Team building is a worthwhile investment in the health of your business. Studies have shown that a regular commitment to corporate team building activities keeps employees happy in the workplace. Team bonding promotes employee engagement, collaboration, communication, innovation, creative thinking, problem solving, and more.
So now you know you should be team building, but if you haven’t already been participating in corporate events, it can be tough to know where to start. Whether you’re new to company outings or looking for different, unique team building activities in Arizona to shake things up, we’ve got you covered here at Team Building Activities Phoenix.
Below we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to the 20+ best corporate team building activities and company event ideas in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Surprise, Goodyear, Buckeye, Queen Creek, Apache Junction, and San Tan Valley. Happy planning!
Table of Contents
- The Best Team Building Activities in Phoenix
- Fun Team Building Events in Phoenix
- Unique Team Building Activities in Phoenix
- Team Building Activities in Phoenix With Food
- Team Building Phoenix: Frequently Asked Questions
The Best Team Building Activities in Phoenix
You’re ready to team build; why not start with the best team building activities in Phoenix and the surrounding area? Below we’ve picked the best of the best when it comes to team outings. We’ve evaluated these team building facilitators based on key criteria, like innovation, effectiveness, fun factor, and price, and with that in mind, we’ve settled on the three best corporate events in the Valley of the Sun. Check them out below!
1. The Great Guac Off
Phoenix is often praised for its awesome guac and salsa, so could there be a more fitting corporate team building event than a guacamole making competition? The Great Guac Off is our choice to top the list of best team outings in Phoenix. All group sizes are welcome; your full group will be broken down into smaller teams to participate in fun games and challenges, then move into the ultimate guacamole making competition (you can even add a box of secret ingredients to make the challenge spicier). Guac will be judged, prizes will be awarded, and your team members will have a great time. Host your Guac Off anywhere in Phoenix, including at your office, at The Great Guac Off’s location, or at a local venue of your choice. Prices are reasonable.
2. Gingerbread Wars
Your company holiday party can be more than just watching people stand around and sip wine coolers. When you trust your party to the elves at Gingerbread Wars, you’ll end up with an epic annual office holiday party that’s so good, your coworkers will ask if you can do it again next year. This team event is centered around a gingerbread house building competition that’s fun and full of friendly competition. All standard events run for about 90 minutes and include a pro facilitator, all the supplies you’ll need for the competition, and holiday-themed games and activities that are actually fun. Gingerbread Wars offers a variety of add-ons, including holiday decorations, BYOB, snacks, catering, Christmas cookies, and longer team events. Note: Gingerbread Wars only runs from October through December, so it’s best to reserve your date ASAP, as the calendar tends to sell out.
Fun Team Building Activities in Phoenix
If you’re looking for fun team building activities in Phoenix, then you’re on the right path. At Team Building Phoenix, we believe it’s crucial for team building events to be fun in order to also be effective. In addition to the three companies listed above, we’ve also rounded up team building activities options below with companies who know how to have a good time.
3. Storytelling Workshop
Chances are, you love a good story. If you enjoy movies, television, books, and music, then you know stories are all around us. We follow friends and family on social media to hear their latest stories, and we want to hear stories from famous athletes and celebrities we follow along with. But how many of us really know how to tell a good story, one that will captivate our audience from start to finish? And if you could figure out how to engage your clients from your first sentence to your last, what would that mean for your sales team, your marketing department, and your business as a whole?
Museum Hack has captivated thousands of museum goers with incredible stories; in fact, the company markets itself as being specifically optimized to lead tours of museums for people who don’t like museums. We believe the expert storytellers over at Museum Hack are the perfect candidates to bring new and engaging storytelling techniques to your business. These storytelling workshops are fun, effective, and innovative; your team members will have a great time learning from Museum Hack’s facilitators, and will immediately be able to implement new strategies back in the office.
