Your Team Already Has The
Right People
They Just Don’t Know How to Work Together Yet!
Ireland’s Leading Gamified Team Transformation Experience
WATCH THIS VIDEO To
See What Happens
When Teams Learn 10+ Years of Teamwork Skills in 3 Hours
Six competitive games. Six real behavioural skills. One shared language that follows them back to the office. This is what it looks like when team building actually delivers.
Most Team Building is Forgotten by Tuesday. Ours Isn’t.
Here’s why teams who go through the Teamwork Chain still talk about it six months later, and more importantly, still use it.
Gamified for Results
Each of our 6 games is engineered around one real teamwork behaviour (Contribution, Common Purpose, Communication, Collaboration, Connection, Celebration). Participants do not sit through a lesson.
They experience each behaviour under genuine competitive pressure, which is exactly how behavioural learning sticks. The fun is not a bonus. It is the mechanism. Teams leave with a vocabulary for high performance they did not have when they walked in and an experience that makes it impossible to forget.
Live scoring & Leaderboards
Adding more thrills to the day, we feature live scoring and performance visualisations. Real-time data and live scoring is proven to increase team’s engagement by acting as an immediate post-game evaluation, providing concrete evidence of performance and compelling friendly competition between the teams.
Each time the leader board is unveiled, it builds excitement for the next level, motivating your team to communicate and apply the learnings from previous rounds in real time.
Our Original Framework
The 6 Cs of Teamwork is our proprietary framework built from years of research across elite sport and corporate environments. It identifies the six behaviours every high-performing team shares and the six enemies that are silently destroying your team’s cohesion right now (Ego, Insecurity, Assumption, Impatience, Isolation, Indifference). Teams leave knowing exactly what great teamwork looks like, what is getting in their way, and what to call it when they see it.
Tailored Approach
Before the day, we diagnose your team’s actual challenges across the 6 Cs of Teamwork. The script is then built around your specific pain points and a combination of the most appropriate games are matched to get the best outcome for you.
Optional Reflection Rounds then take the energy from the games and apply it directly to the real problems your team is facing right now. You do not just bond. You solve while playing.
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Our Latest Reviews
SWIPE TO SEE
Who We Work With
Is Your Team Leaving Performance on the Table?
Here’s who we’ve built this for and what they stop settling for after working with us.
The Experience
A half-day experience, (or under 3 hours without reflection) where every minute is designed with a purpose. Six competitive games. A proprietary framework. A script built around your team’s diagnosed pain points. Facilitated by two founders who spent years inside the corporate environments you manage, not an off the shelf product facilitated by those who never walked in your shoes The result: a team that leaves the room different from the one that walked in.
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Learn more about our fun, game-based learning experiences, take a sneak peek at our games and find out more about how we design experiences that are made for your team.
about us
The Founders
Niall McCarney
Niall spent six years at PwC watching graduate cohorts arrive with strong academic credentials, extensive onboarding training, but still the systems for how to excel as a team member didn’t always stick. As he moved further afield and watched silo upon silo created through assumption he knew from his time in elite sport there was a fix that hadn’t been exhausted yet, i.e. “Better teamwork” He co founded the Teamwork Institute to empower people with the confidence to apply better teamwork in their corporate environments.
Lynne Bradshaw
Lynne practiced law in the asset management industry both in house and in private practice. She watched talented individuals consistently underperform in teams, not because of skill gaps, but because too many had never been taught how to deal with the pressures, the impatience, the ego, the indifference or the expectations. She co-founded Teamwork Institute to give teams the framework she wished had existed when she was starting out. She designs every experience around what teams actually struggle with, not what looks good on a slide deck, while making the experience fun for all
Stay up to date
Featured Articles
Why Connection Beats Isolation
The spontaneous “craic” isn’t what it used to be. The coffee dock chats are fewer. We are “efficient,” but doesn’t it feel lonelier?
The Missing Link
The standard 5 Cs are often viewed as a “To-Do List” for managers. Did I communicate? Did I celebrate? But a manager can only do so much.
The Science of Fun
At Teamwork Institute, we incorporate games into our experiences because research proves they are the most effective way to encourage behavioural change and knowledge retention.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about the Teamwork Institute? Well, we’ve got answers.
Are you Team Building or Corporate Training?
