9 Corporate Event Ideas To Keep Your Team Engaged

Planning a corporate event for your team or business may sound fun at first. And it is – but when you get down to planning the activities, you may get dumbfounded and spend an eternity staring at a blank sheet of paper. Creating an activity everyone will love can be tedious. 

And, of course, any corporate activity is a wonderful opportunity to flash your brand for visitors to see and your team to appreciate. But how do you integrate work and celebration?

In this post, we showcase nine corporate event ideas to help you establish your brand, yet still let your team enjoy and have fun.

What is a Corporate Event?

We commonly know corporate events as a team activity for employees funded by the business entity. But that’s not the sole purpose of a corporate event. It can equally target employees, board members, and stakeholders alike. 

This is where a carefully planned out event can have more benefits to the company than just a team-building activity would. 

Why Is It Valuable To Every Business?

Corporate events are beneficial in strengthening existing relationships within the company that help form a more productive group mindset. This can also help gain more traction when a business launches a new product or reaches a milestone such as a merger. 

Aside from these reasons, it can establish new partnerships, release office tension, and improve the entire company’s productivity. 

It’s truly a win-win situation, and it may sound too good to be true. But, you better believe it, the benefits are astounding, especially with careful planning.

How To Plan Your Corporate Event

Before jumping straight into our list of event ideas, it’s crucial for you to know that planning accordingly is key to having that fabulous corporate event. 

A common mistake is piling all the activities into one big event. If you truly want to make that triumph extra special and throw an extraordinary event, we recommend setting out small ripples of activity instead, leading into that last day to culminate the celebration.

Here’s a surefire way to establish that ― a carefully laid out plan.

1. Decide On Your Event’s Purpose

What is the main focus of this event? Are you highlighting a milestone such as the 20th year of the company? Putting the spotlight on a merger? Or celebrating the acquisition of that large client that will put the business on the map?

Knowing the event’s purpose will help you plan out what activities should and should not be included in your event. You don’t want a conga line dance when you’re establishing a new partnership, right? Save that for retreats.

2. Set A Theme

Creating a theme sets a domino effect that will help you plan out the event easily and quickly, and will mean one less pill to take to cure that incessant headache, says Gold Bee CBD founder.

Going by a theme will also help staff and employees get motivated to join since a theme would be a slight homage to Halloween, and will give them the perfect excuse to dress up.

Another neat trick is setting the mood in the office. Doing so will provide anticipation for everyone until the day of the event.

3. Check If You Need External Help

After deciding on a theme, your next mission is to check how many people would be in attendance. This will give you an idea as to whether you’ll be needing external help, such as hiring a security team to ensure everyone’s safety once the bar opens. Or maybe an event coordinator to take the organizing out of your hands.  

Other types of external help include catering, presentation, lighting, and so on. If a large number of people are attending, hiring external service will help you control the crowd.

4. Find A Venue

A common mistake when planning for a corporate event is booking a venue and finding out at the last minute that it can’t accommodate the number of people participating . Another complication is finding out parking is too far away or similarly can’t fit all the attendees’ vehicles. 

Find a venue AFTER deciding if you do or don’t need external help. Otherwise, you may find yourself crowding a tiny area, and that would just take ‘invasion of personal space’ to a whole new level. 

An often overlooked detail of the venue is the comfort room. Check if the venue has ample room. The biggest turn off to board members or a new partner is seeing a line outside this area – it will reflect poorly on your company.

5. Plan An Event Follow-up

An event follow-up doesn’t solely involve checking if people have enjoyed the event. Sure, you can add that to the list, but you should also check if you’ve generated leads with potential partnerships or cultivated existing relationships more. Calculate how much the cost is per lead to gauge if it was worthwhile. 

While an internal post-event follow up would be hard to measure financially, you can gain insights into where you stand in the eyes of your employees. This can also help your board members or stakeholders get the same understanding and close the gap between employees. 

That being said, let’s jump into the action.

9 Fun Corporate Event Ideas

If you search for corporate event ideas, you’ll get many results that can feel overwhelming if you see 35, 70, or even 100 event ideas. In this post, we’ve clustered them to help you plan without disrupting your event’s overall objective.

1. Themed Events

These are very popular with events, the most common being black tie themes. If you want your event to be different, you can pick one from the list below. 

Most themed events would dangle prizes to encourage employees to join. Popular awards would be best dressed, most unique, and the doppelganger.

• Game of Thrones

If your staff claim they haven’t watched this show, then they’re living under a rock. This can be a big hit to your company but can also backfire fast- imagine the chaos with a lot of Daenerys and Jon Snows. This can work for an event with fewer employees to even out the characters. 

• Tarantino Movie Party

Who doesn’t have a secret admiration of the warped mind of Tarantino? If you need a theme that can click on both the employees and the board members, then this is your go-to theme. From the classic Pulp Fiction to the widely popular Kill Bill, you’ll indeed have a fun night with this event. 

