Top 10 Team Building Games And Team Building Activities At The Workplace

Sessions of team building activities elevate confidence of employees which in turn improve productivity. Employees at various levels in an organization need to be motivated to ensure employee efficiency. The growth of an organization depends a great deal on its entire workforce. Every department in an organization strives to accomplish targets. Motivated employees are known to perform exceptionally at various verticals, which is why companies give employee motivation prime importance. Team building games are exceedingly popular at the workplace because they instill confidence in employees and also help employees train their minds to adapt and adjust to various situations and

The Importance of Team Building Games and Team Building Activities for Employees

Team building activities and team building games are important because creative activities and games harness employee skills and motivate employees to accomplish the impossible. Team building games promote collaborations among employees and encourage employees to work as a team. In an organization team work contributes in a big way towards growth. Through team building activities employees learn to communicate and plan in accordance with a scenario. Furthermore employees learn problem solving skills through creative team building.

Productivity with Team Building Games

At the workplace, team building games foster a deeper understanding and respect among employees from various departments. Employees are often required to work on projects in organizations. Team building activities help employees understand their strengths and weaknesses. This realization and understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses helps employees immensely in team projects. Team building activities for employees are a great way to channelize fun and motivational activity into streamlined productivity for the organization.

Team Building Games promote Bonding among Employees

Team building games not only motivate and boost morale of employees, but also help establish creative workplace ideas that benefit both management and employees. Listening skills, communication skills, out of the box thinking and problem solving skills improve tremendously with team building activities. Furthermore, through team building games employees get to know each other’s personality traits and this aspect helps employees gel well in a professional environment. Team building events promote bonding among employees thereby bringing to the foray a friendly work environment.

Typically team building games are conducted by a team leader or the manager of a respective department. Employees are divided in groups with each group choosing a team name that gives identity to their group. Team based games and activities which are fun and impart skill sets are provided for teams. Team building activities boost employee morale and build self confidence. Furthermore, team building games bring in fresh new ideas and perspectives in problem solving. Negotiation skills, communication skills, listening skills and overall interpersonal skills of employees improve tremendously with team building activities.

Top 10 Team Building Games and Team Building Activities at the Workplace

1. Listen Out Loud

This is a fun game that involves attentiveness and listening skill. 8 -15 participants can play this game. The first participant is asked to quietly read a passage from a paper. What the first participant has read from the paper is whispered in the ear of the second participant. The second participant then whispers what he/she hears to the third person until the information reaches the last person. You are allowed to whisper only one time in the person’s ear. The last person shares loudly what he/she hears. This game tests listening skills and attentiveness of employees. The game highlights ‘passing on the right information’. This game is fun because if a person does not listen or has not heard what’s being said, he/she passes on the wrong information to the next person.

Game Purpose: Tests Listening Skills, attentiveness and aims at Conveying the right information.

2. Tower of Power

For this game employees are divided in groups consisting of 3-5 members. Each group is given a deck of playing cards and a scissor. The task is to build the tallest tower with the pack of cards. Members in each group come up with creative ways to build a tall card tower. The game stimulates out of the box thinking, creativity and new perspectives when only limited supplies and materials are available.

Game Purpose: The game helps employees to find alternative ideas when recourses are limited.

3. Land Mines

This game requires an open space. The game can be played in a large room or in the recreational room at work. You need to place objects, (bottles, balls, divider cones etc) in a haphazard manner. The objects represent mines. Employees are divided in groups of 3. One team member will be blind folded. The other two members can see and talk. They need to give instructions to their blind-folded team member who will attempt to reach from point A to point B avoiding the mines. The two members cannot come in the mine area and cannot touch their blind-folded member. The two members need to communicate with verbal instructions as their blind folded team member walks the path of land mines. The blind folded member has to cross the mine field relying on verbal instructions of his partners. The game brings laughs and energizes employees.

Game Purpose: The game aims at improving trust among employees with the spotlight on focus, attention, concentration, listening skills, and clear communication.

