Things to do at a work offsite

Grill Master

Cook one thing on the grill for the team. Scored on taste, timing and presentation.

Lord of the Water

The best all-round showing on the water. The boss decides on the last day.

The Class Cup

Whatever the team has booked — cocktails, cooking, pottery, painting — is a competition now. The room marks what everybody made.

The Handicap

Everybody writes down the time they think they will take. Closest to their own guess wins, so the slowest person out there can take it.

The Partner Quiz

Questions answered by the boss's partner in advance. The boss guesses what they said.

The boss's Choice

At the end, the boss awards points for the single funniest contribution to the offsite.

Breakfast Redemption

The best breakfast contribution of the offsite, judged by the team.

Guess Who Said It

Everybody submits one thing about themselves nobody here knows. Sealed until the room is ready, then read out one at a time while everybody guesses who.

Last Year, Defended

Whoever won it last time defends it against anybody who fancies it. Losing it is worth more stories than winning it.

Mystery Chef

Teams get the same small set of ingredients and make the best late-night snack.

Snooker Championship

The tournament at the table, run in the app. A knockout bracket, frames scored a ball at a time, and the best record takes the title.

The Doppelgänger

Find something nearby that looks oddly like the boss and photograph the two of them together.

The Floor

Whatever class the team booked — dance, yoga, boxing — ends with everybody doing it once more, alone, while the room marks.

The Long Way Round

The best photograph taken by somebody who was not trying to win anything.

The Recital

The best performance on whatever instrument the venue has. The team votes on the last night.

The Team Photograph

Each team recreates a famous photograph using only what is in the building. Twenty minutes.

The Terrible Pitch

Sixty seconds to pitch a deliberately dreadful product to the room, with total conviction and a made-up market size.

The Toast

Thirty seconds each, standing up, to the boss. The room marks it.

The boss vs Everyone

Once an evening the boss faces a nominated challenger at something quick — a putt, a cut of the cards, a trivia question, a coin.

Admiral of the Fleet

Get all of the team out on the water before noon on any day.

Advice for the Road

Everybody writes one line of advice for the boss. Sealed until the last meal, then read out one at a time.

Album Cover

The best accidental band-photo of the offsite.

Bad Dance-Off

Head-to-head, deliberately terrible dancing. Applause decides it.

Called Shot

Call the ball and the pocket, then sink it. Five attempts.

Confidently Wrong

Convince somebody, for five minutes, of something about where you are that is completely untrue.

Cross-Table

The app deals everybody a table. Nobody sits with anybody they work with, and the first ten minutes are the whole point.

First Light

Be the first out with a coffee on any morning.

First-Timers

Everybody here for the first time gets paired with somebody who has done it before, and both of them score it.

Golden Hour

The best sunset photograph of the offsite, with at least three of the team in it.

Golden Hour at the Water's Edge

The best sunset photograph taken from the water, with at least three of the team in it.

Hydration Hero

Most visibly committed to water, and to keeping everybody else fed.

Names by Dinner

Half of the team have never met. Know every name, and one true thing about every person, by the first dinner.

No Phone Zone

The longest agreed stretch with phones away, photographs and emergencies aside.

One Memory Each

Everybody puts up one memory of the boss that they do not know anybody remembers.

One-Finger Wonder

Play a tune the team can actually name, using one finger only.

One-Word Movie

Describe a film using one-word clues. Each teammate gets one guess per clue.

Poster Recreation

A photograph recreating a famous film poster using only what is lying around where you are staying.

Question Master

Get three different people to answer a question you asked, while Question Master rules are running.

Quote Board

Collect the funniest out-of-context quote of the offsite. The team votes on the last day.

Session Bingo

A card of the phrases that will absolutely be said in the sessions. Whoever hears most of them wins.

Sing What You Say

For fifteen minutes, everything you say has to be sung.

Stand and Deliver

Stay upright on the board for a full sixty seconds. Wobbling counts, swimming does not.

Story Roulette

Each person adds exactly one sentence to an improvised story. No hesitating past five seconds.

Swap Seats

Never sit in the same seat twice, and never beside the same person twice. Most different tables by the end takes it.

The Best Thing That Happened

Everybody puts up one genuinely good thing from the year that the team had nothing to do with. The room votes.

