“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” – Michael Jordan.
We’ve all encountered similar quotes about teamwork, often from the HR department or our superiors. These quotes emphasize that an organization can achieve seemingly impossible goals and overcome complex obstacles by working together as a team. When employees collaborate as a team, they not only combine their talents but also compensate for each other’s weaknesses.
A well-connected team understands the organization’s mission and aligns itself with it. However, the challenge lies in building this cohesive team that exhibits unity and is attuned to one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Every employee comes from a different background, and it takes time for them to get to know and bond with each other. This is when team-building exercises become important.
In simple terms, team-building exercises consist of activities designed to engage office teammates and foster better bonding among them through a shared experience. However, at times, employees may be reluctant to participate in these exercises because they can feel bored.
Are you searching for engaging team-building activities? If you’re interested in exciting exercises, here are some activities that will capture your employees’ interest and enhance their bonding:
Play Board Games
It’s a well-known fact that board games can help people connect on a personal level. Today, there are several office-friendly options to choose from, such as Code Names, Jenga, Apples to Apples, and Pandemic, to name a few. Additionally, there are non-tabletop games like Heads Up or Celebrity, which require employees to use their phones or paper and pen to play.
The best part about these games is that your employees can participate in them during office hours on a weekday. This not only allows your team to relax but also encourages them to work together in creative and diverse ways.
A Team Snacking Hour
There are times when your employees have to work all day and sometimes at night in the office on selected projects. This not only makes them feel fatigued but also drains their energy for the following day.
Offering a day off to employees is a good idea. However, a team snacking hour can help them relax and add some fun to the day. Increase excitement by giving your employees the opportunity to select the menu. To facilitate this, you can rely on an office lunch ordering app that customizes platters based on individual employee choices. Each menu provides dietary details for employees to select what’s best for them.
This doesn’t just enable employees to enjoy tasty and nutritious food together but also allows them to learn about each other’s food preferences, which increases their amiability for one another.
Furthermore, CaterCow states that leading names in this domain provide the best services to make employees feel valued. For instance, some providers label meal boxes with employee names and maintain their dietary restrictions, making it easy for members to identify their meal boxes.
Disentangle the Human Knot
Even though it’s a popular game for camps, you can also use it to engage your team members by challenging them to solve a problem. To do this, all employees should form a circle and hold hands. The objective is for all members to interlock hands and then untangle themselves without allowing the chain to break.
Want to boost the fun factor? Try not allowing people to talk or share their suggestions on untangling the knot. Additionally, set a time limit for the activity. This will create a sense of positive tension among employees, encouraging them to come up with creative ways to untangle themselves while keeping the chain intact.
Furthermore, this activity can help employees shed their inhibitions and get comfortable with one another.
Pictionary Chain
This activity takes about 10 to 15 minutes to play and helps boost creativity and develop communication among employees. Ideally, it should be played with a team of 4 to 10 employees. Therefore, it’s best suited for small organizations. If you have more team members, you can organize them into groups.
All that’s needed for this game are pens and index cards for your employees. Have them sit in a circle or rows and provide a basic drawing prompt to the first employee. Ask them to draw it on the index card and then pass it to another employee.
The employee who receives the card should describe the picture on the card and then pass it to the person sitting next to them. The game moderator should alternate between drawing and writing, changing prompts from one employee to another.
This game helps employees understand how each of them thinks and perceives things, which in turn enhances their understanding of and communication with each other.
Team Trivia
If you want a team-building activity to enhance camaraderie among your teammates, consider this one. For this activity, you need to divide the team into smaller groups, with three people in each group, and have them participate in a trivia war.
Try selecting a specific topic for the trivia. To increase engagement, try directing the game’s attention towards the workplace. This approach will help people learn about the workplace and foster connections among them.
Conclusion
A team that is aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses performs best under pressure and can complete challenging projects. It’s crucial to keep in mind that creating a team like this doesn’t occur in a single night. Choosing team-building exercises over time can help an organization create a well-connected team.
Equally important is ensuring that every team-building activity is engaging and keeps employees interested. The ideas discussed here will not only engage employees but also stimulate critical thinking and enable them to interpret the actions of other team members. This is an excellent way to build a diverse team that contributes equally to a common objective.