4. ScavBoss
Scavenger hunts are one of the most popular choices for corporate team building activities right now, and for good reason. Scavenger hunts promote competition, collaboration, teamwork, and communication, in addition to challenging problem solving skills. ScavBoss is our favorite choice for scavenger hunt facilitators, with three major options to choose from. ScavBoss has a standard scavenger hunt for team building that’s perfect for the budget-conscious client; you could also choose to have a custom scavenger hunt created that’s specific to your business and to your chosen geographic location in the Phoenix area. If you want an ultimate team building challenge, consider the ScavBoss Impossible Hunt + Debrief, which includes a scavenger hunt designed specifically to be impossible to solve. A post-hunt analysis helps tie in vital lessons learned.
5. Rawhide Western Town
Located just outside Phoenix in nearby Chandler, AZ, Rawhide Western Town is a fun group activity for employees. Set on 150+ acres, Rawhide is set up to mimic an authentic town from the Old West. If you want to host a fun team event at Rawhide, then you’ll need to get in touch to set up a date and time, as the facility is not open every day of the week. Corporate events at Rawhide include amenities like food and drinks and fun stunt shows set in Wild Wild West times. A team event at Rawhide is a fun thing to do in the Phoenix area, which is already rich with crazy Old West stories and history.
6. Dave & Buster’s, Main Event, or FatCats Entertainment Venues
Depending on where your offices are located in the Phoenix area, choose a fun entertainment venue for your next team event. Dave & Buster’s, Main Event, and FatCats all offer similar options for entertainment, from arcade games to bowling. Dave & Buster’s offers convenient locations in the Tempe and Glendale areas, while FatCats is a great choice for teams in the Mesa, AZ area (and even has an on-site movie theater). Teams in Avondale, Goodyear, Surprise, and Buckeye could turn to Main Event for corporate entertainment events.
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7. TopGolf Arizona
Arizona has a handful of different TopGolf locations in the Phoenix area with venues in Glendale, Scottsdale, and Gilbert. TopGolf is a strong choice for a company outing, and it doesn’t matter if your team members know who wore the green jacket last year (or whether they even know what a green jacket represents in the golf community). TopGolf offers corporate events packages or you can reserve a handful of bays and spend an hour or two hitting balls before enjoying food and drinks. An afternoon team outing at TopGolf, as long as you avoid the summer months in the desert, is fun, relaxing, and full of sunshine and laughs.
8. Bowling
Bowling probably already came to mind when thinking about where to plan your next team outing, and we’re here to say that it’s not a bad choice at all, even if it’s a company event your coworkers might be expecting. We like bowling for a few reasons: 1) it’s super easy to plan; there are tons of bowling alleys in Phoenix, AZ; 2) most everyone on your team probably already knows how to do it so you can get right down to the business of playing and bonding vs learning how to play the game; and 3) many alleys today offer food and drinks, so you can upgrade your afternoon away from the office to include refreshments with ease.
9. Charity Team Building Activities
Corporate social responsibility is becoming more commonplace in today’s workforces and if your company is already dedicated to making a difference in the local community, then choosing a team outing that includes an element of charity could be a great fit for your business’ mission. If you haven’t tapped into the corporate social responsibility area yet, then why not try to bring it to life and participate in charity team building activities in Phoenix? Partner with a local organization for an afternoon of giving back to a select group, or go ahead and plan some DIY team building activities for your community, like picking up trash near your office, putting together a fundraiser or donation drive, or heading to a nearby Build-A-Bear to build stuffed animals for the Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Unique Team Building Events in Phoenix AZ
Have your team members participated in team building activities before? Maybe you’ve done scavenger hunts, you’ve thrown axes, and you’ve already escaped the rooms. These unique team building activities in Phoenix, AZ are a great choice for companies who want to shake up regular team outings with something a bit more unexpected.
10. Team Building Hero
Team Building Hero is a new player in the company team building industry. Team Building Hero offers a number of different corporate team building activities, ranging from scavenger hunts to food competitions to professional development workshops. With such a wide array of company events available, Team Building Hero aims to be your company’s sole provider of regular team bonding. Book one year’s worth of team outings with Team Building Hero and you’ll get a discount on each event.
