NYC team building night day

When I first started producing employee team building activities in New York City almost 10 years ago, I was working for a scavenger hunt company. For anybody who’s done one of these, they’re great – you and your colleagues racing around the city, looking for clues and snapping pictures while scooping up points. These events were almost always done during the day.

When I launched TrivWorks in 2009 as a professional trivia company, however, I noticed something different: this time around, our NYC team building events were being scheduled almost exclusively at night. While we of course produce events at all times of the day (including an upcoming one at 8:30am – oy…) the vast majority are still nighttime affairs.

So the question is: which time of day should you schedule your group bonding event for?

In the morning, people are fresh and ready, full of energy and excited about what’s to come – however, they may also be grumpy, annoyed, or stressed about other work to be done, and this activity is not what they need. Afternoon events are nice because they can be held outdoors, and I like them because they can be integrated with a lunch (ie: doesn’t require people to come in early or stay late). Conversely, these are peak business hours, and things like productivity and client responsiveness may take a hit. Nighttime events are great for letting the staff unwind, and you can also serve alcohol if you like – however, you will inevitably lose people who have to catch trains, etc. People may also be wiped out from a day’s work.

The philosophy upon which I’ve built my professional trivia company in New York City is that the key to a successful group activity is one thing only: a positive shared experience. Like so many other aspects of these events, when discussing timing with clients I always come back to the same themes: what are your goals? What do you want this group to get out of it? Also, nobody knows your group as well as you. Are they morning people? Are they partiers? Are they expecting something similar to what was done last time, or something completely different?

Whether to hold your activity during the morning, afternoon or evening is entirely up to you – however, it is only through intimate knowledge of your specific group in attendance, as well as clearly defining your event goals, that you can successfully determine which part of the day would allow your group to have a memorable, impactful experience.

To learn more about team building activities which can be held day or night, visit https://trivworks.com/employee-team-building/