If you’re here, you’re probably planning a corporate event and want it to be fun and memorable (as it should be!). The best company event ideas bring people together, boost team morale, and remind everyone why they like working with each other in the first place. Whether you’re celebrating a big win, wrapping up the year, or need an excuse to get out of the office, we’ve got ideas that’ll have your team talking for weeks, months, and even years.
At Workhorse Coworking, we’ve hosted everything from holiday parties to corporate off-sites, and we’ve learned a thing or three about what makes corporate events work. Spoiler: it’s not the great coffee, but that certainly doesn’t hurt.
Want to skip ahead? Here are our favorite company event ideas:
- Photo Booth Party
- Cocktail (or Mocktail) Class
- Game Day Showdown
- Murder Mystery Night
- Cooking Class
- Trivia Tournament
- Volunteer Day
- Gift Exchange Games
- Escape Room Challenge
Why Corporate Events Matter So Much Right Now
Employee engagement in the U.S. just hit its lowest level in a decade. According to Gallup’s 2024 research, only 31% of employees feel engaged at work—and that disengagement is costing the global economy nearly $8.9 trillion annually. Trillion. With a big T.
But it’s not all bad news. The same research shows that employees crave connection, clarity, and feeling like people at work actually care about them. Corporate events, when done right, are exactly that. They’re not a “nice to have”—they’re a need to have, a strategic investment in your company culture and your people.
Remote and hybrid work has made in-person events even more critical. When your team isn’t bumping into each other at the coffee machine every day, intentional opportunities for connection become essential. A well-planned company event can do more for team bonding than a hundred Slack messages ever could (we know. We use Slack ourselves!).
Choosing Your Event Theme
Before you dive into planning, take a beat to think about what you want this event to accomplish. Your goals, as it were. Are you celebrating a milestone? Building relationships across departments? Saying thanks after a grueling quarter? The best company event ideas align with your goals.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
What’s the vibe? Casual and fun, or polished and professional? (Both are great—just different.)
Who’s attending? A small leadership team has different needs than a 50-person all-hands.
What does your team enjoy? If half your people are introverts, maybe skip the karaoke. Survey your crew if you’re not sure.
Pro tip: don’t underestimate the power of food and drinks. A well-stocked happy hour or catered lunch goes a long way toward getting people to relax and connect. (And if you’re worried about running out of food—don’t. A good rule of thumb is one pound of food per adult and a half pound for the kiddos.)
The Best Company Event Ideas
Ready for the good stuff? These are tried-and-true company event ideas that encourage teams to bond, laugh, and maybe discover hidden talents (who knew Dave from accounting could mix a mean Old Fashioned?).
Photo Booth Party
Nothing says “we’re having fun” like a photo booth. Set up a station with props, backdrops, and maybe a ring light for professional glow. Photo booths work beautifully as an add-on to holiday parties, milestone celebrations, or end-of-year gatherings. Bonus: everyone leaves with a memento, and you’ll have content for your company’s Instagram for months.
Want to take it up a notch? Hire a photo booth vendor who offers custom frames with your company logo, GIF capabilities, or instant social sharing.
Cocktail (or Mocktail) Class
Bring in a mixologist to teach your team how to craft a signature drink (or two). Cocktail classes are interactive, social, and give people something to do with their hands—which, let’s be honest, makes networking way less awkward. Offer mocktail options so everyone can participate, and consider creating a “company signature cocktail” that you can serve at future events.
This one’s especially fun for smaller teams or leadership retreats where you want people to let their guard down a bit.
If you’re local to Edmonds, the mixologists at Kelnero, Daphnes, or Bar Americano could be for hire, and Scratch hosts lots of great classes in their space at Salish Crossing.
Game Day Showdown
Tap into that friendly competition we all kinda crave. Set up stations with classic games like cornhole (we have a set at Workhorse!), giant Jenga, or card games, or go full-on field day with relay races and team challenges. You can even theme it around a sporting event—think Super Bowl party or March Madness brackets.
Game days work for groups of all sizes and energy levels. Introverts can hang back and play cards while the extroverts battle it out in cornhole. Everyone wins.
Murder Mystery Night
This one’s a crowd favorite for a reason. Murder mystery events get people out of work mode and into character—literally. You can hire a company to run the whole thing, complete with costumes and scripts, or go DIY with a boxed game kit.
Murder mysteries are fantastic for team bonding because they require collaboration, communication, and a little creative thinking. Plus, watching your CEO interrogate the “suspect” is genuinely hilarious.
