Most companies are now taking potential measures to break the ice between teams within the organization. And team-building activities play an integral role in that process.
While the list of team-building activities is countless, most of them elicit embarrassment rather than enthusiasm. But fortunately, there’s a right way to execute such measures to boost employee engagement and forge an unstoppable crew.
Here’s a quick rundown of the best team-building activities. Don’t worry! We have done all the rethinking for you.
So, bring the energy, roll up your sleeves, and start your next team-building adventure with one of these crowd-favorite options.
What is Team Building?
Team Building is about turning a group of individuals into a cohesive team. The process can comprise the regular interaction that employees engage in when working together as a team.
While the team-building process is natural, you can speed it up with structured activities and exercises that improve collaboration skills and get everyone’s feet wet.
Evidently, the bonds formed from these team-building activities enable employees to accomplish organizational goals more effectively compared to a non-bonded group.
Why is Team Building important?
Believe it or not, team-building is essential to your business’s success and can give your company a competitive edge. The benefit of team building is to form a cohesive team by creating bonds and connections.
The strong bonds, in turn, increase communication, planning skills, and employee collaboration. A close-knit and friendly team will ensure productivity and a flourishing work environment.
Are you still wondering whether team-building is vital for your company? Scroll down and find the ten best reasons to motivate your team members and bring them closer.
- Enhance company culture
- Networking and socializing to know each other better
- Competition and bragging rights
- Team spirit and fun
- Build bridges across departments
- Unlock leadership potential
- Improve employee engagement and morale
Team Building Activities
Now that you know about team-building and its importance, let’s move on to the ten effective icebreaker games that motivate your employees to jump out of their comfort zone. The list includes both indoor and outdoor games to boost employee engagement.
1. Minefield
Number of Participants: 10 – 14
Objective: Build trust and collaboration among team members
It’s a great team activity to foster trust between your employees. To play the game, divide people into groups and put the blindfold on one of them.
Place a random object or mine across the floor. The other person (who is not blindfolded) has to direct his partner to go from one side to another without stepping on any objects.
This activity increases trust and confidence among players while enhancing their concentration and urge to pay attention.
2. Code of Conduct
Number of Participants: 10-30
Objective: Establish group values
This activity sets the tone for an event while building consensus on shared values. Write “Good” and “Purposeful” to execute it on a whiteboard.
Ask all participants to shout out what exactly makes the event purposeful and pleasant for them. Record their suggestion and ensure that all participants have the same understanding of the idea.
Go through all suggestions and make sure all ideas are mutually agreed on as being “Good” and “Purposeful” to make up the code of conduct for the group.
3. Memory Wall
Number of Participants: 6-50
Objective: Foster relationships
Memory Wall allows team members to re-live their shared memories. All participants must sketch their shared memories with each other on paper and stick them on the wall.
The wall remains up throughout the event, which in turn, creates a welcoming environment between team members.
4. Silver Lining
Number of Participants: 4-12 people
Objective: Reframe perspectives and experiences
This team-building activity aims at shifting experiences, especially if it’s a negative one.
Divide the participants into a team of two or more people with shared work experience. Ask them to share a negative memory they had working together.
Point out the silver lining in the negative memory to improve morale and help people see things differently.
Sharing experiences can change perspectives and reframe negative memory positively. Moreover, this game also helps promote team bonding while building deeper relationships.
5. Surprise Dinner
Number of Participants: 4+
Objective: Building relationships
It is a simple and passive team-building exercise to initiate communication among team members and build relationships. Moreover, pulling off this activity doesn’t require much planning. Organize a surprise dinner, let your employees enjoy food, and boost team morale.
When planning a surprise dinner, choose a calm and peaceful place where your employees can unwind. Don’t forget that everyone loves food, especially when the company incurs expenses. The mystery is that employees are only informed about the date and time. They will know the restaurant’s name and who they’ll be going with on the dinner day.
Such surprise team dinners allow your employees to come out of their comfort zone and meet new people. It helps them to learn about the work of other departments and prepares them to collaborate with them in the future.
6. Pair Up
Number of Participants: 6-15
Objective: Enhances creative thinking and problem-solving skills
Pair Up is a fun team-building activity that increases communication while boosting problem-solving skills. It is an excellent way to build up energy at the beginning and can even break the ice.
Come up with the famous pairs and stick them to the back of each player. Ask others to identify the name of the person/ thing written on the back. The team to find the correct match is the winner.
Don’t forget to set the time limit, say 20 minutes, and then ask the players to start questioning each other. Once they know who they are, finding the matching pair in the shortest span is their task.
7. Laser Tag
Number of Participants: 10-20
Objective: Teamwork and relation building
A great alternative to paintball, Laser Tag is a fantastic team-building activity to boost teamwork and communication. You can organize the activity outdoors and indoors, depending on nearby facilities.
In the game, teams compete against each other in a series of game modes, including capturing the flag, deathmatch, etc. They win in different ways depending on the game mode played.
Each player in the game has a weapon and a sensor affixed to their chest or head. They must aim their weapons at the enemy team to kill them by hitting their sensors.
Although Laser Tag is an excellent alternative to paintball, players are considerably less likely to hurt. Since there’s no fear of injury, it automatically makes the game more enticing to players of all demographics.
8. Office Trivia
Number of Participants: Any
Objective: Get people engaged and promotes creative thinking
It is a perfect icebreaker and gets people involved in the event. Create a list of trivia questions associated with the workplace, and allow participants to communicate. What’s more, that game doesn’t need special equipment, and you can organize it indoors and outdoors.
Contestants are classifed into teams, and each team must decide on a team name to continue. The team with the correct answers is the winner.
You can organize Office Trivia at whatever scale you want. However, the bigger you make this event, the more enthusiastic and result-driven it will be.
9. Scavenger Hunt
Number of Participants: 20+
Objective: Teamwork and enhances problem-solving skills
Scavenger Hunt is the next best team-building game to keep your employees engaged. It’s all about learning more about the organization they work for. Organizers must develop unique ideas to induce creative thinking in the employees.
The game’s objective is to find items hidden around a predefined location. Unlike treasure hunt, this game includes multiple stages, and the team who completes all stages in the least possible time is the winner.
When organizing the Scavenger Hunt, you must add specific challenges to motivate employees to think outside the box.
10. Spelling Bee
Number of Participants: 5-10
Objective: Develop listening skills among employees
Do you want to develop some linguistic skills in your team members? Turn to Spelling Bee, and let your employees rewind the memories of their school classroom memories.
Spelling Bee is probably the most effortless team-building activity you can count on. The host will develop a list of words that the participants must attempt to spell.
Start with the simple and then level up the game to keep employees engaged. You can add a catch by either offering points for correctly spelled words or eliminating players from the game for incorrect answers.
Final Takeaway
That’s it, folks. We hope our list of team-building activities will inspire you on the journey toward fostering team bonds and relationships. Feel free to include any of these options in your next office event and build up a productive company culture.
