At Team Building Austin, we want to get real about your corporate team building activities. When you hear team building, what do you think? Trust falls, team building retreats, ropes courses, camp counselors? If you’re like many employees, then team building conjures up feelings of dread at the thought of a drab afternoon out of the office.
We’re here to show you that those days of boring team building activities are long gone (and that you can choose a super cool ropes course for your team building and have a killer time!). There are dozens of great companies in Austin dedicated to revitalizing corporate team building activities; in fact, there are so many good options, it can be tough to narrow down your choice to the best one for your business.
That’s where we come in. We’ve put in the hours and the research to find the best corporate team building activities in Austin TX, plus team outings, corporate event ideas, and team bonding options in Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Killeen, Temple, San Marcos, and New Braunfels. No matter what your goals are for your next corporate event, we have the right option for you on this list.
Table of Contents
- The Best Team Building Activities in Austin
- Unusual Team Activities in Austin
- Fun Team Building Activities in Austin
- Team Building Escape Rooms in Austin
- Austin Team Building Events With Food
- Team Building Austin: Frequently Asked Questions
The Best Team Building Activities in Austin
With so many good choices for team building activities in Austin TX, it was tough to narrow the list down to the best. We considered several different factors when evaluating the different corporate event offerings in the city: price, fun, creativity, and overall team building impact. Using these criteria, we came up with two team building activities that rule the rest in Austin: The Great Guac Off, which can be held year-round and Team Building Hero, which offers a variety of great team events for you to choose from. Read more below about these great team outings.
1. The Great Guac Off™
Are you ready for a guacamole making competition that doubles as a team building event unlike one you’ve ever done before? Get ready for The Great Guac Off, Austin’s latest innovation in corporate team building activities. During your team event, your group will be split into smaller groups who are then pitted against each other to see who can create the best guacamole. There will be games, challenges, friendly competition, and the avocado puns of your dreams. Upgrade your afternoon to include a burrito bar (or other catering option) and BYOB margaritas for a great time. TGGO will come to the location of your choice, or you can host your corporate event at the company’s Austin headquarters. Any group size can be accommodated.
2. Team Building Hero
Think of Team Building Hero as an Expedia of team building activities; Team Building Hero is the best company offering a variety of different corporate events and fun group activities for employees. At Team Building Hero, you’ll find great company outings like storytelling workshops, scavenger hunts, food competitions, and museum tours. Bonus: Lock in Team Building Hero as your corporate event provider for the year and receive a discount on all of your team building activities.
Unusual Team Activities in Austin
How do you plan a corporate event for the team whose already done a scavenger hunt, an escape room, and a leadership workshop? You think outside the box! Below we’ve curated a list of the most unusual team building activities in Austin that are sure to surprise your employees who think they’ve already seen it all when it comes to team building.
3. iFLY Indoor Sky Diving
It’s time to get the adrenaline pumping at iFLY, Austin’s indoor sky diving arena. iFLY is unique as far as company outing ideas go, and likely something many of your team members haven’t experienced before. iFLY’s all-inclusive corporate events will have your group experiencing the thrill of a lifetime with an indoor wind tunnel that simulates a real-life sky diving experience, all while working with professionally trained instructors and team building facilitators. iFLY has multiple team building options available, including packages for groups as small as six, to options that include private room rentals, all the way up to buyouts of the entire arena for team building for large groups.
4. Gingerbread Wars
Gingerbread Wars provides a unique take on the traditional company holiday party. Gingerbread Wars will create a holiday corporate event your employees will ask if you can do again the following year! Team members will enjoy holiday trivia and challenges before participating in an epic gingerbread house building competition to crown your office gingerbread champion. Cookies, snacks, and BYOB are all available. Host your company holiday party on-site or at one of Gingerbread Wars’ locations in Austin. Space is limited, so we recommend calling early to book your corporate event, as Gingerbread Wars tends to sell out.
