Team building is engaged for wildly different reasons, whether to help remedy disengagement, culture loss, disconnection between hybrid teams or to reinforce a shared organisational identity post-M&A. Yet without inclusive and considered planning, team activities risk reinforcing the very divides they are intended to address.
While most organisations are undoubtedly well intentioned, evidence suggests many are missing the mark. Team Tactics’ survey of 1,000 UK office workers found that companies routinely overlook the needs, preferences and values of a diverse workforce when planning team activities.
Only half of respondents felt their most recent team activity was designed with neurodivergent individuals in mind, while 53% believed it accounted for physical disabilities. Meanwhile, just 53% agreed their last work event aligned with employees’ religious beliefs, and only three in five felt it adequately catered to colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Getting this wrong comes at a cost. When employees feel excluded or overlooked, it can lead to disengagement, resentment and a weakened sense of belonging. These outcomes affect not only individuals but organisational performance more broadly. By contrast, research by Onvero found inclusive organisations benefit from better staff retention (3.76 years on average), talent attraction and productivity.
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Where are we falling short?
In many cases, gaps in inclusion stem from uncertainty or discomfort. People often want to approach differences carefully and sensitively, but fear of getting it wrong can lead to conversations being avoided altogether. While often well meaning, this silence can prevent essential adjustments from being made.
With neurodivergence and physical impairments, many conditions aren’t immediately visible or outwardly noticeable. An estimated 70-80% of disabilities are invisible, meaning individuals may require support that is not obvious to others. Unless employees feel safe and comfortable expressing their needs, they are unlikely to receive the support they need.
Oftentimes, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity can be overlooked through assumptions about what is considered fun, familiar and comfortable. This might mean that attitudes towards alcohol, food preferences, and religious observance periods are overlooked in the planning of a work event, resulting in employees feeling marginalised or unable to participate fully.
Even unassuming quiz or icebreaker games can pose challenges. If they’re solely focused around British history, pop culture and childhood references, for example, they can alienate colleagues from different backgrounds and reinforce feelings of otherness rather than connection.
A shift in approach
Catering adequately and fully for everyone in the workforce can be difficult, especially where conditions, preferences and religious and cultural identities aren’t immediately apparently or outwardly acknowledged.
To get a better understanding of the diverse workforce you’re catering for, an anonymous survey of the workforce can be valuable to gather needs, requirements, sensitivities and preferences, without putting anyone on the spot. Armed with this knowledge, you can begin to introduce suitable options and make appropriate adjustments.
Considerations might include scheduling events within working hours to avoid penalising working parents or those with caring commitments, and ensuring dates do not clash with religious or cultural observances.
The venue should be chosen with physically accessibility in mind, while ensuring that employees are going to feel safe and comfortable in the wider location or community. Lighting, sound levels and overall sensory impact should be considered, with breakout or low-stimulation areas available to provide respite where needed.
If you’re catering for employees or providing refreshment, make sure you’ve collected dietary needs, allergies and preferences so you can provide adequate choice, and plenty of alcohol-free drink options if alcohol is on offer. Providing genuine variety can make a meaningful difference to inclusion, but this should be paired with clear labelling where possible to help employees navigate the choices on offer.
While far from an exhaustive list, these examples illustrate how thoughtful options and adjustments can be embedded into team activities without drawing unnecessary attention to individual needs.
Planning challenges
Inclusive planning typically becomes more effective when a diverse group of people are involved, yet our research suggests many organisations rely on a top-down approach, with two in five respondents reporting that management alone organised their last team event.
More democratic models are less common but can be more effective. Involving employees through voting, consultation or rotating planning responsibilities ensures a wider range of perspectives are represented. In the case of quizzes, for example, this can mean incorporating questions that reflect broader cultural experiences.
While you’ll likely still need to provide oversight and engage other senior management for final sign-off, the experience itself should be guided by the voices, preferences and lived experiences of the wider team.
Our research also identified practical barriers preventing businesses from investing sufficient time and resource into effective, considered planning. Nearly three in ten respondents said limited budgets would deter them from organising a team event, while 27% said the organisation takes too much time and 22% said they lacked time outside their core role.
Whether planning sits with HR, managers or individuals across the business, senior leaders must recognise that inclusive team building requires time, effort and resourcing. Those responsible should be supported with protected time away from day-to-day responsibilities, allowing accessibility, logistics and inclusion to be properly considered. Ringfencing this time not only improves outcomes but validates the organisation’s investment, ensuring team activities deliver maximum value.
Working towards better outcomes
Effective team building is linked to long-term improvements in communication and collaboration among the workforce, alongside other benefits. But when done poorly, with inclusion as an afterthought, it risks deepening exclusion, eroding trust and undermining engagement.
Ensuring employees are able, comfortable and willing to participate in meaningful team experiences is in the best interests of the business and its people, but making assumptions is unhelpful and counterproductive. Decisions should be based on accurate workplace data and made with an open mind.
Crucially, the process should not end when the event does. Gather post-event feedback surveys to help assess immediate outcomes and pair this with longer-term engagement data and retention metrics for insight into sustained impact. It’s this continual cycle of learning and improvement that helps shape more meaningful, effective and inclusive experiences.
Tina is the founder and managing director of Team Tactics, a pioneering team building and corporate events company established in 1996. With a background in IT sales and later sales and marketing within county cricket, she quickly realised she was at her best when bringing people together. Spotting an opportunity to raise the bar within the corporate events industry, she launched Team Tactics in 1996.
Over the past 30 years, Tina has worked with leading brands including Barclays, Google, Unilever, Visa and Nestlé to design bespoke experiences that strengthen teamwork, enhance communication and boost employee engagement. In recent years, she has also driven the business’ expansion into charity and CSR-led events, enabling organisations to build stronger internal relationships while creating meaningful impact for communities around the world.