• Cinema Experience

If you have a large number of employees and the mentioned themes above seem short on characters, try a cinema experience theme. Have your pick on 50’s Hollywood glam, or iconic movies such as Seven, The Shining, GoodFellas or The Shawshank Redemption. 

If you want to be different, your theme can focus on sitcoms. You can even hold a poll weeks before the event to help decide what sitcom the majority prefers as a theme for the event.

2. Sports Events

Need to get out of the office to get rid of work stress and tension? A good ol’ sports event will do just the trick.  

• Basketball

Nothing beats a good sports event like basketball. If your employees are up to it, you can have cheerleaders, too. Assign teams to provide entertainment during half time and others to come with food and drinks. 

• Football Golf 

Also known as footgolf, it’s a sport where players kick a soccer ball into a cup. Like golf, you want to put the ball into the cup in as few shots as possible. By combining two sports, this creates a fun activity for employees whether they are a fan of sports or not. Unlike football, women of all ages can have fun participating as they try their luck good-naturedly shooting the ball into a cup. 

• Sumo Wrestling

There’s no question, sumo wrestling is an enthralling sport. What with the skill, acrobatics, speed, and power involved in engaging in it. However, wearing mawashi, or the loincloth, could be a deciding factor for whether the employees would want to join. 

How do you turn this into a fun activity? Use an inflatable sumo wrestler costume. Assign two teams to compete against each other, and watch the fun begin for the players and audience alike. 

3. Team Spirit Events

While sports events may bring out everyone’s competitiveness, you may opt to lift the morale of employees and encourage their team spirit. Hosting games that promote team collaboration results in better productivity the following weeks after. It also makes inter departments work together seamlessly. 

• Jigsaw Puzzles

Employees tend to look at corporate events differently. Half of them look forward to the occasion and what games are in store while the other half looks forward to relaxing and watching the fun unravel in front of them. 

Jigsaw puzzle challenges can be utilized to push the employees’ collaborative skills. Separate them into teams and have three subgroups under each team. One subgroup will have the task of assembling the jigsaw puzzle. Another has all the puzzle pieces, and the third subgroup will be given an image of the completed puzzle. The subgroup with the completed puzzle’s image can describe the photo but will not be permitted to show it to others. The two subgroups can have five jigsaw pieces at a time where they can trade pieces with the subgroup that has the full stash. 

This will bring out their communication and strategic skills that will allow them to demonstrate their talents. This will also show the importance of cooperation within groups. 

• Escape Rooms

With its growing popularity after the movie came out, escape rooms are rapidly becoming part of corporate events. While this activity needs planning and much creativity, you do have the option to book a more suitable venue. 

Either way, members assigned to a team have to work together to escape a room or clear out a level. With different puzzles strewn about in the room, it will give an insight to the staff who has leadership and problem-solving skills. 

• Murder Mystery Night

It’s a themed event where the employees are given character descriptions and have the option to dress up. Some games also include scripts, name tags, and, if you have time to spare, you can create props to match it, too. 

Members will need to work together to solve a make-believe crime that occurs during the party. This is a great game that encourages collaboration with everyone. 

This is excellent, no matter the size of your company. While small businesses out there create these games themselves, there are also free murder mystery night games you can download online.

4. Food and Drink Events

Suppose you’ve settled on booking a venue and want to relax while enjoying food and company. In that case, there are still different ways to host a corporate event with that vibe. 

• Host A Picnic

Pick the right spot and send an email to everyone. Have everyone bring in food or hire a catering service. Make sure you checked the weather before settling on a date. With picnics, you can create fun little games everyone would love while enjoying the weather and company of colleagues. 

The fun part is, you can let your employees bring their family to the event. It’s an excellent opportunity to meet them and get to know them on a personal level. 

• Brewery

Want to get rid of all the formality and the pretense of rubbing elbows that can be had in a fancy dinner? Host your next event in a brewery. You’ll receive positive feedback as employees can relax, knowing it’s casual. Most breweries have planned events and games that will quickly change the atmosphere and get rid of any awkwardness.

As a bonus, you can try different beers without the need for hopping to a bar. 

• Cooking Competition

Unknown to many, employees may have hidden talents. It could be singing, crafting, or cooking. Though counties and states hold cooking competitions, hosting a cooking competition can encourage your employees to show up and join in on the fun. 

This is an excellent idea if your company is short on budget or trying to host a last-minute event. You can focus on just one dish or let them reign free. Added perk: the activity will end on a feast that feeds everyone. 

• Host a Happy Hour Kickback

Nothing beats a long day of hard work, knowing they can kick back and spend time celebrating with colleagues. It’s a simple way to relieve stress without planning an entire dinner party. Not to mention, not having to worry about what they have to wear.

5. Outdoorsy Events

Hosting an event outdoors makes a fantastic event as it gives employees a fresh perspective from the typical cubicles they see. 

