Claire Adamou, VP at Saroca, returns to iGBA to discuss team building within iGaming affiliates as a method to creating and boosting company culture and why even the best intended ideas can sometimes have the opposite effect.
The iGaming industry is fast, global and competitive. Affiliates, operators, game studios, and technology providers are often spread across multiple time zones and cultures, working at a pace that demands constant innovation and resilience. But behind every KPI, campaign, or launch are people, and those people need connection.
Team building is not about ticking a box. It’s about creating real, human moments of camaraderie that foster psychological safety, reduce stress, and strengthen resilience. When done with intention, team building doesn’t just bring people together for a day, it reshapes how teams communicate, collaborate and perform long after the event ends.
Rethinking what team building means
Too often, “team building” is reduced to the usual clichés: paintballing, go-karting or wine tasting. While these may suit some, they can alienate others. What about team members who don’t drink? Or those balancing childcare? Or colleagues whose faith means Friday events aren’t accessible?
True team building requires inclusion at its core. If the purpose of the exercise is to build trust and belonging, then the event itself must reflect those values. A team activity that leaves someone excluded or uncomfortable misses the point entirely.
If the purpose of the exercise is to build trust and belonging, then the event itself must reflect those values
The question to ask isn’t: What activity is fun?
It’s: What activity creates connection while honouring the diversity of our team?
Why team building matters more in iGaming
Unlike some industries, iGaming thrives on distributed and remote teams. Affiliate Managers may never meet their partners in person. Developers and marketers may sit thousands of miles apart. Without intentional efforts to build connection, it’s easy for teams to fall into silos, leaving individuals feeling isolated, undervalued or burnt out.
Team building in this context isn’t optional: it’s essential.
It fosters:
- Psychological Safety – the freedom to speak up, share ideas and take risks without fear.
- Resilience – the ability to recover from setbacks and adapt under pressure.
- Camaraderie – a sense of belonging, trust and closeness that powers collective performance.
Companies with highly engaged teams have up to 23% greater profitability; team building isn’t just nice, it’s strategic.
At Saroca, we talk about camaraderie as one of the pillars of our Index - built on trust, psychological closeness, belonging, communication, healthy feedback, and cultural cohesion. Team building is a direct lever to strengthen all of these.
Designing inclusive & impactful team building
Effective team building starts with one principle: design from the feeling backwards. Ask yourself: What do we want our team to feel during and after this experience? Energised? Valued? Connected to the company’s purpose? From there, craft an activity that makes that feeling real.
Here are some ways to move beyond the box-ticking approach:
1. Consider the whole person
Team members aren’t just employees: they’re parents, partners and individuals with cultural and personal commitments. Running a session at 6 pm might clash with the family dinner. Scheduling on a Friday afternoon might exclude colleagues who observe Shabbat. True inclusion means considering timing, accessibility, and cultural fit.
2. Align with company values
Team building should reflect what your company stands for. If innovation is your value, try a design sprint challenge. If diversity is core, host cross-cultural cooking sessions where everyone shares their heritage. When the event connects back to the company’s purpose, the message is reinforced: you belong here, and what you do matters.
Team building should reflect what your company stands for. If innovation is your value, try a design sprint challenge
3. Focus on connection, not competition
While competition can be motivating, overly competitive events can create division. Instead, design activities that foster collaboration and shared problem-solving. Escape rooms, creative workshops or community volunteering can deliver camaraderie without creating winners and losers.
4. Build in reflection
The most powerful part of team building often comes after the activity. A debrief session allows people to share what they learned about each other, how they communicated, and how those insights can translate into daily work.
Stress relief & burnout prevention
Burnout is a growing concern in high-pressure industries like iGaming. Long hours, shifting regulations and constant performance demands can take a toll. Team building provides a vital release valve.
When people feel seen, supported and aligned, they’re more likely to stay motivated and less likely to hit the breaking point
By creating spaces where people feel connected and valued, companies can:
- Reduce stress by encouraging open communication.
- Strengthen resilience through collective problem-solving.
- Mitigate burnout by reminding employees they are part of something bigger than their individual workload.
When people feel seen, supported and aligned, they’re more likely to stay motivated and less likely to hit the breaking point.
From event to everyday culture
The real power of team building lies not in the activity itself but in what it inspires afterwards. Leaders should use these events to model healthy feedback, open communication and psychological safety and then carry those practices into everyday work.
A one-off event won’t transform culture, but it can spark habits that do:
- Encouraging cross-team collaboration instead of siloed work.
- Building rituals of recognition that celebrate contribution.
- Creating ongoing channels for feedback and communication.
In this way, team building becomes more than a day out: it becomes a catalyst for cultural cohesion and long-term success.
Actionable takeaways
- Design with inclusion first. Consider timing, culture, family life, and accessibility.
- Align to company values. Choose activities that reflect what your business stands for.
- Foster collaboration, not division. Prioritise connection over competition.
- Build psychological safety. Use activities to model openness and trust.
- Turn moments into momentum. Carry lessons from the event into everyday practices.
Final thought
In iGaming, where teams are often remote, diverse, and under pressure, team building is not a nice-to-have: it’s a business imperative. Done right, it creates camaraderie, reduces stress, and strengthens resilience. More importantly, it builds cultures of trust and belonging where people feel aligned, valued, and ready to deliver their best work.
Because at its heart, team building isn’t about games or gimmicks. It’s about people, and the stronger the human connection, the stronger the business results.
Claire
Adamou