A team that works well together will be more productive, successful, and will be much easier to work with. But the minute you suggest trying out a few team building games you will probably be met with more than a few eye rolls and blank stares.
And you can probably relate to that. Team building games tend to be extremely forced – and the only reason you’re doing them is “because management said so.”
They don’t necessarily have to be, though. Team building games can be a fun way to bond with your coworkers and build workplace unity – and as everyone knows, a unified team is a productive team.
And no, it doesn’t have to be anything elaborate (unless that is what you are going for). And it probably shouldn’t resemble something you would expect to see a TV sitcom.
6 Fun Team Building Games
In general, there are four main types of team building games: games that build communication skills, problem-solving skills, adaptability, and trust-building. The games themselves should be fun with the added bonus of building teamwork skills and improving communication.
In most cases, though, they end up feeling like the HR wasting everyone’s time…
Your enthusiastic:
“Hey guys, I came up with an amazing team building game!”
Will can be met with:
“Do we have to?”
“Not this again.”
“I’m taking sick leave.”
Unless, of course, you do some research beforehand (and you already took the right step!). Here’s the 7 of our favorite team building activities – something that your team isn’t going to hate (too much):
#1: Two Truths and a Lie
Expected Time: 30 minutes
This game is good for breaking the ice among team members and for encouraging communication. The premise is pretty simple; you have each person write down two truths about themselves and one lie.
Then everyone will take turns reading their three statements aloud. The rest of the group then has to guess which statement is the lie. This can be played competitively with points awarded every time you stump your group. If you’re working with a new team, or just with several new team members, It is a great way for the entire group to get to know one another better and establish some rapport.
#2: The One Question
Expected Time: 30 minutes
As with the last game, this one’s also an amazing icebreaker – and it also encourages teamwork and participation to boot. The team leader decides on the subject that the one question will pertain to. Your options are endless but for this example let’s choose house painting as the subject.
The leader will then pair everyone off into two-person teams. They will then pose the question, “If you were trying to hire someone to paint your home and could only ask them one question first, what would it be?”Now each team needs to spend time coming up with the one question that will help them figure out who is best suited to paint their home.
This is a great exercise because it encourages employees to think critically and work together to problem solve. It also helps them go through the steps of figuring out how to develop and ask great questions.
#3: Zoom
Expected Time: 30 minutes
This game involves using a picture book called “Zoom” by Istvan Banyai. The book begins with an up-close photo of a rooster. On the next page, it zooms out and you see two children watching the rooster. As you go through the book, you continue to gather a broader perspective of the overall narrative.
Hand out one picture to each participant and explain that they can look at their own picture but they have to keep it hidden from the rest of their team. The entire group can describe their pictures to each other and discuss what they see.
The goal of this game is for everyone to assemble their pictures in the correct order simply by talking about it.
#4: Poker Tower
Expected Time: 30 minutes
Unlike the four previous games, playing poker tower will require a few supplies! Break the larger group into teams of no more than five people each. Then pass out a deck of poker cards and a pair of scissors to each team. Now each team has to try to build the largest poker tower using only the supplies they have been given.
Poker tower is a great game to try out if you are limited on time. It encourages creativity and bonding among team members.
#5: An afternoon of paintballing
Expected Time: Over 2 hours
Obviously, this will have to be scheduled in advance and will take longer than the other games on the list. But if you can swing it, paintballing is a really fun way to build a positive rapport among team members. After all, is there any better way to boost workplace morale than by letting employees chase their manager around with a paintball gun?
#6: What Makes You Tick?
Expected Time: 30 minutes
The purpose of this game is to encourage rapport, learn more about your team members, and learn about what kinds of personalities tend to clash at work. Choose a simple personality test and have everyone take one.
The True Colors Personality Test is a great option. It summarizes each personality type into one color. Then during a future conflict, team members can reference the fact that they are orange and everyone will know what they are referring to.
This game isn’t quite as interactive as some of the others but it is a great exercise for helping employees see things from the perspectives of other people. Conflict resolution is an important workplace skill to have.
Team building games are a great opportunity to increase workplace morale and a way to create memories and make your workplace a more enjoyable place to be.
Couldn’t find something you up your alley? Then you might want to check out the complete list of team building activities, with 30+ fun ideas!
