Organizing a company outing or team event yourself: components, prices, and budget
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
A staff day stands or falls on short activities, clear rules, and enough prizes. This is how you put together a program for 24 people, with a materials list and a budget of around 200 euros.
You can recognize a staff event that doesn't work by one thing: a group of people standing in a circle looking at each other while someone explains what they're supposed to do. There's no material, no teams, and after twenty minutes, half of them are looking for a place to sit down. What almost always works is the same: short segments, clear rules, something tangible to participate with, and a prize that no one takes seriously but everyone wants to win.
You don't need to hire an agency for this. With an afternoon of preparation and a few hundred euros worth of materials, you can put on a day that scores better than a hired program. Below you'll find the structure, materials, and budget.
First, calculate backward from the time, not the activities
The most common mistake is wanting to do too much. A three-hour afternoon practically includes: half an hour for arrival and coffee, four thirty-minute segments, and half an hour for the awards ceremony and closing remarks. Nothing more fits, because between each segment there are five minutes of "where do we go now?".
Therefore, first determine your numbers:
Number of participants — determines how many copies of each game you need.
Number of teams — keep teams to four to six people. With eight, half won't participate.
Number of segments — as many as the number of teams, so everyone is busy at the same time and no one waits.
With 24 people, you make five teams of almost five, so you need five segments. That's the calculation that determines the rest of your shopping list.
Activities that can be used both indoors and outdoors
Choose activities that can be explained in ten minutes and where you can count points. Skill is allowed, but luck must play a role — otherwise, the sporty department will win everything and the rest will drop out.
Activity
Why it works
Product
Price
Petanque
Outdoor, everyone can participate, little explanation
Five activities cost a total of €59.75. Count on one set per activity, plus one spare activity to keep on hand in case it rains or an activity finishes earlier than planned.
The indoor program: cards, chips, and a table
If it rains, or if the afternoon continues into a social drink, the focus shifts to the table. A 99-in-1 Game Set with Dice and Checkers Board for €14.95 covers a large part of what you need in one box, including a score pad. For card games, Mini Poker Playing Cards (54 cards) at €1.95 are cheap enough to buy five right away, so each team has its own game.
If you want a poker round or a game with stakes without money, use chips. Poker Chips 50 pieces - 6 colors cost €9.95, just like the variant with 25 chips in 6 designs. Chips are also useful outside of card games: give each team a starting capital and let them bet on each activity. This makes the final score more exciting than just adding up. An Automatic Card Shuffler for 1 to 2 decks for €12.95 is a gadget, but it does take the hassle out of a long card round.
For a group that doesn't know each other well, UNO Flex Card Game for 2 to 8 players (€6.99) is a safer choice than a game with many rules: everyone knows it, and you can join halfway through.
The prize table: small, funny, and something for everyone
Prizes don't have to be expensive, but there should be enough of them. The rule of thumb: one prize for the winning team, plus something small for every participant. Nothing kills the atmosphere faster than three people with a prize and twenty without.
For a group of 24 people, a realistic list looks like this:
Item
Quantity
Amount
Five game activities
1 set per activity
€ 59.75
Card games and chips
5 × playing cards + 2 × chips
€ 29.65
Participant prizes
24 × keychain at € 1.99
€ 47.76
Team prizes
6 × mug at € 8.00
€ 48.00
Decorations for drinks
2 × balloons, 2 × shot glasses
€ 11.90
That's about €197 in materials, or just over €8 per person — excluding food and drinks. Most of it you'll reuse next year: game materials and chips don't wear out. Only the prizes are bought new each year.
Three things that will save you on the day itself
Print the rules for each activity and place them with the materials, so you don't have to explain the same thing five times. Assign one person per activity to keep score — not yourself, because you'll be walking around. And buy batteries separately: game materials that run on batteries often come without them, and an empty card shuffler at the crucial moment is a minor disaster.
Need materials? Check the collections Games, Sports, Keychains for prizes, and Party Supplies for decorations. Not sure how much you need for your group size? Email the number of participants and your budget to info@verpakkingdeals.nl — and we'll help you come up with a suitable list.
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