example, each member has to collect and share information with the group. The group then has to synthesize this information and adapt to new challenges under time constraints. This mirrors the way the real workplace moves. It’s like a practice run that strengthens their problem-solving skills.
• Creating opportunities for organic networking: Different departments often feel disconnected from one another. They probably don’t interact often, which can lead to information silos and employees who feel aimless. Experiential team building breaks down these barriers and gives employees a chance to interact with people they might not otherwise have the opportunity to meet.

Choosing the Right Activity for Your Team

It’s important to select an activity that resonates with your team members and helps them step out of their comfort zone. Axe-throwing is among the most fun team building activities out there, allowing your crew to let loose, learn something new and engage with each other in new ways. And now, with the exciting additions of knife- and star-throwing, Axel’s provides even more ways to bond and challenge your team!

Axe-throwing transcends typical team-building clichés by offering a uniquely exhilarating experience. Regardless of your team members’ roles or departments, they can have fun throwing axes in a relaxed, safe and social atmosphere. The satisfaction of hitting a target, combined with the supportive environment, quickly breaks down barriers and encourages genuine interaction. 

If you’re looking to shake up your team building practices, axe-throwing is the perfect way to do that.

Book Your Next Corporate Event at Axel’s Throw House

Few things build friendship like coming together to throw axes. At Axel’s, you and your team can do just that. Each of our 15 throwing lanes is equipped with over 20 games that let you choose between competition and collaboration. 

Our dedicated Axeperts make sure everyone throws safely and can help you perfect your aim, too! You can also order food and drinks and request music from our TouchTunes jukebox while you play!

Ready to get started? Book your corporate event today.