11. Take your team out to the spring ball game
Springtime in Phoenix means the baseballs are flying! Fans from around the world congregate in the Valley of the Sun in March to enjoy preseason baseball. Games are scheduled every day of the week in cities across the valley, from Phoenix to Surprise to Scottsdale to Mesa to Tempe to Peoria. Chances are, your employees would rather spend a few hours in the warm afternoon sunshine than sitting at their desks, so why not reward your team and head out to the ballpark for peanuts and CrackerJax? This is a great springtime team building activity you can only take advantage of in Phoenix AZ and Florida.
12. Musical Instrument Museum
The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, near Scottsdale, is a great choice for a team building activity. The MIM is a world class museum, and the biggest museum in the world dedicated to showcasing musical instruments. With instruments and objects from close to 200 countries and thousands of instruments in its collection, the MIM is impressive and well worth a visit. Plan a quick scavenger hunt through the museum for your team outing to up the engagement and interactivity.
13. Enjoy a day-long staycation
Phoenix is home to some incredible resorts; it’s not one of the biggest vacation destinations in the world without good reason! Pick a local resort near your office and treat your team members to a day out of the office. Settle on a budget for activities, like spa time, golf, etc., and let your coworkers unwind in a beautiful setting and forget about the stressors of the workplace for awhile. Gather mid-day for a team lunch on-site. Some of the best resorts in Phoenix and Scottsdale include the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale at Gainey Ranch, The Phoenician, the J.W. Marriott at Desert Ridge, and the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort. If your team is located on the west side of town or you prefer to avoid the hustle and bustle of the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, then check out Litchfield Park’s Wigwam Resort, which is one of our favorites!
14. Phoenix Zoo
The Phoenix Zoo is a cool spot for corporate events in Phoenix. The zoo offers a variety of different adult programming options, including bird watching, overnight camps in the zoo, and a lunch and learn with a zookeeper. Your team members will love learning more about the animals on display while having fun bonding together as a team. If you choose not to go with one of the zoo’s adult programs, then consider creating your own DIY photo challenge or scavenger hunt and grouping your team into smaller pairs or trios to encourage competition and bonding during your stroll of the zoo grounds. Tip: Teams in the West Valley can check out the awesome World Wildlife Zoo + Aquarium in Glendale rather than travel all the way to downtown Phoenix (and try to battle back the rush hour traffic on the way home)!
15. Camelback Mountain + Other Phoenix Hiking Spots
Like its famed resorts and golf courses, Phoenix, AZ is also well known for its hiking spots! There are endless possibilities for taking a great hike in the Valley, and no matter where your office is located, you probably won’t have to travel too far to find a trail that works for your group. West Valley businesses can check out the White Tank Mountains, while those in Phoenix and Scottsdale can try Camelback Mountain, McDowell Mountain, or South Mountain, and those out in the East Valley can head over to Dynamite Trailhead or the Superstition Mountains. Be sure to consider the physical fitness levels of your coworkers before picking your hiking path. Don’t forget water — and we’d recommend avoiding this outdoor team building activity and maybe all outdoor team building activities in Phoenix during the scorching summer months.
16. Launchy Birds
If it’s unexpected team building activities you want, then it’s Launchy Birds you should choose! Launchy Birds is a fun, chaotic, fast-paced team outing in Phoenix that employs construct and deconstruct game strategies. The setup is simple: 1) your group is divided up into smaller teams, 2) those smaller teams are given a pile of weird objects from which they’ll need to construct a strong castle, 3) each team is given another pile of equally weird objects which they’ll use to try to knock down the other castles, 4) last structure still standing (even if it’s just barely!) wins! Launchy Birds’ standard team event runs for 90 minutes, can be held anywhere in Phoenix, and can accommodate big and small teams, making it an awesome option for team building for large groups. Add drinks, snacks, decorations, and more to make your afternoon a bit more festive. Launchy Birds is unlike any other company event you’ve had yet!
