A term like team building can cause a split reaction in the office. There are some who are in favor of it. However, there are others who are not so keen to see the benefits and are eager to go. You might have a problem playing the games that you had planned.
Team-building activities should be able to elicit positive responses from members of your team. It should aim to improve employee engagement. As its name suggests, those activities are supposed to ‘build teams.’ At the end of each team-building activity, you should have a team that is content, happy, interactive, and most of all, actively engaging positively with the company.
To that end, here’s a compilation of five team-building activities for in-person or virtual corporate experiences that can bring in one unified goal: to boost employee engagement.
1.Trivia for Companies
Which person knows more about your company than you? Prepare at least 20 to 25 questions. You can ask your team members the questions and everyone who answers correctly will be able to raise their hands and speak loudly. Every employee who correctly answers the question wins a prize.
Although it’s a simple game, the information shared can be very valuable. If there are new employees, it’s also a good way for them to learn more about the office in a less boring fashion.
Asking about small details can make the task more challenging. You can, for example: What color is our coffee maker? Is there a poster at the office’s entrance? What’s the boss’ favorite dish? These will test your team’s observation skills while also sparking boisterous laughter.
2.Two truths and a lie
Participants are asked to reveal one truth and two lies about themselves. It’s then up to the team members to decide which of those statements is the lie.
It’s hard to work with people you don’t know. It’s even harder to be connected and engaged with people you don’t know. The game can be used in virtual or physical office settings. It is fun and a way to find out more about your coworkers.
3.Workplace Scavenger Hunt
You can’t get closer to treasure hunting in real life than the workplace scavenger search. You will need to divide employees into groups of equal size. This is so employees don’t have to limit themselves only within their departments. Every team will need to work together and find all the items on the desk within the timeframe. A prize is awarded to the team that finds more items in the time frame specified.
This activity is great for team building and can increase employee collaboration and decision-making skills. This activity can create excitement and camaraderie among employees, as well as a competitive atmosphere.
4.Blind Retriever
You can use this game to test the cooperation of your staff, regardless of pressure. Split your team into small groups in order to play Blind Retriever. In each team, blindfold one individual. Blindfolded teammates will need to guide the blindfolded partner to locate a particular office object.
This game allows employees to feel more connected with their colleagues. Employees can let loose and discover how willing each other is to assist the blindfolded person in achieving a common goal. To strengthen your ties, you can try this with each department. Every department has their own goals.
5.Solve A Puzzle
Each team must solve a puzzle to win this game. Try to make the puzzle as difficult as possible. You can choose from a 100-piece, 500-piece, or both. This works great with large teams. It is important to let everyone know how their contribution can be made to the overall puzzle. Even if a member only holds one piece of the puzzle, thinking their contribution isn’t as important as others, that puzzle still can’t be finished without them.
After the timer is over, each team can reflect back on the experience. Which areas did they fail to complete the task? For the winner: What strategy did they use? These insights can be used by everyone.
Conclusion
Team building isn’t, by any means, a new term. It’s something that businesses have been practicing for as long as anyone could ever remember. You may even have participated in team building while you were a student. Each activity in team building has its goals. The goal of each one is to improve employee engagement and to bring people closer together. These activities will help you improve the quality of your next team-building sessions.
Entrepreneurship Life published the article 5 team building activities to increase employee engagement.