Sometimes a company needs to collectively take a break and give its hard-working employees the chance to unwind. Once people get to know each other on a personal level, rather than through the veneer of professionalism and office politics, it can often become easier to work with one another on a day to day basis. And a shared experience can do wonders in terms of bringing people together.

But what sort of day will everyone appreciate? In most companies, there’s such a variety of individuals that it can be hard to cater to everyone’s tastes. It may be the case that some of the typical team building activities you would assume everyone would enjoy may be unsuitable, or perhaps make some members of staff feel uncomfortable. Nothing is worse than putting the effort into a special day for everyone to enjoy, only to find that no one seems to be having a particularly good time.

That’s why it is important to assess all the options available to the company. Decide on a rough budget and shop around to see what’s available. Failing to do this could lead to an embarrassing moment at a later stage, when you realise you’ve missed out on a truly memorable team-building opportunity.

When it comes to deciding which activity to do there are certain "go to" activities that seem to work well in most office situations. One modern classic is paint balling. A company can organise themselves into teams (or death squads), pick up their weapons and get either as tactical or as Rambo as they like. Cue rudimentary military sign language and terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions. Usually there will be a variety of scenarios to play through, such as sieges, capture the flag and sometimes even historic reenactments.

But sometimes the idea of paint balling won’t appeal to certain members of a team. For a more refined day out, a team cookery session can be a great activity, and usually an activity that is universally liked by the group. Corporate days are available for almost all styles of cookery, from traditional English to Thai. This is great way to get teams to gel, whilst simultaneously broadening their culinary horizons.

There are also a variety of rather more unorthodox corporate days that have emerged in recent times. Smoothie making, sumo suit wrestling and even spy days are becoming increasingly popular. Whether you decide to go with a tried and tested day, or something more unusual, team building is an essential part of modern office life.

Allowing for a properly bonded team to form doesn’t make sense only from a HR perspective, but also from a financial one. Studies have shown that people working in offices built on good relationships are actually more productive, with a lower staff turnover.

Team building days are not the only way to build office relationships, but they should form a part of a business’s overall strategy to keep staff happy.