A company’s work culture has a significant impact on employee happiness. People want to work in a positive atmosphere and they want to work with people they like. So, it’s in the best interest of the company to invest in team building activities that will bring employees together and help bridge the gaps between departments. Team building exercises are a great way to bring your employees together and help them get to know one another. Here are a few team building exercises that are as practical and insightful as they are fun!
Scavenger Hunts
This classic favorite is still going strong and for good reason…everyone loves a good scavenger hunt! Scavenger hunts are great because they work with both large and small groups and they can be done just about anywhere. You can create a scavenger hunt through a park, at an arcade, at a sporting event, or even in the office. The idea is simply bringing employee together in a way that is fun and encourages teamwork.
Show-and –Tell
No we aren’t talking about your preschool version of the game. Now that we are all adults we have bigger, better, and more important things to share. This is a great way for employees to share something unique about themselves. It also boosts public speaking skills and gives everyone a chance to be the speaker. You just might learn something you never knew about your colleague.
Community Service Projects
Nothing brings people closer together quite like helping someone in need. Choose a worthy cause, grab your team, and head out for a day of giving back to the community. You are doing something great for others all while encouraging your employees to bond with one another.
Survivor
This is a great game for encouraging your employees to work together to make decisions. Set up a hypothetical scenario in which an accident strands your group in a body of water. Your boat is on fire and you only have a few minutes to grab supplies. You provide each time with a list of supplies including things like a First Aid kit, rope, lighter, canned food, a knife, a bucket, etc. As a team, you need to decide which 10 items you would choose and rank them in order of importance from 1-10. It helps your team realize that they can make better decisions when they work together as a group.
Escape Rooms
This is a fun off-site activity for an afternoon team building activity. Your employees are divided into teams and they must work with their team to uncover clues that will help them escape their room. The goal is to be the first team to escape. Escape rooms require collaboration, problem solving, and teamwork to solve the clues before the time expires.
All Tied Up
For this task you must divide the group into teams of 2 to 4. Team members should be facing each other while you tie their hands together with shoe string or rope. Then, give them a task to complete as a team such as:
-make a sandwich
-tie a shoe
-complete a jigsaw puzzle
-draw a picture
Since everyone’s hands are tied, it will require the effort of each player to complete the task. This activity builds creativity and forces participants to think outside the box while also leading to plenty of fun and laughter.
Group Order
Divide the group into even teams and ask each team to line themselves up in order based on certain criteria such as birthday, height, or shoe size. They have to try and complete the task before the other team. As the activity begins, you will naturally begin to see who becomes the leaders of the group and you will notice how they communicate with each other to complete the task.