Predicting teambuilding trends for 2022

Polling the state of teamwork, Queen’s University once asked a survey of employers about the importance of collaboration and working together as a team. Out of every four employers, three said they would rate this as a “very important” priority. Even with businesses placing importance on teamwork, it can feel unclear as to how these employers can build, exercise and fortify team bonding and collaboration skills. 

The often cited “skills gaps” says less about an employee’s technical expertise in their daily working role, than it is an observation about the missing basics of communication, working as a team, and critical thinking. To recruiters, soft skills like these can be a challenging asset to find on the current job market, especially when education and technical competency are over prioritised. Even when these skills are recruited, companies are too often transparent about the many missed opportunities to collaborate and build up their teams. 

It’s widely understood that a hardworking team is mission critical to the success of wider business goals. To ensure that your team has the opportunity to continue building and bonding in 2022, we have to first predict and review the top trends. 

What Data Reveals About Teambuilding 

In 2022, employers are still searching for teambuilding inspiration, using tools like Google to find and discover what they can do to creatively reinforce collaboration. A broader view of ‘teambuilding’ as a searched-for topic, then, reads both predictably but with a few interesting trends worth exploring. 

In the context of the global pandemic, the predictable increase (100%) in “online team building activities” suggests employers are looking for ways to help remote employees remain connected and engaged. There is a trend of teambuilding becoming more virtual over time, and this is likely to remain the same throughout 2022 as many offices now have hybrid or remote working arrangements. Other variations like “virtual team building” have risen by 40%, showing more interest in collaboration using online spaces and tools. These seem to be gamified, such as virtual “clubs”, trivia nights, or hangouts online where employees can talk about more than their work. 

Interestingly, search around “outdoor team building activities” also rose by 80%. Even though there is still hesitation around social gatherings, peaks in this kind of search typically coincide with government announcements. Where the UK remains fairly safe, and infection rates are lower, the interest grows for outdoor teambuilding. 

Outdoor activities include adventure settings, such as Escape Rooms, which would indicate an interest to return to traditional activities for teams. But these trends have much more to reveal about what we desire from our workforce when we look closer. 

Here are the top three trends for 2022. 

Outdoors Activities Are King

With COVID-19 influencing work and office policies, it would be forgivable to predict that virtual teambuilding would gradually take over. Virtual teambuilding, as delivered by technology, may seem like a valuable and effective way for teams to remain connected, especially when they work from outside the office. But outdoors-based teambuilding is still relevant in 2022, if not the preferred way that employees will continue to create and sharpen their bond.

For employers, outdoor teambuilding is unique in how it offers teams the change to feel energised and relaxed at once. Escaping the office setting, team members can build a bond throughout activities and objectives that are differentiated from their everyday workflows. This is a form of mental exercise, because their collaborative muscles and critical thinking skills will be put on trail, which is harder to stimulate from a keyboard.

Where we’ve see increased in outdoors activities, including attractions like Escape Rooms, employers can tap into the energy of their staff by putting them into a different kind of collaboration with their colleagues. 

The activities can be varied – from joint puzzle solving, to group golf and corporate golf days – and employers can still ensure safety by requiring COVID testing and vaccinations beforehand. Don’t overlook COVID, but plan proactively to deliver teambuilding activities that are safe and fun. 

Teambuilding Becomes Gamified 

Gamification has been identified as a topic related to both physical or online teambuilding activities. This suggests that, unlike traditional outdoors activities, there’s a greater emphasis on elements of friendly competition. Yet, similar to other activities, online games and quizzes can help teams flex problem solving and creative muscles all the same – often grouped into likeminded teams. 

Gamification is an interesting trend that, as long as every employee has access to reliable broadband and the right technology, can be rewarding for your team. The options are varied too, from recreating popular gameshows, to challenging puzzles games, taking your teambuilding online and trialling skills through games can actually help you assess softer skills like critical and analytical thinking. 

Wellbeing Matters 

A related topic to teambuilding, “wellbeing” grew in interest by as much as 200%. Traits in employees seem to have risen in interest too, as searches for “personality” grew (70%) around the topic of teambuilding over the last year. This suggests that employers are investing in the person as much as their resume, skills, and experience. 

The likes of vaccine mandates, commercial instability, and economic uncertainty has caused high turnover for many workplaces. As a result, employee retention is much as priority as ongoing productivity and engagement levels. Teambuilding can facilitate greater enjoyment, productivity, and interest from employees, especially when activities are planned to nurture and encourage relaxation. Golfing days, for example, can be an opportunity for employees to escape the office and relax into a scenic setting for the day. This kind of encouraged downtime is critical to ensure that employees are rejuvenated as much as it can help employees strengthen the bonds between them.