Top 3 Team Building Activities in San Francisco

We’ve all been there, your boss decides to plan some team building activities for you and your coworkers. Most people are skeptical of team building activities and unsure of their purpose and outcome. Truthfully, team building activities can go either way, they either work or they don’t work. Well, you are in luck because we have put together 3 team building activities that work and 3 that are not so great.

Let’s start with 3 activities that do not work and you should probably steer clear of using.

1. Two truths and a lie– Some people are an open book, but some people are also very private. This activity tends to make people uncomfortable. Also, this is just asking for work place drama; no one needs to guess which statement about you is a believable and not believable.
2. Meditation– This works great for the few people who have mastered sitting still, breathing properly, and know how to clear the mind. But, for the majority of people who have no idea, it causes irritation, an anxious feeling, and possibly more stress than actually being at work.
3. Trust Fall– In theory, sure this is a great trust exercise. In reality, this can go sideways very quickly. Everyone is unique in their own height, size, and shape; let’s not test everyone’s strength by pairing up two people who may sincerely want to catch the person falling but the physics and gravity is against them. Science always wins.

3 team building activities that will work and will have you ready to go back to work with more motivation, a clear head, and great memories with your coworkers.

Team Building Food Tour of The Mission District

1. Food Tours/ Cooking Class– One of the most popular options, food tours and cooking classes both give you and your coworkers the opportunity to clear your mind of work, experience new things, and enjoy a care free event. We recommend Sidewalk Food Tours of San Francisco for walking food tours and cooking classes in SF
2. Doing a Fun community service project– Fun is the keyword here. Volunteer for something such as Habitat for Humanity. You get to collaborate with your coworkers, work with your hands, and the feeling of accomplishment, helping others, and positive moral will all carry over into the workplace.
3. Scavenger Hunt– Who doesn’t love a little competition (as long as it doesn’t get out of hand) between coworkers. Two groups get to use their minds to figure out clues, all while seeing new parts of the city while working together. It’s a great way to get out of the office and out from behind a desk!

Having fun on a team building activity in San Francisco

Now, let’s elaborate more on the best choice- Food Tours and Cooking classes! A cooking class allows you and your coworkers to create something from scratch. It can be both challenging and rewarding; and in the end, it will give you a wonderful sense of accomplishment with your teammates. While cooking together, you and your teammates will communicate, collaborate, prioritize, have deadlines, share expectations, may have some problem-solving, and will evaluate your results just like in a work environment but all while you are laughing and having fun together. Cooking together can create an opening for realizing new skills among peers, creating motivation while you are encouraging your team, and it can help people realize and accept the different work styles that come into play. The best part, you get to eat your delicious creation at the end together!

Pizzeria Delfina on a Sidewalk Food Tour of The Mission District in SF

Food tours are always a fun experience to have with your coworkers. It gives you the chance to get out from behind your desk or home office, and just relax and unwind. It takes away the work aspect so you can bond outside of the office and learn more about each other. They will allow new experiences and new tastes, and it will invite new conversations to the table. There won’t be any small talk or awkward moments here; honestly, who doesn’t love to talk about food! This time outside the office will increase morale and help forge friendships; I mean, you spend half of your day with your coworkers, why not stop calling them coworkers and create friends. These food tours go beyond the actual team building; you can talk about your favorite food places and make plans for a happy hour or dinner to go back and enjoy it all over again!

Food has a way of bringing people together and helping people open up. This is a great team building activity that creates a cohesiveness, brings up company morale, and also forms friendships. Food can be a powerful thing!