17. Team Bonding
Team Bonding offers a variety of different corporate team building activities in Phoenix, AZ. Team Bonding’s offerings include indoor and outdoor options, escape games, game shows, comedy and improv, charity team building events, and more. Team Bonding is a national provider of team building events and tends to offer similar activities across the United States. Team Bonding can accommodate all group sizes for corporate outings.
Team Building Activities in Phoenix with Food
We love to suggest including food with your corporate events and some of the team building activities on our list below incorporate food in a fun way! The Great Guac Off slides in chips and guac creatively, while The Best Cake Wins is an epic cake decorating competition. Check out the top team building activities in Phoenix AZ with food below!
18. The Great Guac Off
Here’s a corporate event that’s fun, delicious, competitive, a little bit silly, and reasonably priced. What more could you ask for from a team outing? The Great Guac Off leads an innovative guacamole making competition. Each Guac Off runs for approximately 90 minutes (though more time can be added) and includes all the supplies and ingredients you need for an epic guac-making battle. Your trained facilitator will guide your groups through fun mini-challenges, like trivia, before launching into the Guac Off itself. Add-ons include BYOB, snacks, catering, a secret ingredient mystery box for an extra element of intrigue (we recommend this!), and custom trophies for the champs. Bonus: You can host your Guac Off at your office, at The Great Guac Off’s Phoenix area location, or at the local venue of your choice.
19. Try a new restaurant
Phoenix has a booming culinary scene with new restaurants and eateries popping up frequently. Downtown Phoenix is home to some of the area’s best-reviewed restaurants. Consider picking a new one that your coworkers haven’t been to yet and treating everyone to an awesome lunch or dinner together. Food provides a great setting to come together and bond in a low-pressure environment where your coworkers can relax, unwind, and get to know each other better.
20. The Best Cake Wins
Let’s eat cake! The Best Cake Wins is a fun corporate team building activity with food, competition, and great pricing. During this team outing, your coworkers will attempt to recreate an example cake. The team that’s best able to replicate the sample wins! This company event is fun, collaborative, and sweet. Add-ons available include more time (the standard team event runs for an hour and a half), BYOB, snacks, catering, more treats, a hands-on workshop with a professional cake decorator, and more. Choose to host your cake competition at your office, at The Best Cake Wins’ Phoenix venue, or anywhere in the valley that suits your needs. All group sizes are welcome to try to claim the top cake decorating prize.
21. Breakfast Dates
Pair up your team members into groups of two or three and allow your coworkers to spend an hour or two in the morning enjoying a coffee or breakfast “date” together. Splitting up into small groups can let your team members get to know each other better; be sure to do this on a regular, rotating basis so everyone who works together frequently has a chance to connect. Set a budget for the breakfast so your team members know what’s expected and let the groups come in the office late on the day the teams are heading to breakfast. This is an easy to plan way to get in some team bonding time — and find a new delicious breakfast spot!
Team Building Phoenix: Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question about team building activities in Phoenix? You’ve come to the right place! Send us an email and we’ll be sure to answer your question ASAP.
What is the best team building activity in Phoenix, AZ?
The best team building activity in Phoenix is The Great Guac Off! This team event is fun, engaging, innovative, delicious, and well-priced, and that’s hard to beat.
How frequently should we host team building activities?
We suggest hosting team building events once per quarter. Sprinkle in a few DIY team activities or in-office events like breakfast dates or Human Bingo to keep the good vibes and strong connections rolling all year long.
Is it important to stay away from DIY team building activities?
No! You can definitely DIY team building activities with strong results, and, in fact, it might be a good idea to mix in some cost-effective team building activities right in your office so you can make an investment in professional team building, too. We still recommend team building with pros like The Great Guac Off or TeamBuilding.com wherever possible so you’ll get the most bang for your buck.