A lot of people come back from a team building day feeling good. But does that feeling last? And what, specifically, actually changes — in how people work together, communicate, and collaborate — once everyone is back at their desks?
After facilitating over 8,500 team building events across Melbourne, we’ve had the privilege of watching teams shift in real time. We’ve also gone back and asked them, weeks and months later, what stayed with them.
Here is what they told us.
The problem that most team building doesn’t solve
Many traditional team activities are enjoyable in the moment — a cooking class, a trivia night, a casual lunch. But enjoyment and genuine team change are two different things.
The teams that tend to see lasting results are those who shared an experience that required them to actually need each other. Not just sit near each other. Not politely take turns. But genuinely depend on one another to solve something they couldn’t solve alone.
That’s a subtle but important difference — and it’s the foundation of how Urban Quest’s team building activities are designed.
What really changes — in the words of Melbourne teams
1. The “awkward phase” between colleagues disappears faster
One of the most consistent things we hear from organisers is that their teams — particularly newer hires or cross-departmental groups — struggled to break the ice through normal day-to-day work.
Rexa Golez, Product Domain Lead in Engineering Technology at Jetstar, described what drove them to book:
“The main thing was to do an activity outside work that would uplift the camaraderie and team spirit. At work it’s a different environment.”
Workplaces carry structure, hierarchy, and pressure. Those things don’t disappear, but stepping outside them — even for two hours — creates conditions where communication happens more naturally.
By the end of their Urban Quest event, Rexa noticed something specific:
“It creates that comfortability with everyone to talk to you and to share ideas.”
And crucially, that comfort didn’t evaporate when they returned to the office. Once you’ve navigated Melbourne’s CBD together, solved an augmented reality clue under time pressure, and celebrated a win as a group, the barrier to approaching a colleague is simply lower.
“It helps you know the person more… and it makes it easier to work with them afterwards.” — Rexa Golez, Jetstar Technology Team
2. People discover strengths in each other they didn’t know existed
In a workplace, roles are clearly defined. The engineer writes code. The account manager talks to clients. The logistics coordinator manages the warehouse. These lines are efficient — but they also mean people rarely see each other operate outside their lane.
Team building disrupts that, and the results can be surprising.
At Pryda (a subsidiary of ITW), organiser Anita Weller deliberately paired up team members who didn’t know each other well. Her reasoning was straightforward:
“Because we’re in small groups and we can pair people together that don’t know each other as well, it just has a lasting effect… just how people got along and it has ongoing effects for the team.”
Nelson, a warehouse team member who attended the same event, echoed this:
“A lot of us work remotely. I’m in the factory every day, but a lot of us work from different offices. So it was nice to put some faces to names and spend more time with people we don’t normally get to spend a day with.”
The team also noticed something important happened during the challenges themselves: hierarchy stopped mattering.
“We listened to each other pretty well, didn’t let ourselves get stuck, kept moving and trying different things. Everyone listened to everyone, let everyone have a say in the answer… It didn’t matter about different roles and hierarchy.” — Nelson, Pryda Warehouse Team
That is a dynamic that is genuinely difficult to create in a meeting room. But it emerges naturally when a group faces a shared challenge with no pre-assigned “right answer.”
3. Cross-departmental silos start to break down
For HR managers and team leaders, one of the most common frustrations is teams that technically share an organisation but operate in parallel — rarely connecting, rarely collaborating spontaneously.
Michelle Todaro, HR manager at eSuperfund, used Urban Quest specifically to address this. With departments across accounts, IT, and operations, her goal was to get people mixing who didn’t normally interact.
Her assessment afterwards:
“You can see the difference in the team vibe and the noise level from when we first arrived at 3:00 to now at 4:30 — everyone’s buzzing and chatting, talking about running around, following each other, and trying to eavesdrop on other teams. It was really funny.”
What changed wasn’t just the mood. It was the interpersonal map — who people now felt comfortable approaching, asking for help, or having a casual conversation with.
“You get to know people on a personal level. When you’ve shared an experience like this, it really helps to bond team members — and that’s something we really need.” — Michelle Todaro, HR Manager, eSuperfund
Her final advice to other organisers considering whether it’s worth it:
“Just do it. It’s great fun. Everyone loved it! No matter your age or ability, Urban Quest makes sure everyone can contribute.”
