Activities For Better Collaboration and Understanding
Quick team building exercises are important because it builds trust, mitigates conflict and helps keep fellow employees engaged and helps them focus. One of the key factors for any successful business is engaged employees. In fact, teams with highly engaged employees earn 2x the annual net income of companies with low engagement levels. Here is our list of quick team building activities for large groups or small group which can be facilitated indoor or outdoor.
1. Coin Logo: Each person to create their own personal logo using the coins in front of them in just one minute. Other materials they may have on them, such as pens, notebooks, wallets, etc. can also be used in creation of the logo.
2. Picture Pieces: Each participant given one of the "puzzle pieces" and instructed to create an exact copy of their piece of the puzzle five times bigger than its original size in 10 minutes. The leader can pass out pencils, markers, paper, and rulers in order to make the process simpler and run more smoothly. When all the participants have completed their enlargements, ask them to assemble their pieces into a giant copy of the original picture on a table.
3. Bucket List: Each team member will express what five things are on their bucket list. Depending on their answer, this also gives ample opportunity to provide value to them beyond professional relationship.
4. Show and Tell: This is an extraordinary team building activity that helps the presenter build their own confidence. Companies like this activity because research has found that increased confidence predicts individual performance and satisfaction within teams.
5. Office Pen Pals: The simple act of handwriting provides a number of benefits to our brain from improving our memory, sparking creativity and even fostering a more positive mindset.
6. Listen Up: Listen up promotes and focuses on producing open minded team members. Studies have shown, over and over again, that open mindedness in team reaps many positive outcomes, such as improved team performance and increased knowledge sharing.
7. Card Triangles: When individuals are focusing too much on their own needs and need to work better as part of a team. Participants learn to see others’ perspectives before they can influence and persuade them in a negotiation activity
8. The Paper Tower: Participants only have five minutes to figure out how to win a competition with paper. And simultaneously these participants are competing to create the tallest structure.
9. Eye Contact: Eye contact provides an opportunity for managers to gamify positive employee behaviour. Play it enough and those who are relatively timid among your staff will gain the confidence to maintain eye contact. They will become accustomed to it while having fun with colleagues.
10. Wink Murder: Will the detective find out who the murderer is before every participant is killed? Everyone like this one because it is flat out fun.
11. 123 Lookup: The instructions are among the most straightforward on this list. It requires no equipment to play, yet you may be surprised by how well your team members will take to this fun and easy game.
12. The Human Knot: The human knot forces individuals out of their comfort zone. It helps colleagues realize they can not only work together but they can have fun while at it too.
13. Swedish Story: Swedish Story is a fun, fast-moving game that blends storytelling and teamwork. One person is the storyteller, while two to four others are word givers. Swedish Story is addictive, because it forces storytellers to be creative and think on their feet.
15. Back of the Napkin: This simple team building exercise replicates this tiny canvas, giving participants something fun to do while promoting teamwork and outside-the-box thinking.
16. Hole in Many: Simple, fun game that gets the entire team involved in something physical. Essentially, the team has to balance a tennis ball on a tarpaulin with holes cut into it randomly.
17. Buckets & Balls: Teams compete against each other to move balls from one bucket to another without using their hands or arms. This game much more difficult and emphasizes the need for teamwork.
18. Team Jigsaw: Teams have to complete a jigsaw puzzle within the specified time limit. Except there's one catch: some of the puzzle pieces are with the opposing team. To successfully complete their puzzle, the teams are forced to work together.
19. Tied Together: Teammates are tied together by the wrist and must complete a series of simple tasks. To be successful, everyone has to collaborate closely and communicate well.
20. Guess the Object: One person from the group has to demonstrate an object. The others have to guess what it is. Great for inspiring creativity and getting people to loosen up at the start of an event. Also works great as an interlude between longer activities.
21. Shipwrecked: A great activity inspired by classic shipwrecked stories. This one will inspire collaboration and creative problem-solving skills.
22. Helium Stick: Helium Stick is a classic game that tests your team’s hand-eye coordination and how in-sync they are. The goal is to gently place the rod onto the floor without dropping it.
23. Mummy Wrap: The first team whose Mummy is completely wrapped from head to toe are the winners. This is simple but hilarious 5 Minute Game.
24. Building a Castle: Here is another 5-minute team building game made to start off constructing a high level of enthusiasm. The member with the largest castle wins a point for his team and gets double the bid amount.
25. Marshmallow Challenge: This particular game puts the best problem solvers in a fix, as they need real creativity and teamwork to put up a fragile tower.
26. Bonding Belt: This is a fantastic team-building game that encourages discussions and developing strategy among co-workers and peers.
27. Paper Plane Contest: The game brings about creativity, strategizing and collaboration skills among the group members. A variety of plane designs can be shown to the entire group so as they can strategize and build the one they think will fly the farthest.
28. Human Shapes: This game involves team members working together and using their bodies to form letters and words. The activity can be fast paced with time limit to keep the group energized. It drives important learning outcomes of creative thinking, planning, support and trust.
29. Silver Lining: Going down the memory lane is a great way to get team members to bond with each other. However, not everyone will recall an event in the same light as others. Pointing out the silver lining will help people see things from their coworkers’ perspectives.
30. Longest Shadow: “The longest shadow” is an outdoor team building activity that will have the group working together. The goal of the game is for the team to form the longest shadow they can, using only their bodies.
31. Googlism: Googlism is a site that uses suggested searches to find out what Google thinks of you. Have everybody put their names into the tool and tell the group which results are true, and which are hilariously ridiculous.
32. Play Scenes With a Prop: The team breaks off into groups, and each one takes a turn randomly pulling an item out of the box. They then have to perform an improv skit for the rest of the team using that item as a prop. This fun team bonding game gives everyone a chance to think on their feet and be creative, which is good practice for future work assignments.
33. Group Timeline: The group timeline activity is a great way to test the sorting skills of your employees and how well they know each other in quickest time. This is a group task and which time completes in shortest time wins.
GET IN TOUCH
Please fill out the contact form and we will direct your enquiry to the appropriate professional.