The Coach Quiz

A quiz for the journey. Everybody puts in one question and nobody is allowed to look anything up.

The Introduction

Pair up across the room, three minutes each way, then introduce the person you were paired with — including one thing you have made up.

The Motion

A committee sits, a completely stupid motion is put, and it is debated properly until the room votes.

The Prediction Sheet

Everybody predicts the result before the start. Sealed until everybody is home and has had a cup of tea.

The Quiet Hour

One agreed hour with no phones, no work and nothing about the wedding, the job or the plan. Everybody gets it or nobody does.

The Quiz Nobody Wrote

Everybody puts in one question they know the answer to. That is the quiz, and nobody had to write it.

The Round Table

Everybody says one true thing about the boss that nobody else in the room knew. The room votes on the best one.

The Rover

The boss shouts for a thing, and everybody goes and gets it. First one back takes it.

The Sealed Prediction

On the first day, one written prediction about the offsite. It goes in sealed and nobody reads a word of it until the last night.

The Summit

Chair a serious debate on a completely stupid motion, until the room agrees a winner.

Two Truths and a Colleague

Everybody submits two true things about themselves and one invented one. The room guesses the lie.

Two Truths and a Lie: The boss

Everybody submits two true stories about the boss and one invented one. The room guesses the lie.

Whose Is This?

Everybody sends one photograph of something of theirs — a desk, a dog, a view, a very old car. The room guesses whose.

Wildlife Photographer

The best photograph of genuinely interesting local wildlife, taken from a respectful distance.

Wrong Hand Hour

Use only your non-dominant hand for harmless tasks, for one hour.

The boss's Table

The boss can call any person over for ten minutes at any point. Both of you score it, and they cannot call the same person twice.

Human Tripod

Be in three group photographs holding exactly the same pose.

Local Colour

Work two words of local slang naturally into the same sentence, five times over the offsite.

Resident DJ

Hold the music for a full hour without a single complaint.

A phone · 5

How Well Do You Know The boss?

A quiz about the boss: childhood, habits, stories, and a few questions their partner signed off on.

The Anthem

Write and record the official anthem of the offsite. Words, tune and production all count.

Five in Ten

Name five things in a category inside ten seconds. Run it as a knockout.

Name That Tune: Humming Only

Hum songs, no lyrics. Teams race to name the artist and the title.

One Song Each

Everybody puts one song on the list and says in one line why. The room votes on the best reason, not the best song.

Something around the house · 10

The Long Flight

Launch a paper plane from the edge. The furthest flight out over the water takes it.

Water Sprint

From the edge out to a marker and back. First three home take the points.

Charades: The boss

Act out people, places and incidents from the boss's life.

Paper Plane Regatta

Build paper planes from identical paper. Longest valid flight wins.

Say It, Draw It

One of you describes a photograph nobody else can see, the other draws it. Neither may ask a question.

Sock Basketball

Three shooting spots, five rolled socks each, one laundry basket.

Telephone Pictionary

Write a line, pass it on, draw what you were given, pass that on. Nobody sees more than the page before theirs.

The 60-Second Speech

Draw a ridiculous topic and speak confidently about it for sixty seconds without stopping.

The Longest Putt

An improvised putting challenge with a soft ball and whatever will do as a target.

A few pounds in a supermarket

Unlikely Expert

A convincing ninety-second lecture on a topic drawn out of a bowl.

A few pounds in a supermarket · 3

The Signature Drink

Invent the drink of the offsite. It has to be one agreed colour. Named, mixed and presented to the room — alcohol entirely optional, the colour is the brief.

A few pounds in a supermarket

Minute to Win It: Cup Stack

Build and collapse a cup pyramid against the clock.

A few pounds in a supermarket

The Hand-Me-Down

Wear something ridiculous but safe, chosen by the team, until somebody else earns it by losing a challenge.

Something bought · 4

Blind Taste Test

Blindfolded, name the sauce, the soft drink or the crisps.

Lawn Game Cup

Whatever lawn game the venue already has — ladder toss, washers, boules, cornhole — run as a doubles round robin.

Hot Sauce Sommelier

Rank mild-to-medium sauces by heat, blindfolded. Genuinely hot ones stay out of it.