4. The effects last — sometimes for over a year
Most team activities produce a post-event glow that fades within a week or two. But the teams that come back to Urban Quest — and many do, repeatedly — tend to report something different.
Pryda’s Anita Weller, who has brought her team back multiple times, said it plainly:
“We have used you before, and we like that your challenges are about using your brain and not about embarrassing yourself out on the street. No public singing, no running too fast unless you really want to. It’s just about using your brain a bit and figuring out puzzles and things along the way.”
The repeated bookings tell their own story. ExxonMobil has run four events. BDO has run four. Performio has run four. Pryda and Solar SG have each returned for a second event. These aren’t organisations that would keep spending their team activity budget on something that doesn’t deliver.
The reason these effects persist is tied to what the experience creates: genuine shared memories, a better understanding of how each person thinks under pressure, and the knowledge that your colleagues are capable and fun to be around. Those things don’t disappear when Monday arrives.
5. Even the quiet and shy people engage — and that changes team dynamics
One of the things we hear most consistently from organisers is that they were worried about one or two people in the group who tend to hang back in social situations. And then those same people end up being some of the most engaged participants on the day.
Adam, an Engineering Manager at Pryda, reflected on what the competitive format brought out in his team:
“We talk a lot about mindset, an aggressive growth mindset. That was very much today — focused on the goal and getting there as fast as we can.”
Michelle from eSuperfund noted the same inclusive quality:
“You might not be good at one component, but you might be great at another. Everyone plays a part in getting the team over the line.”
When someone who normally operates on the edges of a social group gets to be the person who cracks the critical clue, the team sees them differently. And they see themselves differently, too.
Why the format matters
The outcomes above don’t happen by accident. They emerge from a specific type of design — experiences that require genuine collaboration, reward lateral thinking, and create just enough pressure to make winning feel meaningful.
Urban Quest’s tech-powered, Amazing Race–style challenges are built around exactly these principles. Teams of four to five navigate Melbourne’s CBD, Docklands, or your own venue using smartphones and augmented reality — solving clues, completing challenges, and reading each other in real time.
Unlike passive entertainment, or activities that split people into audience and performers, every person has to actively contribute for the team to succeed. That’s what creates the outcomes described above.
Available formats include:
- Ocean’s Eleven — outdoor CBD challenge
- Questbusters — Docklands exploration
- Black Friday Quest — fully indoor, weather-proof
- Dull Breaker — conference energiser
- True Detective — custom on-site, at your venue
- Mission Impossible — virtual, for remote teams
Frequently asked questions
How long does the effect of team building last?
It depends on what the activity creates. Events that produce genuine connection — where people discover something real about their colleagues — tend to have effects that last months. Events that are simply entertaining tend to fade quickly. Pryda’s organiser reported effects lasting well over a year from a single Urban Quest event.
What if some of our team members are introverted or reluctant?
This is one of the most common concerns we hear. Urban Quest is specifically designed so that every personality type can contribute — logical thinkers, creative types, navigators, and strategists all play a role. Quiet team members frequently become the most engaged participants once the competitive format kicks in.
How does this differ from a regular social outing?
A social outing creates enjoyment. A team building experience creates shared challenge, shared problem-solving, and shared success. The latter produces much stronger interpersonal bonds because it requires people to genuinely work together — not just be in the same room.
What size groups work best?
Urban Quest works for groups from as small as 6 to several hundred participants. Smaller groups tend to produce deeper connections; larger events create a high-energy competitive atmosphere. Both deliver strong results.
Ready to see it for yourself?
If you’re an HR manager, team leader, or event organiser in Melbourne looking for a team building experience with outcomes that last beyond the day, we’d love to help you plan it.
View our corporate team building activities →
Or hear more real team stories from organisations across Melbourne.
Urban Quest has delivered over 8,500 team building events across Melbourne for organisations including Jetstar, ExxonMobil, BDO, Medibank, DoorDash, and many more.
All quotes in this article are taken directly from participant and organiser interviews.
