Team building.
We know, we know. The term probably makes your eyes roll into the back of your head. But...hear us out. There are team building activities that you can arrange for your team that actually don't suck. The tricky part is: finding an activity that your team won’t hate.
We've got you.
Below, 10 team building ideas that will win you MVP of the office. (You can thank us later 👑)
Scavenger Hunts
Yep, good ole scavenger hunts.
Get out and run around town together. Scavenger hunts can be played in any city or town, or if you really want, in your office building. (But we think fun games for employee engagement are more fun and engaging outside of the office.) Solve location-based clues to continue on the path to the end destination and the path to victory.
Nobody in the office? No problem. Virtual team building cooking classes make team building *actually* fun. Tell your team that you arranged a virtual tiramisu for them and you will win over some hearts FOR SURE. 💯
"Great team activity to do when everyone works remotely. IMPASTIAMO takes care of everything from invitations, logistics, delivery, etc. Highly recommend this professional yet fun class!"
–Grenier Paule
In-Person or Virtual Gift Exchange
Office Secret Santas are fun ways to celebrate the holidays, but did you know that you can turn gift exchanges into games? A White Elephant or Yankee Swap can be done in person or as a virtual game for employee engagement.
Do Something For A Good Cause
This charity team building activity follows a simple formula: Build + Donate = Unity. Build something, donate it to charity, and bask in the rewards together.
One could argue that “building things together,” is the original team building activity, what our ancient ancestors discovered to be magical when they bunkered down to create their first permanent homes.
You’ll unite behind a crystal-clear and tangible objective. You’ll feel the epicness of shared accomplishment as you admire the finished product. You’ll feel deeply bonded as you hand off your donation.
The team that cooks together, stays together. That's what they say, isn't it? If your office is in-person these days, treat the team to a live, in-person cooking class where they can make + eat their own creation with their coworkers. If you're scratching your head wondering what to do with your team, arrange an in-person corporate cooking class and watch your team beg you for more.
A nice, low-key opportunity for remote workers to chat and interact with each other one-on-one, Donut randomly pairs up team members for a round of coffee talk from a predetermined list and distributes an email notification on a scheduled interval. It’s up to the team members to coordinate their video coffee break, which gives them a sense of ownership and investment in the activity. *Actual donuts are optional, but highly recommended. Pastries can be substituted, of course.
Blather ‘Round is a guessing game full of blundering, stumbling, and–yes– blathering. You try to write sentences that describe pop culture phenomena to your teammates, but you never get quiiiiite the right words. If you did, it wouldn’t be a game! It would just be describing things.
Also, this team building activity is great for both in-person and remote teams. Gather your team, and get a game of blather 'round going – we *promise* there will be plenty of laughing and lots of bonding.
Two Truths and a Lie
This game, often played by teenagers at summer camp or sleepover parties, is actually a great way to get to know your coworkers. The rules are pretty simple, but here’s a refresher. One player thinks of two things that are true about them and one thing that isn’t. Without revealing which is the lie, they say all three “facts” aloud. The rest of the players try to guess which is the lie.
They can use what they know about the person or try to tell by their body language or change in pitch. Here’s a tip: make the truths wild stories to throw off the other players. For example, if you’ve DJed at Burning Man or trained a pig to do party tricks, make sure to include those as your facts.
Quiplash is a remote-player game that both in-person and remote teams will heartily enjoy. Next time you're scrambling for a team building activity, bust out a game of Quiplash! Players can use their own phone, tablet or computer (no controllers needed) to answer simple, funny prompts like:
Something you’d be surprised to see a donkey do
A double rainbow doesn’t have gold at the end of it. Instead, it has ______.
...you get the picture.
Create a Compliment Circle
There are different variations you can take on this to encourage your team to express appreciation for one another. One option is you can simply spend five minutes having individuals compliment one another, whatever pops into their mind (if you’re the manager, you should start to get the ball rolling!).
This can be as easy as saying, “I wanted to tell Gina I loved her proposal this week” or “Big shoutout to Danny for bringing in donuts last week when we were all heads-down to meet a big deadline.” Or you can go around and have each person address the coworker to their right, so that everyone gets a chance to shine.
Ready to treat your team to the fun experience they're craving? Book a free call with our founder to see if we'd be a good addition to your team.
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