“Its a Team Building time!”
If you ever catch any of your team members rolling their eyes and slip off to the exit, then you better pause your plan, and restructured it again. It is all depending on you, masterplan! The mere mention of a “team building activity” can either make your employee spring into excitement or run off leaving a underpaid-employee-shaped loop. Truly, if it’s all done very well, not only it can boost morality and encourage comradeship among teammates, but many more.
Organising team building activities is an art in itself. It may either be a success or definitely a nightmare. After all, the first thing must be done while structuring for the activities is to determine what are the objectives intended to be accomplished for this team building. Instead, make a checklist of the desired goals, and from there you may brainstorm some relevant games or activities that portray the final goal.
In this post, I’ve compiled a list of the best team building activities. Thus, it could be your perfect guideline for your next company retreat, getaway weekend staff, or after-office activities.
Battle of The Air Bands
Easy and funny way to compete with each other. Split your team of four groups and let them pick a song randomly. After selected the song, each representative of groups has to do their best impression of performing it either with air instruments or lip-syncing. This activity shall make your members leave all the headache behind, and bring back the laughter. We need them to be relaxed to enjoy doing this.
Human Knot
Ties the people, ties relationship. Gather all a group of people in a small circle and ask everyone to put their right hands in the air, then grab onto someone’s hand across the circle. Next, tell them to link left hands with someone else across the circle too. The game is to see either they can untangle themselves without letting go of anyone’s hand. Through this game, you can ignite the teamwork spark among them and encourage problem-solving skill as well as the leadership skill.
Magazine Story
Who doesn’t want to be on the cover of a magazine? For this activity, each team has to produce a fantastic cover story of a good project or business achievement. Members need to get the right pictures, come up with eye-catching headlines, and formulate quotes. This is an excellent creative exercise that can make you team to think wider and bigger.
Shark Tank
Presenting their own pitch in front of the mock “Shark Tank” of investors - usually senior team members - to secure the investments. They have to come up with an imaginary product and develop the brand name, slogan, business plan, marketing plan, and relevant financial data. They can choose either to play “investor” and pick the best pitch. It provides team members with ability to work together and to be entrepreneurial.
Create Your Own Drama
Whether indoor or outdoor, this fun activity can be held anywhere it is. Participants are divided into large teams and they have to delegate each members the different roles and responsibilities. Given a theme or a topic, they need to write scripts for their own short drama and later perform the play in front of the audiences. Not only promoting creativity among staffs, but also encouraging lateral, unconventional thinking.
Radio Play
While making drama is fun, but how about those who are shy and would rather not perform in many people. In such situation, the fun can be continued with the alternative option - creating a radio play behind all the audience. The game is simple, divide them into small groups, give participants relevant equipments, and set up a theme. Radio play is far more achievable than making actual play because it requires voice acting, thus people are usually more willing to engage. In putting together a good radio play, it needs teamwork and creativity.
Back-to-Back Drawing
Split them into teams of a couple each and make them seat back-to-back. Team member A gets a pen and a sheet of paper. Team member B is given one of the printed shapes. Team member A need to draw the shape using only verbal instructions from another team member while team member B cannot mention the actual object is. Who get the most shapes right will win. This game is highlighting on communication skills across functions.
Body of Words
Simple, yet a fun one that gets people involved physically. A team of 4-8 people have to choose one team leader. Jot down a bunch of words with one letter less than as the number of people in each team on index cards. Then randomly pick a word. With that word, interpret it via their body language. Each team member can contort his/her shape to form a letter, which can then form words. The team leaders can direct their teams. A great way to get people to loosen up and have fun at a team retreat.
Teams develop real connections, deeper conversations and processing among the employees through a series of team building activities, which are both enjoyable and motivational. Team building is regarded as chances to take a break from daily routine and to allow colleagues in a casual and relaxed atmosphere to communicate with one another.