• Scavenger Hunt

What’s more exciting than the outdoors? A scavenger hunt. Book a venue, have a couple of staff hide prizes, and watch employees bring out their inner child as they scamper around looking for rewards. 

This is an excellent choice if you have a few parks in your area. It creates a buzz of excitement knowing they’ll find hidden gems in the area.

Don’t have a venue? Hold it in your office. Just prepare for the running that’s about to ensue. 

6. An Inner Kid Event

Not everyone can participate in a scavenger hunt, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have fun, too. 

• Adult Coloring Books

Adult coloring books became a sudden rave as they’re compact, and you can bring them anywhere to relieve people’s stress. By hosting an adult coloring book event, you are hitting two birds with one stone. 

7. Unorthodox Events

Corporate events don’t have a rule book. There are other events you can host for your company without the need for the usual party. 

• Laser Tag

You know you haven’t outgrown laser tag. And why should you? It’s a fun activity that both kids and adults can enjoy.

Hosting a laser tag event not only brings out the camaraderie in employees but also creates collaboration between teams. 

• Treasure Hunt

Whether you plan on using a big venue or just your office space, treasure hunting will surely be a fun event to look forward to. You can customize clues to make it more unique, and as a bonus, have your managers hold clues. This can help inter departments mingle together and even help managers and employees get acquainted. 

• Adult Sized Ball-Pit

These would make adults feel like kids again. This is great even for small businesses. As long as you provide drinks and a ball pit, nothing can go wrong. Watch as everyone leaves with a big smile and get feedback from being thoroughly happy with the event. 

• Board Game Tournament

Hosting a board game-themed event can include a mix of classic and indie games. And if you want to scale it up a notch, try a life-sized board game. 

• Karaoke Night

Who doesn’t love karaoke? You can easily hire packages for your company. Gather a list of songs from everyone and watch the office get excited – some of the employees who join in may even surprise and you may end up discovering hidden talents along the way.

• Creating Custom Phone Cases

How do you start getting the office excited about the event? You do it through competition. 

Have your employees team up to each come up with the most creative design of your company’s logo. Everyone in the office will get to vote for the winner. The winning design will be printed and given to all staff members. 

That logo design can also be used to commemorate the event you’re celebrating. That will give you an excuse to give them to your customers, suppliers, and business partners as promotional gifts. 

Are promotional products worth your investment? Read this post to find out.

8. Indoor Events

Suppose the weather is unpredictable in your city and so you’d rather hold an indoor event? That’s doable, try any of the following ideas to steam up your indoor event. 

• Indoor Hoops

If you’re having a hard time looking for a venue that will have game machines, you can book them separately. Rent a variation of different arcade games. Indoor hoops are always a hit for indoor events. Attendees can compete against each other and try to score as many points before the timer runs out. 

• Arm Wrestling

Nothing says indoor sport like arm wrestling. And since you only need a single surface, you can easily hold this event indoors.

9. Virtual Corporate Events

With the global pandemic, many businesses have turned to working remotely as an alternative course of action. This doesn’t mean you have to cancel your event, though. With a little creativity, you can hold corporate events virtually. This can be a great distraction and help battle your team members’ feeling of isolation. 

• Online Team Bingo

This is a fun online game where everyone can participate. You can hop on a call or send the game board to your team. Allocating prizes can boost their engagement. If cash prizes are not allowed, you can also offer non-tangible rewards, such as a virtual trophy or titles. 

• Virtual Pub Crawl

A pub crawl is done by drinking in multiple bars during a single night, for those of you who don’t know. This is feasible when there are bars within walking distance. 

With a virtual pub crawl, there’s a designated hour or hours involved. Participants who wish to join should purchase a ticket days ahead of the event. Then, during the event, they will receive food and drinks from different restaurants and bars. Some can be quite creative by providing puzzles. Once answered, they can then be entitled to receive food and drinks from the next bar.

Not only is this a fun game your team would love, but it will also help sustain the livelihood of small businesses in your area. 

• Photo Challenge

Photo challenges are a great way to keep your team busy and give them something to do aside from work and being at home. The fun thing about photo challenges is you can run this every day for a whole week. You get to assign one challenge where everyone can join in. 

There’re a lot of free photo challenge ideas you can get online. You can tweak these and adjust them to make sure everyone can join despite being stuck at home.

Creating A Great Company Culture

Achieving a well-cultivated culture means your company values are apparent in your everyday interactions, and not just something the boss hangs a plaque about in one of his office walls.

Holding corporate events will allow you to look at the status of your company culture, giving you insight as to whether or not you need to make changes. Remember that companies with an ideal working environment and vibe plays a vital impact in attracting excellent candidates to join your organization.

Building an influential company culture is unique to each organization. You can cultivate yours any way you choose, as long as it’s true to your company’s core.

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Bhushan Lele

Bhushan spent the last 15+ years building businesses and learning what really matters to customers. At Custom Logo Cases, we help brands turn everyday tech accessories into high-quality, on-brand marketing tools.