Team building activities are a great way to increase productivity, boost morale, improve communication, and enhance creativity. They also help individuals form bonds, develop leadership qualities, and polish problem-solving skills. Cooking is both an art form and a science, a craft that requires meticulousness, diligence, and inventiveness. Cooking as a team requires a lot more. It calls for focus on goals, communication, a fair share of contribution from all members, organization, support, synergy, leadership skills, and most importantly, having fun, all of which are essential qualities of an efficient and successful team.
Culinary activities are one of the best tools for team building. While a basic list of activities like baking a cake or brownies, decorating cookies, making pasta from scratch, rolling sushi, a chef teaching you how to make a gourmet meal, etc. sound relaxing and relatively simple, they don’t really polish or bring out the qualities required of a really successful, efficient and goal-oriented team.
To encourage teamwork and team building, activities need to be a little more elaborate and involute. Each activity should contribute to the burgeoning of at least three to four qualities of a buoyant and confident team. Here’s a list of the top five activities related to cooking that can be used in team-building:
- Camp and Cook
- Tapas and Tablescapes
- Cook for a Cause
- Bleu on a Budget
- Ladle Out, but First, Locate
1. Camp and Cook
This activity requires copious amounts of teamwork and problem-solving. Teams are taken to a camp retreat and given a certain number of ingredients each. They must concoct a three-course meal from the given ingredients (which are rationed), but first, they need to set up a camp, build a fire and use their creativity to find things that serve as substitutes for pots and pans. To make things interesting, each team will be given a time limit and a certain theme they need to follow. The team must nominate a team leader among themselves who will assign tasks to other members. To take the challenge a step further, no cellphones or internet devices will be allowed. In addition to the ingredients given to the team, they may use ingredients they can find scavenging around the campsite like mushrooms, wild berries, and even hunted down animals!
2. Tapas and Tablescapes
Teams are divided into groups of four and are tasked with two things: creating sumptuous Spanish appetizers – tapas and setting a visually pleasing table. This activity is bound to bring out the creative side of individuals in the team while also tantalizing their tastebuds! A menu will be provided that will serve as a guideline for the teams, but they may deviate from it as long as the food they make and serve is Spanish. For the tablescapes, they’ll be given a list of items, some of which they can use as is like flowers, candles, etc., and some they’ll need to craft out of raw materials, for example, paint, tree branches, cardboard boxes, wooden planks, nails, and even a hammer! The activity will be timed and be judged on several criteria, including: originality, visual appeal, frugality, taste, and overall expenditure.
3. Cook for a Cause
Compassion and empathy, along with the development of other qualities of a great team, are the main goals of this activity. It not only builds teams but also builds character. Teams are tasked with procurement of ingredients, cooking a meal of choice, and either distributing it to the homeless or sharing it with people in old-age homes or orphanages. Whichever underprivileged faction they choose, they need to spend the day with them in addition to cooking for them. The judges of this challenge will be the recipients of the food. They’ll be given a survey form with certain questions like ‘rate the taste out of ten,’ ‘rate the presentation out of ten,’ ‘on a scale of one to ten, how happy were you with the food,’ and ‘any suggestions you would give to the team.’ The team will also be asked to analyze their performance and give their feedback regarding the activity.
4. Bleu on a Budget
Inspired by the French dish ‘Chicken Corden Bleu’ and the culinary school ‘Le Cordon Bleu,’ this activity requires the team to do three things: generate a financial blueprint, use the blueprint to acquire the ingredients needed to create a Michelin-star meal, make it and serve it to the judges. This activity will be divided into two parts and judged on both; the financial aspect and the food aspect. The aim of this activity, besides the accomplishment of creating something out of nothing, is to promote critical thinking, teamwork, and innovation. The winning team will have dinner with a Michelin Star chef, prepared personally by him at his restaurant. Talk about motivating factors and incentives! Wow!
5. Ladle Out, but First, Locate
An interesting take on the traditional treasure hunt, this activity divides each team into two further sub-teams. One will locate the ingredients and the recipe hidden all over the place, with each clue leading to the next. The other will use the ‘treasures’ to create a culinary experience for the entire team. The team, to complete all the tasks first, will be declared the winner. It’s a fun-filled activity that requires the members to assign and perform almost all Belbin’s team roles, from the thought-oriented to the people-orientation to the thought-oriented.
Conclusion:
These were top 5 cooking team building activities that you can explore with your team mates. Whether it is a corporate team or just a couple of friends hanging out, a sports team, or simply a family looking to have a good time, cooking activities are absolutely fantastic for team building. They are the perfect combination of recreation and encouraging the development of qualities like better communication, mutual trust, increased productivity, and using the individual skills of members for the betterment of the team. If you want to form a cohesive team, increase employee engagement or simply want to thank your team, cooking activities are the way to do it.
