Corporate Away Day Ideas That Aren't Escape Rooms

If you have been handed the away day, you have probably already found that the internet offers you escape rooms, escape rooms, and a slightly different escape room. Here is a more useful way to think about it.

What actually makes an away day work

The point is not the activity. The point is that people who normally only exchange emails end up talking. That happens under three conditions, and most booked activities fail at least one.

Everyone starts level

This is the big one. If your activity rewards fitness, quick thinking under pressure, or being loud, then the same three people win, everyone else disengages, and the hierarchy you had at nine in the morning is the one you still have at five. Pick something almost nobody has done before.

Turns are short

Long activities create spectators. Short repeated turns create conversation, because people are talking in the gaps rather than watching.

There is a score, but nothing rides on it

Competition gets people invested. Consequences make them defensive. A leaderboard and a bottle of something for the winner is exactly the right amount of stakes.

Ideas that meet all three

• Target shooting. Airsoft ranges, archery, axe throwing. Nobody has done it, turns take two minutes, and there is a natural score.
• Cooking or cocktail classes. Level playing field, and eating together at the end does a lot of the work.
• Craft workshops. Pottery, printmaking. Quieter, but they suit teams that would hate anything competitive.
• Simple outdoor challenges with rotating small teams, so people mix rather than sticking with their department.

What to avoid: anything requiring physical fitness, anything with a long briefing, anything that singles out an individual in front of the group, and anything where the quiet members can hide.

The thing nobody tells you about venues

You do not necessarily need one. Bringing an activity to your own car park, lawn or office means no travel time, no coach, no lost half-day, and a much lower cost. Mobile suppliers are used to it — our range needs a flat 10m × 4m and no power at all, indoors or out.

If half your team works remotely, an on-site activity is also considerably easier to get people to actually turn up for than something an hour's drive away.

Budget

Away day activities generally run from around £250 for something short and mobile up to several thousand for a full facilitated day at a venue. Ours starts at £250, all-inclusive.

Whatever you book, check what is actually included: equipment, staff, insurance and setup should all be in the number, not extras added afterwards.

Getting it signed off

You will almost certainly need to satisfy somebody who was not in the room. Ask your supplier for their public liability certificate and a written risk assessment before you commit, so you are not chasing paperwork the week before. We send both out with every quote, because we know it will be asked for.