The Future of Work Events: Team Building and Corporate Event Industry Trends in 2024

In the evolving landscape of corporate events, hybrid and virtual formats have become pivotal for uniting remote teams and meeting the growing demand for inclusivity, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Looking ahead to 2024, virtual corporate events will replicate the engagement of in-person events through immersive activities like the Virtual Master of the Tasks, with funny and entertaining games suited for online participation.

The enduring appeal of virtual events, even post-pandemic, allows companies to deliver engaging and meaningful corporate events remotely. Virtual corporate events such as conferences and team building activities aim to bring global and remote teams together and foster communication, collaboration and employee satisfaction.

Virtual events will also continue to be integrated into in-person events as the business landscape evolves and people expect more inclusivity, flexibility and cost-saving options. The hybrid event model blends the best of both worlds and offers companies unprecedented opportunities to deliver a memorable and accessible experience. Beyond overcoming geographical constraints and responding to the demands of a modern audience, hybrid and virtual events provide cost-effective solutions and reduced environmental impact for companies.

In 2024, virtual corporate events promise to engage participants just like in-person gatherings with immersive and interactive activities designed to break barriers and get everyone involved. For example, the virtual team building game Virtual Master of the Tasks, created and delivered by GOTO Events, challenges your audience with a selection of hilarious and fast-paced games designed for online participation, allowing participants to play in front of their computer. This team building activity is suitable for both small and large teams, featuring a comedic host who will entertain the crowd and cultivate the perfect competitive atmosphere.

Traditional conference team building events are a thing of the past. In 2024, companies are expected to embrace creative and interactive experiences to foster connections between participants, such as the Wall Street Winners, an immersive and hands-on live team building game of stock trading.

Conference ice breakers, energisers and team building events are employed by many event organisers to foster connections between participants. Traditional formats focus on straightforward verbal communication to build connections, such as the “Introduce Your Partner” exercise where participants pair up, take a few minutes to learn about their partner’s background, interests and experience, then introduce their partner to the larger group. While this approach can still be effective, the trend of experiential conference ice breakers, energisers and team building activities in the events industry prevailed in 2023, and it’s expected that companies will increasingly embrace interactive experiences in 2024.

Experiential corporate events represent a more creative way to spend your 2024 team building budget by incorporating immersive or hands-on elements such as gamification and active participation that not only strengthen immediate team bonds, but foster a deeper understanding of teamwork, problem-solving and communication and develop skills that extend beyond the event itself.

With the help of GOTO Events you can provide the ultimate experiential team building event with Wall Steet Winners. Carefully designed to improve entrepreneurial and group decision-making skills, Wall Street Winners is an immersive live game of buying and selling pretend stock to build the strongest empire. Packed with exciting twists and turns, realistic props and bespoke elements, this team building event will immerse your team in a cinematic ambience, crafting an unforgettable and unique experience for all.

The focus on wellbeing will continue to grow in 2024, with corporate event organisers recognising the imperative of fostering participant wellbeing and mental health. Running a Yoga Class as a team building event or incorporating a yoga session in your conference as ice breakers or energisers enhances focus, satisfaction, productivity, reduces stress levels and increases overall engagement.

While discussions on wellbeing and mental health have gained momentum since the onset of the pandemic, the corporate events industry is set to amplify its focus on these crucial aspects in 2024, recognising the imperative of fostering participant wellbeing and mental health. This trend is especially relevant for work events such as team building, workshops and seminars.

Integrating wellbeing and mental health activities into events not only enhances employee morale and satisfaction but also contributes to a healthier, more resilient work environment. By prioritising these initiatives, companies can experience improved productivity, reduced stress levels, and increased overall employee engagement, fostering a positive and supportive organisational culture. Within conferences, wellbeing ice breakers and energisers help your audience relax and get mental clarity to help them be present and immersed in your conference.

A popular wellbeing and mental health team building activity that is flexible to incorporate in your corporate event is Yoga Class. GOTO Events can help you put on a professional yoga class guided by a certified yoga instructor who can tailor the session to any group size, room layout and physical ability. A 45-minute yoga class has several immediate benefits such as improved posture, increased energy levels and focus, stress reduction and boosted mood. Longer term, this activity fosters productivity, satisfaction and a healthy work-life balance. We predict that beyond 2024, integrating wellbeing into corporate events will become more than a trend but a strategic imperative, ensuring a healthier, happier and more productive workforce.

In 2024, sustainability stands as a pivotal element, not just a passing trend, helping to preserve the planet and educating participants on eco-friendly practices. The vibrant corporate event landscape encourages integrating sustainability creatively, promoting memorable experiences while emphasising environmental responsibility. Some sustainable team building events to consider this year are LEGO workshops and Junk Funk.

