Why Team Building Should Feel Less Cringe
Most team-building days feel forced. Ours don’t.
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“We had so much fun shooting our team headshots at Candid! There were four of us and we all got gorgeous pics. It felt more natural and easy to get 'the shot' than with a photographer. The Candid team are also lovely ☺️” — JODIE CAVENDISH
A reflection on confidence at work, company culture, personal branding, and why the best team moments happen when people actually feel seen.
““People don’t remember the forced icebreakers. They remember how you made them feel.””
Has anyone else noticed how weirdly disconnected work has become lately? Even though we’re technically “more connected” than ever you know with slack, zoom, LinkedIn, Instagram, team socials, back-to-the-office mandates, endless notifications…
And yet somehow a lot of people still feel invisible, lost, lonely.
I think that’s why team-building days can sometimes feel a bit awkward now too. People don’t actually want forced fun. They want genuine connection, they want to feel comfortable enough to relax a little, to be seen as a person and not just an employee profile picture.
And that’s actually become a huge part of what we do at Candid. People sometimes think we’re “just” a photo studio when they first hear about us. But what we’ve intentionally become over time is a space where people soften and feel seen for their authentic selves, and a space where teams reconnect with each other, and themselves.
Whether it’s a company headshot day, a learning week activation, a wellbeing event, or one of our Retrobooth pop-ups at a Christmas party…the thing people always remember isn’t actually the photos. It’s the feeling.
Why most people hate headshots
Let’s be honest for a second…most people are mildly traumatised by corporate headshots.
You know the ones.
Standing against a grey backdrop, someone telling you to tilt your chin slightly, fake laughing for seven minutes straight, and then walking away thinking: “Cool. I never want to see that image again.”
We hear this ALL the time.
People walk into our studio apologising before we’ve even started: “I’m awkward in photos.” “I hate having my picture taken.” “I’m not photogenic.” “I don’t know what to do with my face.”
And it makes me a bit sad because somewhere along the way, so many adults have learnt that being photographed is something to survive rather than enjoy.
But confidence changes everything. And at Candid, we hand people the clicker so that YOU can control the moment. YOU move around at your own accord, YOU laugh with colleagues, and then magically…you loosen up…and suddenly the whole thing stops feeling like a performance and starts feeling human again.
And that moment completely changes company culture days too. It suddenly becomes less forced and performative, and more REAL. That’s the magic.
The connection between confidence and company culture
Something we’ve noticed after working with brands like Adobe, NEXT, and Primark is that confidence is contagious. When one person starts relaxing, everyone else does too. The shy employee suddenly starts hyping up their colleague, someone who “didn’t want photos” ends up staying the longest, teams who barely interact day-to-day start laughing together…and weirdly, some of the best conversations happen while people are waiting for their turn in front of the camera.
That’s why our team-building activations aren’t really about “getting content.” The content is just the bonus.
What companies are actually creating is:
connection
morale
confidence
shared memories
authentic personal branding images
moments people genuinely enjoy being part of
Especially now, when so many workplaces are trying to figure out how to bring energy back into office culture.
Because people don’t want another forced networking exercise. They want experiences that feel natural.
Personal branding without the cringe
I also think we’re in a really interesting era when it comes to personal branding. Like ten years ago, professional photos mostly mattered for executives or public-facing people. But now? Everyone exists online professionally in some way. LinkedIn has become part CV, part personality, part digital first impression. And whether we like it or not, people do make assumptions based on visuals.
But I do think personal branding gets misunderstood sometimes because people assume it means becoming “polished” or overly curated. And to us the best personal branding photos aren’t the ones where somebody looks perfect. They’re the ones where somebody looks like themselves.
Human.
That’s why our favourite reactions are never: “Wow, I look flawless.”
They’re: “Oh wait… that actually looks like me.”
Realness stands out more than perfection ever will.
Team-building that people actually remember
One of my other favourite things about Candid is how flexible everything is.
Some companies bring us in for confidence-led headshot days, some want wellbeing-focused team experiences, some want our full self-portrait studio setup, and others want the Retrobooth (our chic, non-tacky retro photobooth) at Christmas parties, launches, office events, etc…
And because we’re still a growing sister-founded business, we genuinely love tailoring things around what a team actually needs rather than forcing people into rigid packages.
Conclusion?
At the end of the day, we’re not trying to create “perfect” corporate experiences. We’re trying to create human ones. The kind where someone leaves saying: “That was actually… really nice.”
In today’s world, that feeling goes a really long way.
Love, Natalie Ava Nasr xo
Thinking about planning a team-building day, company headshots, or an office event? Have a look at our studio and event experiences in the link below. We’d love to help you and your team feel confident, connected, and actually excited to be in front of the camera.