5. Home Run Dugout
If you’re looking for fun group activities for adults in Round Rock, then look no further than Home Run Dugout, which offers indoor batting cages and a high-tech baseball experience. (Think Topgolf, but for baseball fans.) Home Run Dugout will treat your team to an afternoon of coaching from trained staff, who will adjust the level of instruction provided for any skill level. With adjustable fence distance, everyone on your team has a chance to hit it out of the park. The space also includes high-end lounges and a bar area so your group can relax and enjoy cocktails and a delicious meal as employees take turns working on their slugging percentage. Home Run Dugout is a fun, relaxing team outing that will promote team bonding and togetherness.
6. Pedal Barge
Get your exercise and team building on with Pedal Barge’s corporate team building activities in Austin! You’ve seen the group bikes around town that are pedalled while groups enjoy a cocktail; now you and your employees can do the same thing while you enjoy the sights of Lake Austin. Reserve a cycleboat, explore Austin’s most beautiful water routes, and relax with a drink or two. Lunch will be provided by County Line BBQ and the boat will even stop for your group to cool off in the water if it gets too hot! Groups up to 12 can be accommodated; prices start at $94 per person. Pedal Barge offers an unexpected team building event your employees will enjoy.
7. Stunt Ranch
At long last, it’s time to be the hero of your own action movie. Stunt Ranch makes all of the Mission Impossible stuns of your dreams come true. You and your team can jump out of buildings as flames lick your feet, fly off trapezes up in the air, flee from a van that’s about to explode, stunt drive, or just have a good old fashioned foam party for your next corporate event. With all of these options plus dozens more to choose from on the 22-acre land, Stunt Ranch offers a cool combination of fun company outing ideas and death-defying stunts that will get the adrenaline flowing. Your team will have a great time bonding as a team over this shared unexpected company adventure.
8. Host a meetup
As far as unconventional company outing ideas go, hosting a meetup is higher up on the list, but we still think it’s a great option for your next team event. Here’s what we have in mind for this inclusive event that’s meant to thank just about everyone your business works with. Step One: Choose your location. This can be your office, the parking lot, reserving a few pavilions at a park, or maybe even buying out a restaurant or event hall, depending on the weather and whether or not you can host the event outdoors. Step Two: Decide on your guest list. We recommend inviting your employees, their families, and everyone else who makes your company work as well as it does, from your vendors to your suppliers to your clients! Step Three: Plan your activities. We’d advise hiring a facilitator, like the awesome ones at The Great Guac Off, to host a variety of getting-to-know-you and bonding activities that’ll be fun, interactive, and engaging, to ensure your guests have an awesome day coming together.
9. Austin Bike Tours & Rentals
Explore the great outdoors and see Austin in a new way with Austin Bike Tours & Rentals, an unusual team building activity that’s active and adventurous. Austin Bike Tours & Rentals has crafted five different bike tour routes optimized to operate as fun activities for employees. Choose Austin Icons and visit the area’s top landmarks, including the Pedestrian Bridge and Lady Bird Lake, or Downtown Dives (the same tour as the above but with three refreshing beers along the way). Maybe beer isn’t up your team’s alley, but tacos hit the spot; Austin Bike Tours & Rentals has crafted a sightseeing tour that includes stops for tacos. If you want to learn more about the city, then try the Art and Architecture tour or perhaps the Lake, Springs, and Bridges tour to enjoy some scenic natural sites on your next team outing.
10. Help your team treat themselves
It’s about as far from the typical team building retreats as you can get, but the next item on our list is a great way to send a thank you message to your team members. Find a local resort in the Austin area with a decadent spa and treat your employees to an afternoon of rest and relaxation. If you don’t want to travel to the spa as a group, then consider purchasing gift certificates for each member of your team to treat themselves on their own time — and maybe even give them an afternoon off of work to get it done on a day that fits their schedule. It’s not exactly team building in the sense that you’ll participate in trust falls or answer icebreaker questions, but a spa afternoon or gift certificate is a good way to boost morale, happy feelings, and good vibes within your company — and that can be priceless.
Fun Team Building Activities in Austin
At Team Building Austin, we believe that team building must be fun in order to achieve maximum effectiveness. All of the companies below offer fun team building activities in Austin TX that your employees will actually enjoy participating in — and for you, that’s already winning half the battle.
