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Corporate team-building is an important piece of the puzzle for many organizations. By holding team-building events, organizations, both large and small, can build trust, confidence, and a spirit of agreement between their employees. It can also improve the creativity and energy of a team leading to increased productivity.

Team-building events have remained largely unchanged over the past 50 years. Many of the same activities that were utilized when team-building first began to gain steam (scavenger hunts and rope courses, for example) still remain at large. However, a new breed of activities has just arrived in town. They are team-building activities that utilize the newest technologies, namely smartphones such as iPhone’s and Androids.

Because so many people use these devices on a daily basis, it just makes sense to use them for work-related activities as well. In addition to streamlining and modernizing the process, smartphones and mobile apps also make even the most jaded employees comfortable with team-building games. Below are the top 3 smartphone apps for corporate team-building.

One of the most exciting new mobile apps on the market, MapDash takes corporate team-building to a whole new level. In its most basic sense, it is a scavenger hunt on steroids. It takes your age-old scavenger hunt and throws in a hefty dose of puzzles and other challenges.

The best thing about MapDash is that it will force your employees to get up and go outside. Having your employees leave the office and get some exercise is the perfect way to reenergize them and get their creative juices flowing. Better yet, MapDash makes keeping track of your employee’s results incredibly easy. Data is simply transmitted to a social sharing site (sort of like Facebook except only you can see it). As far as corporate team-building is concerned, MapDash is king.

Like MapDash, GooseChase is a geo-mobile app that functions excellently as a team-building tool. It also forces your employees to leave the office and get some fresh air but does so in a different way. In addition, its team-building capabilities are also rooted in a scavenger hunt.

With GooseChase your employees will use their smartphone cameras to capture pictures of a number of objects scattered around town. They will then send these photos back to you (or to a main database). The first team to capture all of the pictures on the list wins. In many ways, GooseChase is like a regular old camera-based scavenger hunt – but with a little modern-day sizzle thrown in.

While it’s nothing like MapDash or GooseChase, iMeet is a smartphone app that you just don’t want to pass up if you’re in any way involved in corporate team-building. It might not be as exciting as the other two apps, but it is quite possibly more useful.

iMeet is a mobile-meeting tool that allows you to have conversations with your employees. It does this via video much like Skype. The major difference is that it is geared for corporate conversations and conferences. You can chat with multiple employees at once using iMeet – all on your iPhone. Team-building comes into the picture when iMeet is used to build camaraderie with remote workers. You can use the mobile app to hold meetings with your employees in places other than your drab conference room. For instance, you can have your meetings go and grab a latte at their favorite local coffee shop and chime in via iMeet from there. It can be a much-needed break from the norm.

There are any number of smartphone mobile apps available today, many of which can be used with much success for team-building. However, the three that are listed and discussed above are the best of the best. When used correctly, they will help you build a stronger team and a more successful business