Minute to Win It Games
If you’re leaning into fast-paced fun, you can’t go wrong with holiday-themed (or anytime) Minute to Win It games. These activities usually require lots of open space and minimal setup—meaning you don’t have to miss out on the merrymaking. Try Spoon and Ornament Races, where guests attempt to balance an ornament on a spoon while trying to move faster than their competitors, or Marshmallow Madness, a contest to see who can transport these gooey goodies the fastest from one bowl to another using only a straw.
We have several ideas in our blog, 9 Work Christmas Party Activities for Adults.
Cooking Class
Few things bring people together like food. Book a group cooking class (Table for 12 is a great local option!) where teams work together to prepare a meal, then sit down and enjoy it together. Many culinary studios offer corporate packages with team-based competitions (best pasta sauce wins!).
This is an excellent option for professional development disguised as fun—cooking classes naturally encourage employees to communicate, delegate, and problem-solve under a deadline. Sound familiar?
Trivia Tournament
Trivia nights are low-lift but high-impact. Divide into teams, come up with punny team names, and battle it out across categories. You can hire a trivia host, use a platform like Kahoot, or have someone in-house MC the whole thing.
Make it memorable by including company-specific trivia (“What year did we land our first major client?”) alongside pop culture and general knowledge. Gift cards make great prizes—everyone loves a little incentive.
Volunteer Day
Want to boost morale and do some good in the world? Organize a volunteer day where your team gives back to the community together. Whether it’s a beach cleanup, packing meals at a food bank, or building bikes for kids, volunteering creates shared purpose and meaningful memories.
Research consistently shows that employees who participate in corporate volunteer programs report higher job satisfaction. It’s good for your people, good for your community, and good for your company culture.
Need some ideas for which local organizations could use your support? The Hazel Miller Foundation is a great resource for Snohomish and King County.
Gift Exchange Games
Nothing brings out friendly competition like a good gift exchange. You’ve got options here: White Elephant (where stealing is half the fun), a Heads or Tails exchange (flip a coin—heads picks a new gift, tails steals from someone else), or a Favorite Things exchange where everyone brings three low-cost items they can’t live without. We’ve got a whole list of 10 gift exchange ideas if you want to dive deeper.
Escape Room Challenge
Escape rooms are basically team-building exercises wrapped in a puzzle-solving adventure. Teams work together to solve clues, crack codes, and “escape” before time runs out. It’s high-energy, collaborative, and reveals a lot about how people communicate under pressure (in the best way).
Many escape room venues offer corporate packages, or you can bring in a mobile escape room experience to your event space.
Workhorse Event Space
Speaking of event spaces, if you’re looking for a venue in the Edmonds area that’s flexible (all of our tables are on wheels!), well-equipped, and far from boring, we’d love to chat.
Workhorse’s 1,500-square-foot main space can transform from a productive coworking community space to a party-ready venue easily. We’ve got A/V setup, flexible seating, a small kitchen for food prep, underground parking, and—most importantly—a team that wants to help you pull off something great. Pssst, we keep twinkle lights up all year round (they add to the ambiance, you know?), so that’s one less thing on your list.
Our space has hosted everything from corporate retreats to holiday parties to baby showers, and we bring the same hardworking attitude to events that we bring to everything else. Need help finding caterers or florists? We’ve got recommendations. Want some stress-free holiday party hosting hacks? We’ve got those too.
Book Your Corporate Event Here
Ready to start planning? Reach out to us to talk about your vision. We’ll help you figure out the logistics so you can focus on the fun stuff.
Community for Every Type of Coworker
At Workhorse, we’re more than a coworking space—we’re a community. Our members are entrepreneurs, remote workers, small business owners, and creators who understand what it means to work hard and celebrate harder. Curious about what membership looks like? We’ve got options for everyone.
Workhorse Community Events
We host our own regular events—from happy hours to lunch-and-learns—because we believe that connection shouldn’t be an afterthought. These are genuine opportunities to meet interesting people, learn something new, and take a break from the grind. Check out what’s coming up.
Visit Our Space
Never been to Workhorse? We’d love to show you around. Our space has tons of hard-working materials with stories to tell—from tables made from shipbuilding factory wood to kitchen counters crafted from Eastern Washington bleachers. Every design decision has been made with intention, care, and a commitment to supporting the uncommonly hardworking (aka people like you).
Grab a free day pass and come see what we’re all about.
What’s the most memorable corporate event you’ve ever attended? We’d love to hear what made it special!
Pssst. Still on the fence about coworking? Here’s why it might be exactly what you need.
