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If you want to raise morale, encourage synergy and foster a sense of community in your workforce, then there is no better way than with a team building exercise. For many in business, team building activities have a bad reputation (break room hacky sack, anyone?). Poorly executed activities leave participants feeling as if they’ve wasted time when their schedule is already fit to burst. However, with a bit of thought and preparation, team building games teach those involved to communicate effectively and resolve conflict. They are also an effective way to let off steam when it’s all got a bit much.
Hence, this article reveals the best ways to get your team working and playing together. If you get it right, there’ll be a lot of laughter to boot!
Barter Puzzle
This team building game is a Hire Intelligence favourite. It will help sharpen negotiation skills as well as strengthen team bonds. Players are split into teams of four or five and given a selection of jigsaw puzzle pieces. The pieces come from a variety of different puzzles which are spread among each team. The object of the game is to decide which puzzle will be fastest to complete, then successfully trade your unwanted pieces with a rival team for the pieces you need. Whichever team assembles their chosen puzzle the fastest is the winner.
A Day of Fun
It sounds obvious, but sometimes the best way to promote team building in the workplace is to get out of the office. It can be something as simple as brunch or a walk in the woods, or you could try one of the numerous apps available that sets up a city-wide scavenger hunt. You’ll need to decipher clues, follow GPS coordinates and take pictures of where you’ve been. All you need is a smartphone or tablet for each team, download the app and off you go!
Mission Impossible
Each member of the team imagines a product for the future (the sillier the better), writes it down and then places it in a hat. Members are then paired up and each pair picks an idea at random. In the following two hours, the pairs have to review their product and create a multimedia presentation which covers the features and benefits of their product. Each pair presents to the wider team who vote on their overall winner.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Available on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive virtual reality systems, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is as high-octane as team building gets. One team member wears a VR headset and has to defuse a virtual bomb using instructions given to them by their teammates. This team building activity provides an exciting way of training your workforce to work well under pressure.
Game of Possibilities
This game requires only basic office items and a five-minute window. One member of the group is given a random item from the office, say a stapler or a laptop, and they have to demonstrate an alternative use for the item. The item holder cannot give any audible clues to their new usage, and their teammates must guess what function they’re demonstrating.
Count Off
All the members of the group form a circle and face outwards so they cannot see each other. In this position, they must try to count upwards to either a designated number within a timeframe, or to see the highest number they can get to. The catch is, every person has to contribute, but if two or more members say a number at the same time, the group must start over. This team-building activity encourages patience and allows natural leaders to come to the fore.
Truth-Lie-Truth
One of the better-known games on this list, Truth-Lie-Truth is a classic team building activity. Each member of the group has to stand at the front of the room and tell the rest of the team two truths and one lie about their life outside the office. It is up to the rest of the team to decide which story is fabricated. Points are awarded for every successfully identified fib. Great for learning more about your colleagues, and their body language when telling lies!
Find your Order
In this simple game, participants have to order themselves in a line dependant on a category of a facilitator’s choosing. The early rounds are easy, height and age etc. As the game progresses, the rounds become more difficult and the listing factor is more obscure; number of siblings, house numbers, how many miles you live from the office etc.
Frostbite
In this game, each team is told that they are stranded in the Antarctic. Half the team has frostbite and can’t use their hands, the other half have snow blindness and can’t see. The people with frostbite have to guide the people with snow blindness (blindfolded) through a series of tasks that will help the team survive. These tasks might include making simple objects out of office stationery, like a tent or an SOS flag.
Gaming Tournament
Do you remember how awesome it was when you got the chance watch TV at school? Replicate that feeling by bringing a gaming system to work. Maybe even hire a couple of systems and a projector or large screens to really get the excitement going. Multiplayer console games promote cooperation and a bit of healthy competition is great for releasing stress. Whether your team are working together to assault a bunker, or racing each other through the streets of Paris, a gaming tournament will convince your workforce you’re serious about having fun.
To facilitate a workforce who know how to communicate efficiently, handle conflict and solve problems, team building is one of the most useful tactics you can employ. With options ranging from 5-minute team building games to entire out-of-office days, there are a whole range of activities for any workforce. Whether it’s tablets, smartphones or gaming stations, Hire Intelligence can provide a range of tech solutions to help facilitate these activities, get in contact with us today to find out more.