More than a trend but a critical element for preserving our planet, sustainability remains paramount in 2024. Within the events industry, sustainable practices become not only a responsible choice but a strategic commitment towards minimising environmental impact and fostering a greener, more conscientious approach to event planning.

Here are some ways to adopt sustainable practices when organising a corporate event:

Embracing sustainable practices in event planning reduces ecological impact, can be more cost-effective and promotes a positive brand image associated with social and environmental responsibility. In the evolving landscape of the corporate event planning, sustainability can be integrated in creative ways to provide memorable experiences and emphasise environmental responsibility. Making sustainability the theme of your corporate event serves as an educational platform, enlightening participants on eco-friendly practices.

Sustainable team building activities ideas include creating music together using repurposed items like pans and buckets or running a LEGO workshop. Don’t worry, we can help you plan a sustainable event by providing you with all the necessary equipment, including reused LEGO sets and Junk Funk instruments for each event, ensuring a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution.

Personalised events are a key trend in 2024 for increasing engagement, satisfaction and the overall impact of your event. Depending on the size of your event, you can use event personalisation in different ways and technology will play an important role in enabling personalisation. For team building events, Kidnap Your MD is a personalised experience to involve your team into the thrilling world of kidnap, espionage and ransom.

Tailored experiences are a key trend this year, as one-size-fits-all solutions no longer suffice if you want to increase the impact and resonance of your event. A personalised event will increase audience engagement and satisfaction as the experience feels more meaningful and relevant to the participant.

In the corporate event industry, personalisation can be integrated in your event in different ways. For small corporate events, you can use personalisation to fine-tune your event and provide a unique experience that caters to a close-knit specific audience. For larger corporate events, personalisation becomes a scalable strategy, using technology to reach each individual and to gain valuable insight into their preferences.

GOTO Events offers personalised team building events, allowing your participants to fully engage and collaboratively work towards a shared goal. Our Kidnap Your MD team building event provides a captivating experience tailored to your team’s specific dynamics, strengths and communication styles. This team building activity will involve your team into a world of  kidnap, espionage and surveillance to find out what happened and rescue their MD.

Technology has always played a key role in advancing the event planning industry. In 2024, event organisers will creatively incorporate Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality into their events. However, simpler and more cost-effective technology will also be widely used in events such as using headphones to hold a silent conference with various keynote sessions in the same room.

Over recent years, technology has become an indispensable force in revolutionizing event planning, offering innovative solutions for virtual engagement, attendee interaction and data analytics. As we look ahead to 2024, the role of event technology will further evolve, presenting diverse opportunities to enhance participant experiences, streamline logistics and seamlessly integrate both in-person and virtual elements for a more inclusive and connected event landscape.

Three key trends in the event technology space for this year are:

For companies aspiring to integrate technology into their corporate events without the need for high-budget investments in tools such as VR, AI and AR, practical alternatives like leveraging simpler technologies can still elevate the attendee experience.

Hosting a silent conference with multiple keynote sessions in the same room is an efficient use of space and resources with the help of technology. With participants listening through headphones, there’s no need for separate rooms. This setup not only maximises your space but also reduces logistical complexities, saving on venue costs and environmental resources.

The silent conference is a unique technology-based conference style idea organised by GOTO Events. We provide all the equipment and technology required and help you organise a successful conference, accommodating various sessions in the same room where all participants use headphones to flexibly choose and switch between speakers. In this case, technology will help you minimise auditory distractions, create a focused environment for each session and allowing for a more inclusive and adaptable event space. Get in touch with our team today to find out more!

Leveraging the power of emotions in events can have a profound impact on your attendees. In 2024, we anticipate a surge in the popularity of event themes centred around nostalgia and we think nostalgia events will become a cherished trend that will delight participants in meaningful ways.

Nostalgia is a complex feeling that usually means longing to relive or reconnect with something positive from your past. It often involves a fond recollection of past memories, events, places, people or cultural elements that hold personal or collective significance.

In the events planning industry, there are plenty of opportunities for organisers to infuse nostalgia into their events. From venue décor to catering, here are some creative ways you can embark your participants on a journey down memory lane:

If you want to bring nostalgia into your next team building event, here are some classic activities to have fun with your team in an nostalgic ambience that evokes a sense of travelling in the past:

GOTO Events can help you host a fun and nostalgic team building event, packed with timeless English games to get your team active and energised. For a nostalgia team building activity that’s less physically demanding, check out our giant-scale Teamopoly experience, complete with a real jail for added excitement!

From utilising technology to personalise experiences and bring remote audiences together, to leveraging wellbeing and nostalgia, the event industry in 2024 will grow and become more creative than ever. In the corporate event space, experiential and gamified team building activities will be trending such as Master of the Tasks, Under Pressure, Quid Games and Generation Game. Bring on 2024, we can’t wait to see what the team building industry has in store this year!