The recently-formed executive staff at the new Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital was in need of an outing for the unacquainted coworkers to bond and develop a group dynamic. And the usual lame company ice breakers weren’t cutting it.

Instead, the team booked an event at Two Kitchens in Naperville.

“They split us up so you were paired with someone you didn’t know and put each couple at a station with the task of cooking one course in a gourmet meal,” said Gigi Abogado, administrative assistant.

Her group was in charge of the glazed carrots, which would eventually join other menu items like macaroni and cheese, roasted chicken, butternut squash soup, chocolate pudding and apple crisp.

“The chefs there give you minimal instruction, and you’re completely amazed at how extraordinary the dinner turns out,” Abogado said. “The activity allows you to understand the other person’s process of thinking outside of work so that you function better in the long run. It was such a smashing success, I can easily see us doing this on an annual basis.”

More and more, managers are turning to nontraditional, interactive team building activities for employees, according to the American Society for Training & Development. Gone are the days of high ropes courses replete with harnesses and helmets, and trust falls are just passé. Instead, an almost limitless crop of options is available to business professionals looking to increase cohesion and boost morale of staffers.

And Abogado is more than OK with the shifting trend.

“The culinary class was so much better than falling backwards and hoping to God someone catches you before your head hits the floor,” she said. “And I’m not outdoorsy, so some extreme excursion like ‘Let’s all go climb a mountain together’ wouldn’t have appealed to me either. Finding hidden gems like Two Kitchens is a much better option so everyone’s able to socialize on a level playing field.”

So in hopes of clueing in managers to some less painful team building exercises in the area, Suburban Life is featuring a few out-of-the-box alternatives.

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Name: Two Kitchens

Location: 2035 S. Washington St., No. 155, Naperville

Activity: Group cooking classes where each team makes one course of a meal and eats a formal dinner at the end of the session.

Why it works: “Not everyone is comfortable skydiving or rock climbing,” said Liz Chaidez, executive chef. “Here, you’re breaking bread together after working toward a common goal and finding unity. It truly improves camaraderie.”

Teams are assigned a spokesperson who is in charge of being a project manager, of sorts, and presenting the dish to the larger group come meal time. A chef comes over to help each group get started. Employees are encouraged to put their own twists on each culinary challenge, which helps breed innovation and risk-taking. Chaidez was particularly impressed when one group pilfered a pumpkin from one of the table’s centerpieces, scooped it out and served their roasted butternut squash soup in it as part of the plate presentation.

Once employees have started handling the ingredients and following the recipe, facilitators often rotate spokespeople among individual teams to mirror corporate restructuring.

“We let them start out the exercise, and then when the management change occurs, team members are responsible for giving status updates and teaching techniques and tools to the new leader,” Chaidez said. “It’s really good theoretical practice on how the steps of that process would go if someone new came into the department at work.”

Capacity at Two Kitchens is 30 participants. Meals are customized.

“Cooking together can bring a group together and reduce stress or conflict that might be an issue because you’re interacting outside of that pressure-filled, loaded office environment,” Chaidez added.

Cost: Starts at $84 per person.

Contact: (630) 717-9630, www.twokitchens.com

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Name: The Contemporary Studio of Glass Art

Location: 101 W. 61st St., Westmont

Activity: Glassblowing history lesson, demonstration of the artform and interactive session. Participants get to make a paperweight, sculpture or Christmas tree ornament to take home.

Why it works: “The beauty of it is that you’re putting everyone into an unfamiliar territory so everyone’s on equal footing learning how to do something new,” said Michael Menconi, the studio’s art director.

Following a safety lecture, employees use a stainless steel rod to gather up glass on the end, which is called a punty. A furnace heats a crucible of molton glass to 2,100 degrees, and it’s shaped on a wooden block before being reheated in another furnace chamber called the Glory Hole as the material is being worked. At that point, glassblowers choose from more than 100 colors to roll the molton glass in, creating designs. Then the final design is encapsulated in a third part of the furnace, where the glass cools to 1,000 degrees. Other tools and water are used before the piece is knocked off into Kevlar gloves and thrown in the kiln to set.

“It’s great because you’re helping each other achieve something and brainstorming creative ideas to share,” Menconi said. “You’ve got one person catching falling pieces of glass, another person grabbing the (furnace) door. And there’s an entertainment factor because the boss might be fumbling with something.”

The activity can accommodate 20 to 50 employees.

“From the dawn of time, people have been fascinated by fire,” Menconi said. “And the final product is this amazing piece of glass that you had a hand in creating. It’s a great way to spend some time with co-workers.”

Cost: $50 a person for groups of 10 or more for corporate events; $10 a person for walk-ins and field trips sans the interactive segment.

Contact: (630) 493-4527, www.contemporaryglass.org

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Name: Chicago TeamBonding

Location: Wheaton-based company, will travel

Activity: Scavenger and treasure hunts, murder and mob mysteries, build a golf course, outdoor field day and many others

Why it works: “Our activities are a way to help employees gain a different perspective on a task set before them as well as seeing their coworkers in a different light,” owner Jeff Winkler said. “‘Experience the power of play’ is our tagline. Through this kind of interaction, you’re learning to work together better.

“Maybe there’s someone in accounting who’s on the quieter side, and the challenge allows them to contribute and be more vocal, or maybe someone who’s usually more forceful and gregarious steps back a little,” he added.

The company’s “Canned” Film Festival exercise allows teams to film a movie with actors, requiring a cameraman, director, prop master, movie marketing manager and other artistic roles to be filled. After the screenings, awards are handed out for worst performances. This promotes leadership, inspires creativity, and helps with time and resource management.

“The interactive whodunit option is also very popular. The characters you meet are hilarious,” Winkler said. “You’re honing communication and problem solving skills as you’re working out the murder motive.”

But his favorite, the “Outrageous Olympics,” pits teams against each other as teammates race with flippers on. The day culminates with a medal ceremony.

“At the end of the day, you hope employees transfer lessons learned during fun time to the office,” Winkler added. “These outings can really help avoid personnel snafus.”

Cost: Starts at $1,000 for up to 19 participants or $150 a person for the full-day team building agenda held at various venues.

Contact: (630) 690-3001, www.chicagoteambonding.com