Friday afternoons can be fabulous for your people and good for productivity too.
Take Friday afternoon off and include your employees. You likely cannot take every Friday afternoon off, but a Friday here and there is a good way for leaders to take a break and make time for their people.
Have fun and avoid skydiving.
Teamwork and cooperation is the result of getting to know each other and having some fun as a group. Be sure the activity will reasonably accommodate everyone, i.e., avoid duck hunting, running a marathon, rock climbing, etc. Not everyone is into that.
7 ideas for a Fabulous Friday afternoon:
#1
Bowling and pizza
#2
Professional baseball game at your local ballpark
#3
Lunch and a tour of a local museum
#4
Picnic and outdoor games at a local park
#5
High tech treasure hunt using GPS units followed by a meal and awards ceremony
#6
Barbecue lunch with plenty of napkins
#7
Lunch and a movie that will appeal to most everyone (comedy is good)
Did you notice what is NOT included? 
The following should be banned; meetings about work, reports about work, PowerPoint presentations about work, or anything else about work. Your people may naturally talk about work, but the leader should NEVER, and I mean NEVER, make this a part of the agenda. The number one agenda item is to spend time together as a team performing a non-work activity.
A word of caution.
In the event the leader is a complete jerk, difficult to work with and considered a certified bosshole, Friday afternoon team building ideas will be a waste of time. He will either need to be coached and reformed or a bossectomy will need to be performed. Be hopeful company leadership will choose a better leader next time.
Do you have other ideas for team activities on Friday? Please add your ideas to the comments section.
