Why one-off fun days don’t build happier teams

For a lot of businesses, December is the month where creativity finally gets invited into the building. There’s a festive lunch, someone digs out a Bluetooth speaker from 2011, and a handful of games or team activities get thrown in to boost morale. It’s well-intended, usually entertaining, and often topped off with sausage rolls that are somehow hot and cold at the same time.

The problem isn’t that these days are bad.

It’s that they are treated like the answer.

One big day out, once a year, is expected to create happier teams, better culture, and even better performance. Yet as soon as January rolls in, the decorations go back in the box, the creative energy fizzles out, and everyone goes straight back to overflowing inboxes and business-as-usual.

If creativity turns up for one day and disappears for the other 364, it’s a gimmick, not culture.

 

Wellbeing in slow motion

We talk a lot about wellbeing in the workplace, but very little of it is about real, everyday experience. You don’t build resilience, confidence, or healthy morale in a single hit. Just like no one gets fit from one run, no team becomes inspired because someone bought mince pies and organised a quiz.

Where wellbeing actually happens is in the small things that repeat.
Tiny breaks to think differently.
Moments when people laugh together without feeling daft.
Spaces that feel good to walk into.

Wellbeing is slow motion: small creative habits, stacked over time, that make work feel less heavy.

 

Creativity is connection with the pressure turned off

In November, our event Create & Connect showed this perfectly. We didn’t run a workshop to “fix” anyone or force business networking over lukewarm coffee. We simply gave people a couple of hours to be curious, relax, make something, and talk without pre-written scripts.

• No corporate icebreakers
• No scary expectations

Just hands-on creativity, which has a brilliant way of lowering barriers and getting people to connect like humans instead of job titles.

What surprised us most wasn’t the quality of the artwork, but the quality of the conversations. When people stop trying to perform, they start talking honestly. That’s wellbeing. And because of that, we’ve already released four new dates for 2026 — not as a one-off repeat, but a regular opportunity to keep that spark alive.

 

Art as everyday wellbeing

The same principle applies to corporate art. This month we also began a new bespoke commission for Amiga Finance. Not as some temporary “nice thing” to admire for a week, but as a visual anchor that will influence their space all year round.

Good art doesn’t just decorate a workspace; it changes how it feels. A thoughtful, creative space can calm hectic minds, encourage new ideas, and remind teams that they work somewhere with personality, not just desks and deadlines.

Art becomes an everyday nudge: “Slow down. Think differently. You’re part of something here.”

That’s wellbeing too — without needing meditation tick-boxes or an app subscription no one opens.

 

Small creative habits beat big staged events

If you want to build a happier, more energised team, you don’t need to wait for the calendar to tell you it’s time for fun. You don’t need budgets for away days or big entertainment. What you need is consistency.

• Try a sketch challenge in the kitchen
• Rotate a creative object on the wall and ask everyone to caption it
• Hold a ten-minute ‘make something’ break once a month
• Bring in art that reflects who you are

Repeat tiny creative habits, and they stack up into culture.

 

The takeaway

One-off fun is still fun. We’re not here to cancel Christmas buffets (though we’d happily cancel the soggy sausage rolls). But if you want a healthier team, a stronger culture, and a more inspiring workplace, creativity needs to show up far more than once a year.

Wellbeing thrives in the everyday.

Create small, regular chances to think differently and laugh together, and your culture will take care of itself.

Want to build a happier, more creative team?

 

We’d love to help — whether it’s through workshops, art for your workspace, or something that simply gets people switched on again.

 

Get in touch if you’d like to explore it.