We’re just going to come right out and say it. Team building has a bad rap. Trust falls, icebreaker games, and forced group activities tend to do the opposite of what they’re meant for. Instead of actually improving team collaboration and morale, everyone is secretly checking their phones and wondering how long until they can escape back to their desks.
But what if team building didn’t have to be boring? What if instead of awkward exercises, your team could learn real skills, create something awesome… and actually have fun doing it?
Salt Lake City is full of opportunities for hands-on experiences that build genuine connections. No trust falls required. Just people working together to master something new, solve real problems, and maybe discover something new about themselves along the way.
Here are five team building activities around SLC that your team will actually have run doing (and remember for all the right reasons):
1. Hands-on Group Cooking Classes at Salt Lake Culinary Education
There’s something about cooking together that cuts through all the usual workplace noise. When you’re trying to get three dishes plated at the same time, there’s no room for overthinking. You just have to jump in and help each other out. When you plan your team building activity at Salt Lake Culinary Education, teams work together to learn techniques that improve collaboration, culminating in a tasty reward that everyone gets to enjoy.
The experience goes beyond just following recipes. Teams learn to delegate tasks, support each other through challenges, strategize ingredients and coordinate timing. The entire exercise forces them to adjust and adapt when things don’t go according to plan. These are the kinds of skills that translate back to workplace projects, but in a setting where mistakes aren’t a big deal. Plus, everyone leaves with new culinary skills they can actually use at home.
2233 South 300 East, Salt Lake City
2. Build Something That Matters with Habitat for Humanity
Nothing levels the playing field quite like learning to use power tools together. Habitat for Humanity’s Corporate Build Days turn your team into a construction crew, working together on an actual house for a local family.
The work is real and so is the impact. Teams spend the day learning construction skills under professional supervision, from framing walls to installing siding. The shared experience of learning new skills and contributing to a family’s future home creates new bonds, and breaks down office hierarchies in ways that traditional team building rarely achieves.
Habitat for Humanity Salt Lake
1276 South 500 West, Salt Lake City
3. Create Art with Fire at Red Flower Studios
At Red Flower Studios, teams work with molten glass heated to over 2000 degrees, creating beautiful pieces while learning to coordinate their movements and communicate under pressure.
The glassblowing process demands that team members work in perfect sync – one person shapes while another maintains temperature, and timing is everything. This is the type of unique activity that few people have prior experience with, which means everyone starts as a complete beginner. Your group will leave with a beautiful, one-of-a-kind pieces they created together, and a new appreciation for this delicate art form.
339 West 700 S, Salt Lake City
4. Build Furniture Together at Community Woodshop SLC
There’s something deeply satisfying about working with your hands to create something functional and beautiful. Community Woodshop SLC offers group access to top-of-the-line woodworking equipment, where they can tackle collaborative projects that require planning, precision and good old fashioned teamwork.
You might find that some people love measuring and planning, while others gravitate toward cutting and shaping. Every role has a part to play, and each team member learns to appreciate the others’ strengths. These skills help with problem-solving and project management, and results in a tangible, useful object your group can take back to the office.
585 W 3900 S #6 Salt Lake City
5. Find Your Focus at Easton Salt Lake Archery Center
There are numerous qualities that make archery a productive team building activity, that you may not realize at first glance. Archery is less about strength and more about concentration, breathing, and learning from your mistakes. These are skills that are useful both in life and in a workplace setting.
At Easton Salt Lake Archery Center, teams compete in challenges that require patience, focus, and a lot of mutual encouragement. People often discover hidden talents (your accounts receivable guy might be a natural), and the competitive element keeps everyone engaged. It’s a fun, shared learning experience that builds genuine camaraderie through real connection.
Easton Salt Lake Archery Center
575 North John Glenn Rd, Salt Lake City