4. Basket of Troubles

This is a problem solving activity that brings a great deal of employee insight on various issues at the workplace. Divide employees in groups. Each member in a group has to write down an issue at work that is bothering them. All the pieces of paper are folded and put in a small basket. The folded pieces of paper are shuffled and then each group has to pick one chit and brainstorm the issue they pick.

Game Purpose: Helping each other with solution based ideas on issues at the workplace.

5. Egg O Mania

This is a slightly messy but fun game for office employees. Teams need to be divided in groups of 3-5 members. The task is to build an egg contraption/package that keeps an egg intact from a 2-4 storey drop. A pile of supplies such as pencils, straws, tapes, packaging material, rubber bands, paper plates, balloons, newspapers, pen holders etc can be used by groups to build their egg package. Each group should be given 20-30 minutes to build their egg contraption. When the time limit is up, each group will place their egg in their egg package and drop their respective egg package from the 2nd storey of the building down to the ground. If the eggs survive the fall from the 2nd storey then move to the 3 rd story and so on. Will the egg survive the fall? Get playing to find out.

Game Purpose: The game brings out creative thinking and problem solving skills of employees.

6. Hawk Eye

This is a game that highlights employee attentiveness and observation. Divide team members in two groups of 10 or more and have each group face each other opposite at a distance of approximately 15-20 feet. Give the group that is going first 30 seconds to observe the group members standing opposite and get them turn around with their backs facing the other group. The other group is given 2 minutes to change ten things about themselves. The changes could be anything like… rolling sleeves, unbuttoning shirt buttons, swapping clothes/jewelry…and so forth. When time is up, instruct the first group to turn around and list the changes they observe in the group standing opposite them in 5 minutes. When time’s up groups switch roles. The group observing majority of correct changes are winners.

Game Purpose: This game highlights employee concentration, focus and observation.

7. Creative Desk

Teams are divided into groups of 3 or more. Each group brings an item that is found on an office desk. The item they bring becomes their product. Each group should come up with a name, slogan, logo and marketing plan for the object in the scheduled time of 20 minutes. The team that comes out with a completely bankable product is the winner. This game involves creativity, strategizing and realism.

Game Purpose: Employee bonding and creative thinking.

8. The Barter Game

Divide teams in groups. Every group is given a jigsaw puzzle. Pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are mixed up. Each group has some pieces that belong to the jigsaw puzzle of another group. Members of groups have to strategize and assign roles to their respective group members to convince other groups to give them the pieces required to complete their jigsaw puzzle. The mission is to complete the jigsaw puzzle first. Everything in the game involves the barter system, such as a merger, allocating time to another group, exchanging team members, hiring the services of a member from another team for time…etc. Whatever a group chooses to do, should be done as a team and involve the barter concept.

Game Purpose: The game involves negotiation skills, quick thinking, and methodical solutions to solve problems.

9. Impro-Wisers

This game is a great way to get employees think creatively. Teams are divided into groups of 8. Each group is provided with 6 random objects. Each group is given 5 minutes to come up with a 3-minute skit using the 6 props/objects provided. Every group picks a topic for the other group to make matters hilarious and confusing. After each group performs their skit, get the audience that has assembled to vote for the winner.

Game Purpose: This game showcases improvisational skills and creative thinking of employees.

10. Getting Touchy

This is a fun game for employees. It brings laughs and is a great way to de-stress. Teams are divided in groups of 5. Every member in the group is blindfolded. A large box with random unusual objects or strange items is placed on a table. A blind folded member from each team goes one at a time and picks up an object/item from the box and feels it to determine what it is. As the blind-folded member feels his/her way through, members from other groups can shout out distracting names or comments (keep them clean) to break concentration. The group that gets most of the items right is the winner.

Game Purpose: The game is excellent to lower stress levels. The aim of the game is to concentrate on task at hand and not get disturbed by noisy people around you.