Team building activities and professional development programs both teach “people skills” such as communication, leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving in immersive and engaging ways. When the two are combined, the results are even more impactful. And when just the right training workshop and team building activity are paired together, the results can be truly remarkable.
Investing in these programs is often tied to performance objectives or addressing a specific business scenario, such as integrating remote teams, bringing together new teams after a merger or acquisition, or dealing with significant business changes. Ultimately, these activities or workshops are organized to produce measurable results in terms of employee engagement, retention rates, customer satisfaction, productivity, or other metrics.
This post will explore how training and team building achieve similar goals in distinct ways, why combining team building with professional development programs is beneficial, which specific professional development and team building activities pair most effectively, and what to do next.
How Training and Team Building Accomplish the Same Goals, Differently
Training and team building provide two distinct paths to the same destination.
Both training and team building strengthen essential people skills, such as communication, collaboration, leadership, and problem-solving. But they do so through different methods and experiences.
Training is structured learning. It’s designed to teach through workshops, guided exercises, and facilitated discussions that build specific skills. Programs like those in Best Corporate Events’ professional development offerings focus on concepts, frameworks, and behaviors that employees can apply directly to their jobs. The learning is deliberate, reflective, and skill-specific, taught by experts who translate theory into practice.
Team building, by contrast, is a form of experiential learning. It’s designed to connect by engaging teams in shared challenges that naturally challenge communication styles, leadership dynamics, and group problem-solving behaviors. The competition & bonding programs develop the same people skills, but through experience rather than instruction. The lessons come from activities, feedback, and the emotional impact of teamwork in action.
In essence, training builds understanding, while team building builds cohesion. When organizations combine them, employees don’t just learn collaboration; they experience it.
Why Combine Team Building with Professional Development Training
Organizations often treat professional development workshops and team building programs as separate experiences – one focused on learning, the other on bonding. However, when combined, they create a powerful synergy that enables employees to both understand and apply essential people skills, such as communication, collaboration, and leadership.
More specifically, effectively combining these two types of activities provides these nine benefits:
- Reinforces Skills Through Practice: Training builds understanding, while team building lets employees immediately apply what they’ve learned in a hands-on, memorable way.
- Appeals to Different Learning Styles: Some employees learn best by hearing or seeing (training), while others absorb information more thoroughly by doing (team building). A combined approach meets everyone’s learning preferences.
- Improves Knowledge Retention: When participants apply lessons in a dynamic environment, they’re more likely to retain and use them back in the workplace.
- Strengthens Team Relationships: Shared challenges and successes during team building create trust and camaraderie, building on the relational benefits of professional training.
- Promotes Real-World Problem Solving: Team activities simulate workplace challenges, encouraging collaboration, critical thinking, and creative solutions in a risk-free setting.
- Drives Cultural Alignment: When combined, training and team building reinforce organizational values such as accountability, high performance, and innovation, both in theory and in practice.
- Boosts Engagement and Morale: Pairing structured learning with fun, interactive experiences helps employees stay motivated and enthusiastic about development initiatives.
- Identifies and Encourages Emerging Leaders: Group exercises reveal natural leaders and collaborative influencers, offering valuable insights for leadership development programs.
- Strengthens Long-Term ROI: The combined approach helps ensure skills don’t fade after the workshop; participants get to see how learning directly benefits their teams and workflows.
In short, professional development builds the skills, and team building brings them to life. Together, they turn workplace learning into lasting behavioral change and stronger, more connected teams.
When you work with a single vendor for both team building and professional development training, you save time and money, ensure consistency, and minimize stress.
Which Specific Professional Development Training and Team Building Programs Pair Superbly?
Here are six sets of team building and professional development programs that pair exceptionally well, along with a brief description of each program and a look at why each pairing is so impactful.
1. Time Management Workshop + SmartHunts®
Time Management Workshop (Professional Development):
- Delivers proven tools and techniques for setting priorities, eliminating time-wasters, and managing workload effectively.
- Includes interactive activities that build self-awareness about time use and productivity styles.
- Perfectly aligned with the pace and decision-making of SmartHunts®, turning action into insight.
SmartHunts® (Tech-Powered Team Scavenger Hunts):
- Teams race through city streets, conference centers, or hotel properties, completing GPS-based photo, video, and trivia challenges.
- Use iPads or smartphones to track progress, submit entries, and engage in live leaderboard competition.
- Fosters collaboration, quick decision-making, and energizing team spirit in a fast-paced format.
Why This Pairing Works
- Real-World Connection: Participants can immediately apply the workshop lessons in a fun and rapid task-switching SmartHunts experience.
- Balanced Energy and Reflection: High-octane team fun demonstrates the benefits of goal setting and workload management.
- Tangible Value: Combines engagement, excitement, and essential time management strategies for immediate workplace impact.
2. DiSC Behavioral Assessment Workshop + Igniting Team Performance®
DiSC Behavioral Assessment Workshop (Professional Development):
- Participants complete an instrument to create an individual DiSC profile, designed to uncover their communication and work style preferences.
- Facilitated sessions explore how different DiSC types interact—and how to adapt for better results. Each type has strengths that contribute to the whole.
- Builds understanding and respect while strengthening team dynamics by aligning behavioral awareness with task and performance goals. Eye-opening!
Igniting Team Performance® (Team Building & Performance Boost):
- An interactive and engaging program that blends competitive team activities with collaborative lessons on communication, leadership, and trust.
- Facilitators identify key insights in real time to draw out lessons that directly apply to workplace success.
- Designed to elevate participant engagement and group synergy while embracing the various skills and styles represented in the group.
