Team Building in Jersey City
The Jersey City teams we work with aren’t looking for another ice breaker.
They’re looking for better communication, stronger trust, and a more connected way to work together.
When teams step away from their day-to-day for a retreat, offsite, or team-building session, they’re not just trying to have fun. They’re trying to solve something: communication that’s gotten stilted, trust that’s eroded during growth, or the simple fact that people don’t really know each other beyond Slack avatars and Zoom tiles.
Activities like scavenger hunts, trivia contests, or game shows can fill time. But because they rely on competition, they often divide people, reward the loudest voices, and leave half the room on the sidelines. And then Monday comes, and nothing has changed.
Make Believe Works designs creative, psychologically safe team-building workshops for companies across the Jersey City area. Our experiences are playful and deeply human, but they’re purpose-built to shift how people listen, collaborate, and show up for one another — long after the session ends.
Our workshops are non-competitive and talent-agnostic by design. No winners. No losers. No one put on the spot. The goal isn’t performance. It’s connection that carries forward into real work.
Groups: 5–500 · Duration: 60 minutes to half-day · Formats: In-person, hybrid, or remote
Areas served: Jersey City and the surrounding area, including Downtown Jersey City, Exchange Place, Newport, Journal Square, Paulus Hook, Hamilton Park, Hoboken, and nearby communities
Corporate Team Building in Jersey City
Our workshops are designed for groups doing real work together — whether they’re part of the same department or coming together across roles during moments of growth, change, or alignment.
Jersey City brings together teams from many worlds: startups, finance, technology, healthcare, creative services, and distributed teams connected across locations. Whether you’re reconnecting after rapid growth, integrating new hires, or investing in healthier collaboration, our workshops help teams step out of routine and reconnect as humans — not just job titles or org-chart positions.
Every experience is professionally facilitated and tailored to your goals, group size, and context. Nothing is off-the-shelf, and nothing is left to chance.
Trusted by teams at Google, Amazon, Meta, Netflix, Salesforce, Spotify, Stripe, Pixar, IDEO, LinkedIn, Intuit, YouTube, American Express, BlackRock, Johnson & Johnson, P&G, Mars, Mayo Clinic, and Capital One.
If you’re still sorting through what your team needs, we’re used to that. Most conversations start there.
What Makes Our Team Building Approach Different
Effective team building creates psychological safety, encourages honest participation, and helps people understand one another beyond their roles.
Many team-building activities focus on competition, performance, or surface-level fun. While those approaches can be exciting in the moment, they often increase pressure, reward confidence over contribution, and fade quickly once everyone returns to work.
Our experiences are non-competitive and talent-agnostic by design. Everyone contributes without being put on the spot. People don’t perform for one another — they learn with one another. That’s what allows teams to lower their guard, share openly, and gain real insight into how their colleagues think, feel, and work.
The result isn’t just a fun hour on the calendar. It’s a noticeable shift in how people listen, collaborate, and navigate tension together.
Our workshops are especially well suited for:
Team-building sessions for teams that work together regularly, or groups coming together for the first time
Department offsites and planning meetings
Leadership offsites and executive retreats
Company-wide gatherings and annual meetings
Groups navigating growth, change, or reorganization
What Happens in a Make Believe Works Workshop
Make Believe Works workshops are built around creative activities designed by experts in psychology, philosophy, and design thinking. They might look playful (they are), but each one is structured to create the psychological conditions where trust, vulnerability, and genuine connection can actually happen — without forcing disclosure or emotional performance.
Here’s one example of what that looks like in practice.
During a leadership retreat, a tech team participated in our Storyline activity. They drew portraits of one another under constraints that guaranteed the drawings would “fail” — no looking at the paper, switching hands, eyes closed. The drawings were terrible. Everyone laughed.
Then came the second part. Each person titled someone else’s portrait based on a story they’d just heard about that colleague.
One senior engineer, known for being quiet and analytical, received a portrait titled: “The one who builds bridges when no one’s watching.”
She teared up. So did half the room.
Later, the VP told us, “That’s the moment the retreat actually started. Before that, we were still performing for each other.”
