10 Restaurant Team Building Ideas to Increase Staff Performance & Satisfaction

In the fast-paced restaurant industry, it’s hard to find downtime to foster teamwork and improve communication between employees. However, doing so can help you boost productivity, improve your service, and keep employees happy and satisfied. Here’s how to ace restaurant team building and why!

What Is Team Building for Restaurants?

Team building refers to a variety of activities and events that are used to help a group of people get to know each other better and work together effectively.

For restaurants, it can be anything from hospitality games to team building exercises for restaurant staff. The purpose of team building is to promote good cooperation and increase employee motivation, which is great for a business’s performance.

Why Is Team Building Important for Your Restaurant?

If you’ve never done team building exercises or played games with your staff, you’re missing out. These simple techniques can increase productivity and the quality of your service.

A team that knows how to communicate and work well together will foster a harmonious work environment that even your customers will be able to notice.

Fun team building activities for restaurant staff will improve your employee’s morale. Happy employees are more likely to work hard and stay motivated.

In turn, this will lower staff turnover because employees will feel like they belong to a strong team and won’t think about quitting any time soon.

Plus, team building games and exercises encourage friendly competition, which can be great for the productivity of your restaurant.

Read more: How to Motivate Restaurant Employees and Increase Retention

10 Restaurant Team Building Ideas to Try at Your Next Get-Together

1. Start with some easy restaurant team building games

Not all your employees will feel comfortable bonding with their team members from the start. Some people are more reserved and need some time to get warmed up.

The best way to do that is with some icebreaker games that can set the mood and help people get to know each other better. Here are a couple you can try:

• Paper airplane game: Have everyone write a fact about themselves on a piece of paper, fold it into an airplane, and throw it to the other side of the room. Then, each person will pick a random airplane, read the fact, and try to guess who wrote it.
• What do we have in common: Write everyone’s name on a piece of paper and make a copy of the list for each member of the team. Then, ask everyone to go around the room and find something they have in common with each person on the list, whether that is they both played the piano in high school or have traveled to Argentina more than once.
• Trading cards: Have everyone create a trading card including their name, nickname, and some fun facts about themselves. Then, people have to mingle, trade cards, and ask questions about the other person. The more trades, the better people will get to know each other. At the end, everyone reads the last card they’re left with to the group.
• A place we call home: Bring a large map and ask everyone to add a thumbtack on a location they consider home, whether that is where they were born, where they live, or just a special place for them. After everyone is done, you can ask them to share more about their background or open a general discussion with the entire group based on where the thumbtacks were placed.

2. Try a couple of restaurant team building exercises

Team building for restaurant employees should foster teamwork, so prepare a couple of exercises that do just that. We’ve prepared a few right here:

• The marshmallow spaghetti tower: Divide your team into groups of 4. Give each group 20 sticks of spaghetti, one marshmallow, and some string and tape. Using these materials, they have to work together to create the tallest freestanding tower.
• The egg drop: Divide your team into groups of 5 to 8 people. Using a variety of kitchen materials, each group has to build a structure that will protect an egg from a drop.
• When’s my birthday: Divide your team into groups of 8 to 15 people. Each group has to arrange its members according to their birth months and days, but they are not allowed to speak. They can only communicate using signs and symbols.
• The puzzle challenge: Divide your team into groups of 8 to 20 people. Give each team a simple jigsaw puzzle that they have to complete in 30 minutes. If you want to put a twist on this game, you can mix some of the puzzle pieces between neighboring teams and see how long it takes them to talk to the other team and collaborate to get both puzzles done.

3. Include fun restaurant team building activities

Ultimately, team building activities for restaurant workers should also be fun. Otherwise, your employees will see it as work, and that’s the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.

Here are some fun activities you can try on your next team building retreat:

• Who am I: A simple, fun game where everyone writes a bunch of names of famous people on pieces of paper, you shuffle them, and then you all take turns drawing a name, sticking it to your forehead, and asking questions until you guess who you are.
• Rock, paper, scissors tournament: This may sound silly, but it will be a fun time for everyone involved. A low-effort activity where everyone competes at rock, paper, scissors until there are only two people facing each other in the final showdown.
• Wink murder: Everyone on the team is a civilian, except for one assassin. The assassin’s goal is to take out the other players by winking at them without the others seeing. The other player’s goal is to try to figure out who the assassin is.
• Minefield: Divide the team into pairs of two and place around 20 small kitchen objects around the room. One person in each pair has to be blindfolded and the other has to lead them while avoiding the minefield.

4. Organize a scavenger hunt

Who doesn’t love a good scavenger hunt? One of the most popular team building games for restaurant staff, this works particularly well in a larger space that employees can explore while trying to find the next clue.

You can also expand the scavenger hunt to include the area around the restaurant or even the entire neighborhood. Don’t forget to have a fun prize ready for the winners!

5. Host a food-themed trivia night

Trivia is a simple activity that everyone is familiar with. It’s entertaining, it doesn’t take a lot of effort, and it’s a good activity for a night out with your co-workers.

Since you own a restaurant, you could organize a special trivia night that only focuses on food. From famous foods around the world to popular fast-food logos and staple ingredients in common cocktails.

6. Involve your team in a charity event

What if we told you that you can organize a restaurant team building event and help the local community at the same time? It’s easy if you get involved in a charity run or bike ride with your entire team.

Raising money for charity, whether by participating in local initiatives or throwing your own fundraiser is going to bring you and your team together.

7. Play a fun team sport

Use this kind of activity to help your employees spend more time outside in the fresh air and promote a healthier work-life balance.

There’s nothing that will get the blood flowing and the adrenaline pumping more than a bit of friendly sports competition between your employees or them versus another restaurant’s staff.

8. Consider a local field trip

Take your restaurant team building to the next level by actually traveling with your team. It doesn’t have to be far or cost a fortune, but getting out of the work environment is going to work wonders for their morale.

Not to mention that spending more than a couple of hours together (whether that is a full day or several) also allows you to play more games, do more activities, and get to know each other better.

You might also like: 16 Restaurant Management Tips for Happy Employees & a Successful Business

9. Hold a cooking contest

There is a wide variety of competitions and contests you can organize on team buildings. However, given the industry you’re all part of, a cooking contest would be the most topical and engaging.

Naturally, the chef would have an unfair advantage over the others, so you can get them to supervise the teams. The team that manages to cook the most delicious version of your staple dish wins.

10. Start a monthly or seasonal team tradition

What’s even better than a team building event? A tradition that you can repeat periodically and that will strengthen your bond as a team.

For example, you can go for ice cream every month or go to happy hour to celebrate the start of each new season. You can also think of activities not related to food such as a monthly book club or a virtual coffee date.

Related content: 10 Restaurant Employee Benefits That Keep Service Staff Happy

That’s a Wrap

Restaurant team building can help you increase productivity, boost employees’ morale, lower staff turnover, and improve your service. Take your pick from the activities above to treat your staff to a fun experience.