11. Dave & Buster’s
Dave & Buster’s offers a classic team building activity, with the bonus of being a fun corporate event just about everyone on your team should know and appreciate. Take the group for an afternoon of team bonding over bowling, arcade games, and pool. Dave & Buster’s in Austin offers dozens of different games. Prepay for game cards for each member of your group so they can relax and enjoy some games, then plan for everyone to come back together and enjoy some food off Dave & Buster’s full menu. If your need requires it, then you can even coordinate with a Dave & Buster’s event planner to craft a corporate event that’s slightly more elevated.
12. Bowling
Let’s go old fashioned and hit up a local Austin bowling alley for your next company off-site. The best part about choosing bowling for your team bonding event is ease and convenience; your office is likely fairly well located to a local bowling alley and it couldn’t be simpler to reserve a few lanes and order drinks and food once you arrive. If you’re looking for a low key afternoon out of the office that fits within most team building budgets, then bowling could be your go-to corporate event, especially if you’re not interested in having your experience facilitated by team building pros. Bowling is a simple, fun corporate event that will allow your team members to enjoy a few hours away from their desks.
13. Improv with The Hideout Theatre
Book an afternoon with the communication and innovation experts at The Hideout Theatre in Austin for your next afternoon of team bonding. Improv is a good choice for corporate team building activities because it hits on so many of the skills you want your employees to sharpen and put into practice back at the office. Think communication, collaboration, problem-solving, creative thinking, innovation, thinking on your feet (and outside the box!), being more comfortable with each other, and more team building benefits. Your employees will have a good time while being challenged to step outside their comfort zones and improvise on the fly, making this an effective corporate event.
14. Archery Training Center
As far as fun activities for employees go, the Archery Training Center is a cool option for a corporate event. If you have an adventurous team that will enjoy an afternoon of action and activity, then Archery Training Center could be a good choice for your day out of the office. Your team will learn from the experts how to shoot arrows like pros, then they’ll put their new skills to the ultimate test by going head-to-head against each other. The competition doesn’t end there; once the ranking round is over, the Olympics begin and your team will be divided up into smaller groups to see who earns the gold, silver, and bronze. Ideal for teams ranging in size from 10 to 20, Archery Training Center offers a unique company outing in Austin that will promote friendly competition and learning new skills. More info here.
15. Murder Mystery Party
Visit one of Austin’s prettiest vintage buildings from the 1920s and partake in a classic whodunit murder mystery party. Host an interactive game of Clue at The Eleanor with classic cocktails available from the premium open bar. A group of professional actors will guide your team through the mystery’s storyline. Each group will receive a binder with the info needed to crack the case, but only if your employees collaborate, communicate, and work well together. This murder mystery party is an interactive, engaging, and innovative twist on a classic group activity that’s been redesigned and upgraded to achieve optimal team bonding. Pricing starts at $86 per person. More info here.
16. Wise Guy Events
Wise Guy Events hosts corporate team building activities across the United States and around Texas, with several good corporate event options to choose from in the Austin area. Wise Guy Events are known to be fun group activities for adults, with a variety of options to pick from. Some of Wise Guy Events’ team building games include Survivor, Booze Clues, Decathlon, and a business version of Family Feud for your coworkers to challenge each other. If none of Wise Guy Events’ Austin team building activities work well for your group, then you can get in touch with the company to design a custom team building option. More info here.
17. TopGolf
We love TopGolf’s hybrid driving range activity for a fun team outing in the Austin area. Because of the way TopGolf incorporates fun, drinks, and food into activities, even the most ardent golf skeptic in your group will have a good time during your corporate event. Reserve a handle of bays or maybe even one of TopGolf’s private meeting rooms, and you’ll have an easy-to-plan event ready to go for your next company team building activity. Entertain your group or even bring clients and practice your swing, enjoy a cocktail, and relax with some delicious appetizers while enjoying Austin’s beautiful weather. More info here.
18. Groove Labs
Groove Labs offers fun corporate team building activities in Austin. Check out some of their offerings below, like Corporate Rock Stars® with Live Bands, which is good for bigger groups with at least 20 guests. Corporate Rockstars is your team’s chance to play musical superstar alongside the music of a live band with costumes, lights, and great sound. If you have smaller groups with fewer than 20 guests, then you can do the same program but with a DJ instead of a live band. Groove Labs also offers line dancing, animation art, and more. More info here.
