Team-Building Contests Are Making a Workplace Comeback as Burnout Pushes Employees to Seek More Connection and Fun

Written By: Tuhin Sarkar

Tuhin Sarkar

Tuhin Sarkar is a Senior Journalist at Travel and Tour World with more than 10 years of experience in travel and tourism journalism. A post-graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Jadavpur University, he combines strong research, industry knowledge and storytelling expertise to produce engaging, insightful and impactful travel news and fascinating feature stories.

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August 19, 2026 6:21 PM

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Team-Building Contests are making a workplace comeback as burnout pushes employees to seek more connection and fun, proving that simple shared experiences can make work feel less exhausting and more human.

Team-Building Contests are making a workplace comeback as burnout pushes employees to seek more connection and fun. Employees increasingly want workplaces that offer more than targets, meetings and salaries. Therefore, simple contests are gaining attention. Trivia, dress-up days, wellness challenges and team games can bring colleagues together. Moreover, these activities create laughter, conversation and shared memories. Burnout can make employees feel isolated, stressed and disconnected; however, positive interactions can help rebuild engagement. Leaders are also joining the fun, which strengthens trust. As a result, small competitions are becoming a straightforward, low-cost way to create stronger, friendlier and more connected workplace cultures.

Team-building contests are making a workplace comeback as burnout pushes employees to seek more connection, and employers are increasingly discovering that engagement does not always require expensive retreats or elaborate corporate programmes. Instead, simple workplace competitions can create shared experiences, encourage conversation and bring employees together.

However, the trend is about more than fun. Employees facing demanding schedules, burnout and growing concerns about workplace culture are looking for stronger human connections during the working week. As a result, themed competitions, trivia sessions and wellness challenges are gaining attention as practical ways to make workplaces feel more supportive. Moreover, when leaders actively participate, these small moments can strengthen trust, improve morale and create a greater sense of belonging across teams.

Why Are Workplace Contests Making a Comeback?

The renewed interest in workplace contests reflects a wider shift in what employees expect from their professional environment. Salary, career progression and flexibility remain important, yet workers increasingly assess whether an organisation also provides a positive and healthy culture.

Burnout has intensified this discussion. Employees who spend long periods managing deadlines, meetings and constant digital communication can become disconnected from colleagues. Simple activities that interrupt the routine may therefore provide an opportunity to reset, interact and enjoy a different kind of workplace experience.

BoomCloud, an employee engagement platform, has highlighted low-cost activities designed to celebrate staff and create stronger relationships. Its approach centres on recurring experiences rather than relying entirely on occasional large-scale team-building events.

According to founder and CEO Jordon Comstock, employees are more likely to remember moments of shared enjoyment than another routine meeting. A costume contest, trivia challenge or desk-decorating competition can create stories and memories that continue to shape relationships long after the event ends.

What Is Driving Employees to Seek More Connection?

Online workplace conversations increasingly show employees questioning traditional ideas about productivity. Workers are discussing the importance of protecting personal time, enjoying their professional lives and avoiding cultures shaped by poor management or constant pressure.

Recent workplace content tracked by Virlo, a short-form video trend-spotting platform, reflected significant interest in deliberately scheduling enjoyable moments during the week. Videos promoting this idea generated more than one million views, while discussions surrounding toxic managers reportedly rose sharply, reaching millions of views.

The underlying message is clear: employees do not simply want workplaces that demand results; they increasingly value environments where respect, connection and positive interaction are visible.

This has important implications for travel companies, airlines, hotels, cruise operators and tourism businesses. These industries depend heavily on teamwork, customer service and collaboration, often while operating around the clock. A disconnected workforce can affect internal morale and, ultimately, the customer experience. Building stronger relationships among employees can therefore become a practical business priority rather than merely an HR initiative.

Which Team-Building Contests Can Improve Engagement?

The most effective contests are often simple, inclusive and easy to organise. They should encourage participation without creating unnecessary pressure or requiring employees to sacrifice significant amounts of personal time.

Popular options include:

• Themed dress-up days.
• Office trivia competitions.
• Desk-decorating contests.
• Wellness and step-count challenges.
• Employee talent shows.
• Charity fundraising competitions.
• Scavenger hunts and collaborative games.

