When done properly team building can be a fun-filled activity and actually work to bring your team closer, as well as improve productivity.
However, the fear of getting it wrong, or hearing the collective sighs of your team, often leads to managers and business owners avoiding team building activities.
But, the simple truth is that team building does boost productivity. You need to find team-building exercises that your staff will enjoy, this will give productivity the boost you seek and improve the morale in the workplace.
In addition, you’ll find that the staff turnover rate drops!
Try The Great Race
This isn’t actually a race, although it could be. The Great Race is the perfect spot to start your team building activities, you can choose from hundreds of different opportunities and find something that will appeal to everyone.
But, best of all, whichever activity or activities you choose, it will be fun, inspiring your team to want to do it again.
That’s the real secret of team-building exercises, getting your team to want to do them again, this means they’re bonding.
The Egg Drop
This is a great activity because it takes very little time and yet really works on problem-solving within the team.
The challenge is to drop an egg from a set height without it breaking. Your team will need to be split into other teams, each one has access to the same materials and they simply start building.
You’ll be amazed at the solutions.
Chinese Whispers
This childhood game is fun and teaches how communications can be so easily misinterpreted. The whole teams it in a circle and one person tells a short story or phrase to the next, in a whisper. This then continues around the circle until the last person says it out loud.
You can then see how much the story has changed and discuss why.
Scavenger Hunt
Again your team will need to be split but you should avoid splitting them the same way every time. Each team will be given a set of clues and have to work out the puzzles in order to find the ‘treasure’.
The team will need to work together to solve the puzzles and get to the prize first. It can be a lot of fun as well as an opportunity to learn about each other’s strengths.
The Human Knot
This is another team-building exercise that needs space and nothing else. Get everyone to form a circle and link hands with someone opposite them, left hand to left hand. The right hand then links to someone else’s right hand.
You’ll have a knot of people that needs to be untangled without anyone letting go of a hand. It’s challenging but fun.
Survival
Have your team come up with 15 items that they need to survive on a desert island and explain why they need these things. Again your team should be split into smaller teams.
There is no right or wrong answer for this one, as your team bonds you’ll be able to watch them to establish how well they work together under stress.
There really is no limit to the ideas you can use for team building exercises, you just need to use your imagination.