We’re both! Our Teamwork Chain Experiences deliver engaging team games, live scoring and a live leaderboard that connects every team in real competition. During the experience, we introduce teams to our 6 Cs of Teamwork Framework, the key components of effective teamwork. Our games encourage teams to learn and apply the 6 Cs of Teamwork in real time.
Where will the event take place?
Our events are flexible and can be hosted in a variety of settings. We can work with you to assess a suitable room in your office, or we can help arrange a nearby conference venue that fits your group size.
Who is a Teamwork Institute Event designed to cater to?
Our experiences are designed for teams who must perform together. If your team’s success depends on how well they contribute, collaborate, and connect, a Teamwork Institute event is built for you.
Do you cater to non Corporate Teams?
Yes! While we specialise in corporate teams, our experiences also work for sports teams, community groups, school organisations, and any collaborative group that needs to connect and work together effectively. The 6 Cs of Teamwork Framework applies universally. Whether you’re on the field, in the boardroom, or working together in your local community. Any group that values connection, communication, and high performance will benefit from a Teamwork Institute event.
Read More FAQs
What makes a Teamwork Institute event different from other team building experiences?
We carefully designed the 6 Cs of Teamwork and our Teamwork Chain Experiences to combine energising games, live scoring, a shared language, competition between teams, and connection amongst team members.
Why Game-Based Learning?
Game-based learning is proven to be one of the most effective methods for retaining knowledge and it’s genuinely fun! Most people can recall becoming fully absorbed in a board or card game, even on their first play. That’s because games require players to apply knowledge instantly to solve problems. Research suggests that active “learning by doing” strengthens memory far more effectively than passive listening.
At Teamwork Institute, we’ve designed our games to create friendly competition and full engagement from start to finish.
Are these missions just random games, or is there a structured method?
Our 6 Missions are a structured, story-driven narrative designed to map every activity to a specific component of our 6 Cs of Teamwork Framework. Each mission involves a new component of the framework, and your people “live” the component in question. Our games are designed to overlap with real-life corporate dilemmas, via a fun engaging game! Delivered via research-backed game based learning keeping everyone, from the fresh grads to the C-suite, fully engaged from start to finish. It’s method, not madness.
Our team feels a bit “alone together”. Can your event help?
Yes. Many teams are physically together but feel socially or emotionally disconnected.
Our games and missions help people reconnect through intentional listening and human-first interaction, and then reinforce that connection by working together under shared pressure in later missions.
Will quieter people be comfortable?
Yes. We avoid formats that reward only the loudest voice in the room.
The games are designed so that:
Facilitators can guide the room if one or two people start to dominate
Everyone has a role and a clear way to contribute
Teams do better when they notice different strengths and make space for different voices
How do you make sure the connection lasts after the event?
We cannot promise permanent culture change from a single session.
What we can do is give your team shared experiences, shared language, and our practical 6 Cs of Teamwork Framework. We also build in reflection so teams leave with specific examples they can carry back into everyday work.
Can your event help us communicate & collaborate with more effectiveness & avoid misunderstandings?
Yes. Our games create real-time situations where teams have to share information fast, make decisions together, and adapt when things change.
We build in simple prompts and short reflections that help teams notice when communication was clear, and when assumptions crept in. We do not claim to fix every communication issue in one session, but we can help teams leave with shared examples and practical behaviours they can repeat.
Does your event help teams speak up and listen better?
Yes. We design missions so everyone has a role, information is distributed across the team, and success depends on people sharing ideas early.
Will this just feel like forced group work?
No. The experience is designed to be engaging and purposeful, not “teamwork for the sake of it.”
The collaboration happens because the challenge requires it, and the time pressure makes the trade-offs real. We also keep reflection short and practical, so teams can connect what happened in the game to the realities of work.
Is this suitable for leaders, and does it help create leaders?
Yes. The experience is relevant for people who lead teams, and it also gives emerging leaders chances to step up in a low-stakes, game-based environment.
We do not claim to “create leaders” in a single session. What we can do is design moments where leadership behaviours are visible in real-time: clarifying the common purpose, making space for contributions, communicating under pressure, facilitating team recognition and helping the team adapt when things change. Good leadership is followed by great teamwork. We help teams recognise the leadership required in practice, so it is easier to repeat back at work.
What do you need from us to tailor this to our team?
A short discovery call helps us understand what your team needs.
We typically ask about team size, working pattern, what is getting in the way today, and what stronger connection would enable.
What is the duration of the Experience?