The value of these activities lies in their ability to bring together employees who may not usually work side by side. A hotel reservations specialist, marketing executive and operations manager, for example, may have limited informal interaction during a normal week. A shared contest can temporarily remove departmental boundaries and create new conversations.

For travel and tourism employers, activities can also reflect the business itself. Teams could organise destination quizzes, airport-code challenges, travel photography competitions or cultural food events. Such formats can reinforce industry knowledge while making participation more relevant and enjoyable.

Why Should Managers Take Part?

Leadership participation can determine whether a contest feels genuinely inclusive or merely becomes another company initiative imposed from above.

When managers join a trivia team, wear a themed costume or participate in a charity challenge, they become part of the shared experience. This can reduce the perception of hierarchy and demonstrate that workplace culture involves everyone.

Comstock argues that employees notice when leaders participate. Visible involvement sends a stronger signal than simply publishing statements about organisational values.

This does not mean managers need to dominate activities. In fact, the strongest approach may involve leaders participating on equal terms while allowing employees to shape the experience. The objective is connection, not management control.

Can Small Contests Really Help Address Burnout?

A ten-minute contest cannot solve structural problems such as excessive workloads, poor leadership or inadequate staffing. Organisations should not present entertainment as a substitute for meaningful workplace reform.

Nevertheless, small positive experiences can complement broader efforts to improve employee wellbeing. Repeated moments of connection may help employees feel recognised and more closely linked to colleagues.

The reason is straightforward: healthy workplace culture is built through everyday interactions. Formal presentations can communicate company values, but daily behaviour determines whether employees believe them.

For travel businesses facing seasonal pressure, staffing shortages and demanding customer expectations, this distinction is particularly important. Small, low-cost initiatives can provide moments of relief and connection, especially when they are voluntary, inclusive and supported by genuine management action.

The cause behind the comeback is rising burnout, workplace pressure and growing dissatisfaction with cultures that focus solely on productivity. The answer is not to replace serious employee wellbeing policies with games, but to add regular, meaningful opportunities for positive interaction. The reason simple contests work is that they create shared experiences without requiring major budgets or complex planning. Employees can meet colleagues outside their normal work routines, laugh together and build familiarity across departments. When organisations combine these activities with fair workloads, supportive leadership and genuine respect, team-building contests can become a useful part of a broader workplace engagement strategy.

The cause is clear: burnout, pressure, demanding workloads and poor workplace relationships are pushing employees to seek more connection and fun. The answer is not expensive corporate retreats alone, but regular, simple activities that encourage genuine interaction. The reason team-building contests work is equally straightforward.

They break routine, create shared experiences and allow employees from different departments to interact naturally. A short trivia quiz, wellness challenge or creative competition can generate laughter and conversation. However, contests cannot solve toxic management or excessive workloads. Instead, they work best alongside fair leadership, employee wellbeing policies and respectful workplace practices that make people genuinely feel valued.

Team-Building Contests are making a workplace comeback because burnout is pushing employees to seek more connection and fun. The trend reflects a wider demand for workplaces that feel supportive, engaging and human. Simple competitions can strengthen relationships, improve morale and create memorable experiences without major spending. Moreover, leadership participation can make these activities more credible and inclusive.

For employers, especially those in demanding industries, small shared moments may help teams reconnect and collaborate more effectively. Nevertheless, workplace fun must support, not replace, meaningful action on burnout. Ultimately, the strongest cultures combine fair workloads, supportive leadership and regular opportunities for employees to connect, laugh and participate together.

Team-building contests are making a workplace comeback because employees increasingly seek connection alongside pay, flexibility and career opportunities. Burnout and negative workplace experiences have strengthened demand for cultures that feel supportive and human. Simple competitions such as trivia, wellness challenges and themed events can create memorable shared experiences at relatively low cost. Their greatest value comes from repeated participation, inclusion and leadership involvement rather than one-off entertainment. For travel and tourism employers especially, stronger workplace relationships can support collaboration in industries where teamwork directly influences service delivery. Contests will not solve structural workplace problems, but when combined with meaningful wellbeing policies, they can help turn everyday work into a more connected and engaging experience.