That’s a pattern we see often. Once people stop performing, real work can finally begin.
Examples of Our Creative Team-Building Activities
EMBLEMOTTOS
People create art pieces for each other after swapping personal stories. Explaining their creations is simultaneously playful and profound, surfacing what colleagues value and how they see each other beyond roles.
STORYLINE
Everyone draws each other under constraints that guarantee failure becomes joyful play. Through personal storytelling they then title each other's "failed" portraits, finding unexpected beauty and honoring what they've learned about each other in the mess.
HOMEGROWN HEROES
Teams share the superpowers they've developed in reaction to life’s challenges—qualities like resilience, empathy, or determination. Then they combine their powers to create a single superhero, celebrating the invisible strengths that usually go unspoken.
Every Make Believe Works activity is:
Professionally facilitated by experienced hosts
Accessible and engaging for a wide range of personality types
Adapted to your goals, whether that’s trust-building, onboarding, or reconnection
Why creative activities work when talking doesn’t:
When people create together, they lower their defenses (“it’s just art”), share through story instead of analysis, and see one another as humans rather than job titles. The activities might look simple. The facilitation is what makes them powerful — and what turns a meaningful moment into lasting change.
Explore more of our 20+ activities and the psychology behind them →
Meetings, Celebrations, and Culture-Building Gatherings
Meetings, offsites, and celebrations are rare opportunities to strengthen trust and shared momentum — not just fill time or entertain.
Quarterly meetings, department offsites, leadership retreats, and company celebrations work best when they reinforce how people collaborate and communicate. Our workshops help teams use that time well by building emotional muscle memory and meaningful connection.
Whether you’re gathering in Jersey City or hosting a retreat nearby, our workshops integrate seamlessly into your agenda and leave teams with insight they carry back into real work.
“Make Believe Works brings creativity and joy to the team building experience. But the real magic happens later when you see the impact the sessions have on participants and the way they connect with each other.”
— Mollie West Duffy,
Author of No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work
Team Building in Jersey City FAQ
What group sizes do you support?
From small leadership teams to large all-hands. Share your headcount and goals, and we’ll recommend the best format.
How long are the sessions?
Most workshops run 60–90 minutes. For offsites, we can extend to half-day or stack multiple activities to fit your agenda.
Do you support hybrid or remote groups?
Yes. We offer team-building experiences designed specifically for in-person, hybrid, and fully remote teams.
Do you provide food or alcohol?
Nope. We only focus on what we're good at: designing and facilitating the team-building experience itself. But this is New Jersey — there are plenty of great options nearby.
Are your workshops facilitated or self-guided?
All sessions are professionally facilitated. We don’t offer self-guided kits or drop-in experiences.
Are your workshops a good fit for introverts or quieter participants?
Yes. Our workshops are structured, non-competitive, and talent-agnostic, which means everyone can participate without being put on the spot. Introverts often tell us they feel more comfortable and more genuinely included than in traditional team-building activities.
What does facilitated team building in Jersey City cost?
Pricing depends on group size, session length, and goals. Our work is a premium investment, reflecting the expertise, customization, and lasting impact our clients expect when they invest in meaningful team development.
Where do sessions take place?
We come to you — offices, offsite venues, conference spaces, and retreat locations across Jersey City and the surrounding area. For virtual sessions, we host on Zoom or your preferred platform.
We’d love to help your team connect and thrive.
Tell us about your event or goals and let’s make a plan.
You can also always reach us at:
hello@makebelieveworks.com
What Participants Are Saying:
“Make Believe Works reinvents connection and development with its unique, fun, engaging and highly impactful workshops. Most recently, their ‘Super-Secret’ activation facilitated what our team called ‘the most meaningful & fun’ virtual get-to-know you’s they’ve ever participated in. We can’t wait to work with them again!”
— Naomi G., Director, Business Planning & Strategy, American Express
"I usually dread team building activities, but this was different. The facilitation was magical and made all the difference. I sincerely enjoyed the process and learning so many new things about my colleagues. Thanks for pushing me out of my comfort zone. Absolutely want more of these."
— Amy O., Design Manager, Spotify