Team Building Games For Office

Team is the word of the century. It actually has the potential to be the word of the centuries, or rather century, considering the simple fact that the most intelligent and hardworking men when alone cannot achieve even half of what average men taken together in an organised group can. We hear stories of Alexander the Great marching out of Mesopotamia and winning lands after lands for his empire, but the fact is that he didn’t win the war—his soldiers did. Just like the Taj Mahal wasn’t built by Shah Jahan—but by the craftsmen employed. Individuals may sit within closed doors and strategize, but victory comes only when teams achieve goals. And a good team is not as easy to come by as it seems. Bringing individuals together and unifying their temperaments to achieve the higher goal of the company is probably the toughest challenge that companies face today. But since human beings are generally social by nature, the team spirit is not difficult to build. All you need is organize some games and ice breakers and voila! Your work is done. In no time, you would have a team that would work not only to satiate individual aspirations, but team cohesions and goals, ultimately leading to the growth of the company. In the following lines, we have listed some fun games and activities that can be organized at the workplace.

Make teams of four to five people depending upon the number of people who are participating. Do ensure that people who are generally not seen together are in the same team and the ones that are friends get separated. The idea here is to warm people up to complete strangers. Once the teams are done, ask every member to share three of his or her most impressive moments in the company. Ask them to also find out common experiences in the process and when the groups are done with themselves, have them discuss things with other groups as well. This will bring employees closer, as it would make them more relatable.

 

Depending on the size of your team, place a 1-foot to 3-foot square of cardboard on the floor, or mark off a square with masking or duct tape. Draw numbers, one for each team member. In order of the numbers drawn, team members must stand in the square. As the number of people in the square increases, members will have to work together and get creative to get everyone aboard. This exercise practices cooperation, problem-solving and leadership.

Make groups of two to four and give each of them some modeling clay and 12-14 toothpicks. The task for them here is to build the longest cantilever bridge they can manage to. The points have to be awarded for the speed of construction, bridge length, strength of the bridge and its ability to hold weight. Stack small coins over the bridge until it snaps.

 

Team spirit is nowhere as beautifully manifest as in sports. Having an annual sports day or sports meet is one of the best ways of inculcating team spirit in your employees. You can also work towards inter-company tournaments. This also encourages employees to work cohesively. But make sure the sports are such that all employees irrespective of age and gender can participate.

 

Oh and what better way than an outing? Gather all your team members together and take them to an all day or even all weekend outing. And instead of boring lunches go for things like trekking and hiking. Informal outings make people closer. And do not discuss business or pending work or incoming projects by any chance. Remember, the purpose of the outing is solely for entertainment and not for discussing work.

 

Expression by way of art is another wonderful way of bringing people close. Conduct a small drama workshop for the employees. Even a dance workshop is a wonderful option as choreographing group dances make for excellent team building activities. However, many people may not like the idea of dancing or may get uncomfortable with it so a drama workshop is always a better option. You can let the employees organize and enact a short play.