19. Austin Detours
See your own city like a tourist with Austin Detours, a full-service team building company with a variety of corporate event offerings. Austin Detours can put together customized scavenger hunts to help your team see the sights of Austin for as many as 100 guests, making it a good option for team building for large groups. Staff can also come to the location of your choice to put together a team building activity. If you need a hand coordinating staffing, logistics, and transportation, then Austin Detours can do that, too. Austin Detours offers a variety of other team building options, including food truck tours, Mini-Olympics, company Jeopardy, and a street art challenge. More info here.
Team Building Escape Rooms in Austin
Escape rooms are a popular choice for team building lately and for good reason. Escape rooms are a high-intensity option that will challenge your employees, encourage them to work together, and fosters creative thinking, problem-solving skills, communication, and teamwork. There are several good team building escape rooms in Austin your employees will enjoy.
20. Austin Panic Room
Austin Panic Room provides an escape room option for teams looking to challenge problem solving and creative thinking skills during a corporate event. At Austin Panic Room, you have the choice to pick from four different escape rooms (or you can mix and match, or do them all!) Each puzzle is designed to last for one hour; your group will need to solve the clues, complete the tasks, and escape before the clock winds down. Austin Panic Room designs their escapades to put your team to the test. These rooms only have a 30 percent solve rate, so surviving the room is a great accomplishment. Not escaping gives your team some things to work on back at the office. More info here.
21. Maze Rooms Austin
Similar to an escape room, Maze Rooms Austin is an optimized team outing designed to focus on several areas of improvement for your employees. Maze Rooms Austin’s escape rooms and challenges are concentrated to improve your team’s stress management, leadership skills, people skills, decision-making abilities, and problem-solving skills. Escape rooms force your team members into situations that reveal their true working personalities, and with that, you’ll gain endless insight into employees’ behavior at the office and how your team can function better and utilize everyone’s strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. Participating in an escape room is the ultimate tool to help come together as a well-oiled team. More info here.
Austin Team Building Events With Food
Food is always an easy way to win people over, and it’s no different when it comes to team building. There are many Austin team building activities with food that also deliver a fun, impactful company outing. Below are some of our favorites.
22. The Great Guac Off™
Are you ready for a guacamole making competition that doubles as a team building event unlike one you’ve ever done before? Get ready for The Great Guac Off, Austin’s latest innovation in corporate team building activities. During your corporate event, your team will be split into smaller groups who are then pitted against each other to see who can create the best guacamole. There will be games, challenges, friendly competition, and the avocado puns of your dreams. Upgrade your afternoon to include a burrito bar (or other catering option) and BYOB margaritas for a great time. TGGO will come to the location of your choice, or you can host your corporate event at the company’s Austin headquarters. Any group size can be accommodated.
The best team building activities in Austin are the right ones for your business.
After reading through this list, you should have a pretty good idea of what fun corporate events will resonate best with your team. If you’re still unsure, then start by making a list of your goals for the day. Are you just looking for fun or do you want to focus heavily on improving two or three workplace skills? Does your team prefer physically active events or would they enjoy something a bit more relaxed? Are you thinking about including food or drinks? Figuring out exactly what you want will help you make the best choice for your company. If you’re still not sure what team building activity in Austin is right for you, then send us a message! We’d love to help. Happy team building! ❤️
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best team building activity in Austin?
The best team building activity in Austin is The Great Guac Off! These team events are creative, fun, and collaborative; plus, you get to eat delicious chips and guac after your employees battle it out for the title of office guacamole making champ.
How many times each year should we hold team outings?
If your budget allows, then we recommend four professionally facilitated corporate events each year — one per quarter! If you can’t work that into your funds, then sprinkle in some fun DIY team building activities at your office.
What has more impact as a corporate event: an escape room or a scavenger hunt?
Both of these team building activities can pack a solid punch. Escape rooms are fun for high-intensity teams that may need to work through some issues with communication or working together more effectively, while scavenger hunts are a good choice for teams who like to get a little competitive.