Top 10 company outings: which format suits which group

A top ten of company outings is by definition debatable, because the best outing for a team of eight is the worst for a group of eighty. This list isn't ranked on how fun things are but on something more practical: how likely it is that the whole group will think it was a success afterwards. For each format you'll find which group size it suits, roughly what it costs and where it goes wrong.

What this list is ranked on

Three things determine whether a group considers an outing a success, and none of them is about how spectacular the activity is. The first is whether everyone is busy the whole time. Waiting is the biggest mood killer there is, and it's the reason tournament formats are so disappointing with small groups.

The second is whether you can take part without being good at anything. As soon as fitness, strength or nerve make the difference, part of the group loses motivation within twenty minutes. The third is whether there's room to talk. Outings where people are only ever busy and never stand still achieve little apart from tiredness.

The formats below score highest on those three points. That doesn't make them exciting to read about, but it does make them predictable to book.

The top ten

1. City game through the city centre: everyone busy at once, no fitness needed, and there's room to talk the whole way. Works from eight to well over a hundred participants.
2. Team games day at your venue: the best choice above thirty people, as long as enough activities run at the same time so nobody's left waiting.
3. Pub quiz with your own questions: cheap, works indoors, everyone takes part and it scales from ten to two hundred without the format changing.
4. Murder mystery dinner: food and game blend together, everyone has a role, and the evening has a natural structure. Strong for groups of twelve to forty.
5. Life-size board games: the team spirit of a tournament without physical performance making the difference. Good for groups of mixed ages.
6. Klootschieten (traditional Dutch road bowling) or farmers' golf in the countryside: low-threshold, on foot, and the conversation flows by itself. Ideal for a group that isn't after competition.
7. Crazy 88: a list of tasks the group works through in its own order, so everyone picks their own level without it being noticeable.
8. Cooking workshop with divided tasks: strong for small teams, because the result only works if the parts fit together.
9. Laser tag or archery at your venue: short and physical but without fitness being decisive, easy to combine with drinks afterwards.
10. Casino night or bingo as an evening programme: little effort, lots of interaction, and the only format on this list where people can also drop by without playing.

Which suits which group size?

With up to fifteen people, you choose from the formats where the group works together against a challenge: city game, cooking workshop, Crazy 88, murder mystery dinner. Competitive formats are out because with two teams you don't get any tension. How that works out in detail is covered in the article on a team outing for a small team.

Between fifteen and forty you have the most choice. Almost everything on this list works, and the question becomes what the outing should do rather than what's possible.

Above forty it shifts to formats that scale: team games day, city game, pub quiz. The rest become logistically heavy or have to be divided into blocks, and then you lose the feeling of doing something with the whole group. What else changes above fifty is covered in the article on a company outing for a large group.

What it costs per format

The range for a half day with a host runs from €35 to €75 per person, excluding food and drink. Within that range the differences lie less in the activity than in group size. A pub quiz for twelve people costs more per person than a team games day for eighty, even though the pub quiz is the simpler format.

With us a compact programme starts at €195, and a full set-up with equipment, hosts and several activities costs between €550 and €1,400. Allow for food and drink on top, and for the hours of whoever arranges it. That last item is almost always forgotten and is often the biggest for small groups.

Three formats that rank high on other lists but not here

Escape rooms are in the top five almost everywhere, but they scale badly. Above ten people you have to split across several rooms, and then half the group has had a different experience from the other half. If the format appeals but the group is too big, the alternatives are on the page about an escape room alternative.

Survival and climbing courses score high with the person who chooses them and low with the people who have to take part. They unintentionally select for fitness and for a head for heights, and you only notice once everyone is already there.

Karting is popular and achieves little. People drive in turns, spend the rest of the time watching, and barely talk to anyone other than the people they already spent time with. Fun as an outing, weak as a team outing.

What you get from this

This list is meant for choosing quickly, not for being exhaustive. If you want more ideas broken down by budget and goal, you'll find them in staff outing ideas. If it's mostly movement and action you're after, take a look at an active company outing.

We build these formats to order for groups in Twente and beyond, at your venue or at a place we find. You'll find what that involves on the page about company outings in Twente.