Teamwork Chain Experiences run typically between 1.5 and 4 hours. On top of the core teamwork game experience, the duration depends on how much time you’d like to dedicate to reflection, applying lessons to real-life scenarios, and analysing team performance with our cutting edge live scoring dashboards at the end of each round. We’ll work with you to tailor the timing to fit your schedule.
Does your event track how teams are actually performing in real time?
Microsoft found that gamified, real-time feedback systems increased knowledge retention from 23% to 89%, and 80% of employees say healthy competition directly benefits their performance. Not only do we track it, our cutting edge Live Leaderboard updates after every mission, so teams see exactly where they stand and how every decision shifts the score. Our leaderboard encourages teams to have honest conversations about their performance and adjust their strategy on the fly. The live-scoring connects all teams in friendly competition.
How do you help teams strengthen connection without it feeling forced?
We design the experience so connection is a by-product of doing something meaningful together. Teams share a clear mission and a friendly competitive format, which gives people a reason to talk, decide, and support each other. We include short, structured moments that build connection through good listening and simple conversation. We keep it inclusive so connection builds naturally rather than through uncomfortable spotlights.
How is this different from an icebreaker or a pub quiz?
Icebreakers can create a quick laugh, but they do not always translate into better day-to-day teamwork.
Our experiences link connection to performance by combining:
Short reflection prompts that help teams notice what strengthened connection and what weakened it
A shared narrative and common purpose
Real collaboration under time pressure
We are rebuilding connection after remote or hybrid work. Is this relevant?
Yes. We often work with teams that are rebuilding connection after remote or hybrid periods.
We focus on practical behaviours that transfer back to work, like intentional listening, clear communication, and a shared language for what “good teamwork” looks and feels like.
Is connection really a business problem?
Often, yes.
When connection is low, teams tend to share fewer ideas, ask for less help, and find collaboration harder.
Strengthening connection supports psychological safety, which makes communication and collaboration easier.
How do you teach communication and collaboration without it feeling like a lecture?
We put teams into fast, practical challenges where the impact of asking, clarifying, and confirming becomes obvious.
Facilitators highlight key learning points so teams can take away a shared understanding of what to keep doing and what to avoid.
We have strong individual performers, but work feels fragmented. Can you help us collaborate better?
Yes. Many teams have talented people, but collaboration breaks down when the common purpose is unclear and remains unprioritised or people stay in their lane even when the moment calls for help.
Our missions reward coordinated problem-solving, sharing resources and adapting roles based on what the team needs. We do not promise permanent change from one workshop, but we can create shared experiences and language that make collaboration easier to improve afterwards.
How do you handle collaboration when one or two people take over?
Our games are structured so teams do better when individuals find their voice, contribute with confidence according to their strengths and look for the strengths in their teammates to compliment their weaknesses. We facilitate looking for the strengths in your teammates and yourself, rather than allowing ego to drag a team down a sub-optimal path.
We have a new Graduate Intake. Would your events help cater to their onboarding?
Absolutely! Our experiences are ideal for graduate and intern onboarding. They provide a fun, engaging way to help new hires connect with each other and learn the core teamwork principles that support their integration into your corporate culture.
We aim to provide a meaningful first experience to help new hires understand their own strengths and how to contribute them effectively and with confidence.
Who are the people behind the Teamwork Institute?
The Teamwork Institute was founded by Niall McCarney and Lynne Bradshaw to bridge the gap between “dry theory” and “forced fun.” With backgrounds spanning Big 4 consulting, law, and elite international sport, we’ve sat through the boring slides so you don’t have to. We combine corporate rigour with the high-performance mindset of the sports field to deliver meaningful teambuilding experiences in the Irish business landscape.
Ready to See
Real Teamwork in Action?
Let The Games Begin!
Team building can cost you a full day, a real budget, and the goodwill of your team, but delivers something forgotten by the following week.
We deliver a framework, a shared language, and a set of tools your team uses for years. All while playing and competing together as a connected unit in one of the most vibrantly fun things you will do all year.
If you want to know whether it is the right fit for your team, book a 15-minute call. No pitch. We listen & build you a Free Scripted Guide
A document that maps your team’s specific pain points to the 6 Cs, names the enemies disrupting your team, provides you with a mini framework to help you implement immediately and shows you exactly which games we would recommend to address each one.
We will use this script on the day with your team, but you can go ahead and use it whether you chose to book with us or not.
