How to plan a team outing: a checklist and timeline

To plan a team outing, set the budget, headcount and two candidate dates first; then let the team pick between two or three activities, book the venue about three to four weeks out, send an invite with every detail people need, follow up on RSVPs, confirm with the venue two days before, and share photos afterward. The timeline below breaks that into weeks, with a checklist for each step.

The lead times are our guidance for a typical outing of 8 to 30 people. Add two to four weeks for groups over 30 and for anything in December, when venues book up with holiday parties.

The timeline at a glance

When	What to get done
4 to 6 weeks out	Purpose, headcount, budget per person, two candidate dates, hard constraints
3 to 4 weeks out	Shortlist two or three options, poll the team, book the winner
2 to 3 weeks out	Send the invite and ask for replies by a set date
1 week out	Follow up on missing replies, collect food needs from people who said yes, give the venue a count
2 days out	Confirm with the venue, check the weather, send arrival details
Day of	Arrive early, check the space, then enjoy it
Within a week after	Share photos, thank the people who helped, note what to change

Planning something for this week instead? Skip to the last-minute team outing playbook.

4 to 6 weeks out: set the constraints

Answer these before you look at a single venue. They make every later decision faster.

• What's the outing for: a celebration, a welcome for new hires, a break after a hard quarter, a regular get-together?
• Roughly how many people? You need to know whether it's 10 or 40, not 37 or 39.
• What's the budget per person, and does it include drinks and transport? The team outing budget guide has per-person ranges by outing type.
• Which two dates could work? Check them against holidays, launches, quarter-end and the days people are usually out.
• What's non-negotiable? Ask early about mobility needs, people who don't drink, and food restrictions, so you aren't finding out after you've booked a wine tasting.

Accessibility is easiest to get right at this stage. The ADA National Network's planning guide for making temporary events accessible (2015) walks through what to check: parking and drop-off, the route from the entrance, restrooms, seating and how information reaches people before the event.

3 to 4 weeks out: choose and book

Shortlist two or three options that all fit the budget and dates, then let the team vote. Cap it at three; a long list splits the vote and slows the decision. Give the poll a clear closing time and book whatever wins.

Group size changes what works. Under about 15 people, a private dining table, a class or a game venue keeps everyone together. Above 20, choose something that lets people break into small groups and move around; team activities for groups of 20 or more compares options by size, cost and lead time.

When you book, ask:

• Is there a deposit, and what's the cancellation window?
• Is there a food and beverage minimum, or an automatic service charge for groups?
• When do they need the final headcount?
• Is the entrance step-free, and are the restrooms accessible?
• Who is your contact on the day, and what's their direct number?

2 to 3 weeks out: send the invite

The invite needs the day, a start and end time, the address and how people are getting there, what's covered, whether it's on work time, and when you need a reply. A real date and time does more work than it looks: in a 2011 field study in PNAS, employees prompted to note the date and time they'd attend a workplace flu clinic got vaccinated 4.2 percentage points more often than a control group, while noting only a date had no significant effect.

Put the outing on people's calendars at the same time, so nobody books a meeting over it. For wording that gets replies, see how to get employees to RSVP, which includes a template.

1 week out: lock the headcount

• Message the people who haven't replied, one at a time, rather than sending a reminder to everyone.
• Ask the people who said yes about food needs. An open question ("anything you can't or don't eat?") catches more than a checklist. The FDA lists nine major food allergens, with sesame added under a 2021 law effective in 2023; send anything you learn to the venue in writing. The guide to handling dietary restrictions at team events covers this step in detail.
• Give the venue your count, and ask what happens if a few people drop out.
• Sort out travel: meeting at the office and walking over together, a shared ride, or a pin and parking notes.

2 days out: confirm everything

• Call or email the venue to confirm the date, time, count and anything special you requested.
• Check the forecast if any part of it is outdoors, and decide on the rain plan now.
• Send a short note with the address, a map pin, the start time and who to call if they're running late.
• Pick a backup: the nearest place that could take your group if the booking falls through.

Day of

Arrive 15 minutes early, find your contact, check the space and the seating. Then step back. Your job was getting everyone there; adults know how to talk to each other in a good room. Take a few photos, or ask someone else to.

After the outing

Within a week, share the photos, thank anyone who helped, and settle the bill and receipts while they're fresh. Then write three lines for next time: what worked, what didn't, and anything the venue did well or badly. If you keep a running note of your team's constraints, update it now.

Doing this in TeamOutings

Most of the checklist maps to one place in TeamOutings. Create the outing with its type, date and time, a place from your saved locations, a cost per person, and a capacity that everyone can see. Invite a team, or the automatic Everyone team. Run a poll on the activity, date or location (people vote in the mobile app) and close it when you're ready to book. Replies come in as Yes, No or Maybe with an optional note, with a live headcount, and each outing has a chat for "where do we meet?" and a photo album for afterward.

TeamOutings doesn't send reminders or calendar invites today, so the one-week follow-up and the calendar hold are still steps you take yourself.