Why This Pairing Works
- Seamless Integration: The energy and hands-on experiential learning from Igniting Team Performance create the perfect context for interpreting DiSC results.
- Immediate Application: In the ITP activities, participants see the DiSC results come to life in team interactions, helping to solidify their understanding of style interpretation.
- High Value: Teams leave with actionable strategies that improve communication, collaboration, and productivity.
3. Delegation Styles Workshop + Bridge to the Future
Delegation Styles Workshop (Professional Development):
- Helps team leaders understand their own delegation preferences, including directive, collaborative, coaching-based, and more.
- Introduces a framework to match delegation styles with task complexity and time pressure.
- Provides tools to build trust, accountability, and empowerment through intentional delegation.
Bridge to the Future (Team Building and Organizational Awareness):
- Highly collaborative — participants design and build a bridge strong enough to walk across, symbolizing company goals and team unity.
- Encourages strategic thinking, role and performance clarification, time management, and cross-functional teamwork.
- Produces a one-of-a-kind visual structure representing the group’s collective interpretation of the organization’s mission and vision.
Why This Pairing Works
- Reveals Delegation in Action: The bridge build naturally surfaces delegation behaviors and performance expectations. All roles hold the key to success!
- Symbolism with Strategy: The physical act of building together reinforces responsibility—core principles of effective delegation and clear communication.
- Turns Vision into Execution: Participants move beyond shared vision to learn how to divide tasks, assign roles, and perform with clear expectations.
4. Conflict Resolution Workshop + Escape Room / Who-Done-It Mysteries
Conflict Resolution Workshop (Professional Development):
- Explores common sources of workplace conflict and provides practical tools for constructive communication and mediation.
- Equips participants with de-escalation techniques and strategies for creating a more inclusive and collaborative environment.
- Encourages reflection on tension and team dynamics, which are then brought to life in the forthcoming problem-solving challenge.
Escape Rooms & Murder Mysteries (Problem Solving and Team Building):
- Immersive, puzzle-driven experiences where teams must communicate, collaborate, and problem-solve under time pressure.
- Challenges reveal natural differences in problem-solving approaches, leadership styles, and stress responses.
- Promotes teamwork, creativity, and two-way communication in high-stakes, time-sensitive scenarios.
Why This Pairing Works
- Authentic Application: Teams experience real tension and differing viewpoints during the mystery challenge, creating genuine learning material.
- Emotional Awareness: The workshop channels those moments of pressure into lessons on empathy, listening, and constructive response.
- Sustainable Impact: Participants leave with shared memories and actionable tools for resolving conflict in everyday workplace interactions.
5. Emotional Intelligence Workshop + Game Shows (Corporate Feud, Trivia Blast, or Jeoparody Live!)
Emotional Intelligence Workshop (Professional Development):
- Develops self-awareness, empathy, and emotional management skills that foster collaboration, effective listening, and leadership.
- Helps participants recognize and manage emotional touchpoints experienced during workplace interactions.
- Strengthens interpersonal agility and enhances the ability to navigate various social settings, building a better understanding of oneself and others.
Game Show Team Building (Interactive and Fun Group Competition):
- Fast-paced, high-energy games like Trivia Blast Live!, Corporate Feud, and Jeoparody Live! drive excitement, laughter, and engagement.
- Encourages quick thinking, friendly competition, and spontaneous teamwork while fostering a lively and positive environment.
- Ideal for energizing groups while showcasing communication styles and decision-making under pressure.
Why This Pairing Works
- Real-Time Insight: Competitive moments naturally surface emotions – such as frustration, pride, and enthusiasm – which become opportunities for emotional awareness.
- Balanced Experience: The high-energy fun of the game show transitions smoothly into meaningful reflection and skill-building for self-awareness.
- Lasting Benefits: Participants learn to harness emotional intelligence to improve communication, resilience, and teamwork in the workplace.
6. Meeting Management Workshop + CSR Build (Bike Build Donation® or Any CSR Donation Program)
Meeting Management Workshop (Professional Development):
- Running effective meetings requires excellent planning, structure, and communication skills.
- This half-day professional development program focuses on ensuring meetings maximize the collective energy, commitment, and talents of participants to achieve important goals and outcomes.
- Participants explore strategies to transform meetings from routine gatherings into productive, results-driven sessions that inspire action and accountability.
Charity Team Building Activities (Team Building with Purpose):
- In corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, teams assemble and donate bikes, wheelchairs, or other meaningful items for children, veterans, or community organizations.
- Fosters collaboration with a shared sense of purpose and tangible social impact.
- Creates an emotional connection through service, gratitude, and giving back.
Why This Pairing Works
- From Planning to Purpose: Participants learn to lead with clarity and collaboration during the Meeting Management Workshop, then apply these skills in action while organizing and executing their CSR build.
- Real-Time Application: The planning, communication, and coordination tools from the workshop come to life as teams manage roles, timing, and logistics during the build.
- Meaningful Reinforcement: This pairing combines structure with service, teaching effective meeting leadership while creating an unforgettable experience of teamwork and contribution.
What to Do Next
Whether one of these specific pairings looks perfect for your next employee event or you’d like to challenge us to customize a pairing to meet your particular objectives, contact Best Corporate Events to get the conversation started.
With our acquisitions of SmartHunts® and TrainingPath® in July 2025, Best Corporate Events is now the nation’s largest single-source provider of team building programs, professional development training, and corporate scavenger hunts. We look forward to learning more about your business challenges and demonstrating how we can help move the needle in areas such as employee engagement and collaboration, creative problem-solving, and leadership development.
